Cultural Intelligence In Action Paper- TOPIC (Guidance In Enrolling To Get The COVID-19 Vaccine For Senior Citizens In The USA)
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CAS21CultureasaComplexDynamicEntity2-2and2-4-20211.pptxCULTURE AS A COMPLEX, DYNAMIC ENTITY—Part 1
Readings: Kottak, Mirror, Ch. 2, pp. 19-40
Hall, “The Power of Hidden Differences,” pp. 53-67
Tough Nickel, “High-Context vs. Low-Context Communication”
Both Conrad Kottak and Michael Rynkiewich cite a classic definition of culture by 19th-century British anthropologist Edward Tylor: “Culture…is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (Tylor, 1871 — cited in Kottak, 19, and Rynkiewich, 19).
Consider Edward Hall’s definition: “Any culture is primarily a system for creating, sending, storing, and processing information” (Hall, 53).
Which of the two definitions do you prefer? Why?
Culture is inherently a collective phenomenon that results in a distinctive cultural identity, which uniquely characterizes a particular group. It doesn’t function at the level of the individual person but is shared. How?
Culture is neither biologically nor genetically transmitted; instead, it is “acquired...as a member of society” by means of enculturation, which Kottak explains as being “the process by which a child learns his or her culture” (Kottak, Mirror,19-20).
In other words, people acquire culture neither by means of inheritance nor [solely] by means of trial and error but by learning through imitation, communication, observation, and inference.
CULTURE IS LEARNED
What about people who transition between cultures, such as immigrants, refugees, military and diplomatic personnel, missionaries, foreign workers, international students, and others who move from one culture to another.) Their learning process, called acculturation, is different in some significant ways from enculturation because it is more self-conscious.
Conrad Kottak defines acculturation as “the exchange of cultural features that results when groups have continual firsthand contact with each other” (Kottak, Mirror, 36). (Here Kottak is referring to distinct groups, each originating from a different culture.)
CULTURE IS LEARNED — SYMBOLS
Symbols play a vital role in cultural learning. According to Conrad Kottak, symbols are “signs that have no necessary or natural connection to the things they stand for or signify” (Kottak, 20). James Peoples and Garrick Bailey point out that symbols function on the basis of being arbitrary (in that their meaning is not derived from any inherent qualities in the symbol) and conventional (in that their meaning exists solely because people have agreed to attribute a specific meaning to them) (Peoples and Bailey, Humanity, 10th ed., 32). What are some examples that you can think of?
“The word religion (shukyo) [was] originally devised to answer pesky missionaries who asked Japanese to state what their religion was. It was taken to refer to a separate set of beliefs, removed from everyday life, and not to some everyday activity like stopping for a moment at a shrine to make an offering....akin to asking someone in the United States or Germany if she is a member of a religious movement...” (Bowen, RP, 34).
CULTURE IS LEARNED--SYMBOLS
The Confederate battle flag — the “Stars and Bars” — has become a dramatic example in recent years of the fact that, even when symbols are widely acknowledged to have a particular frame of reference, their significance can be contested by different groups in an effort to ensure that the specific ideas, practices, values, and goals that they embrace prevail within a given society (Kottak, Mirror, 30).
CONTESTED SYMBOLS
CONTESTED SYMBOLS
Other examples of contested symbols include the cross of Christ (Protestants vs. Catholics), the Nazi swastika, and, more recently, several cases of NFL players kneeling during the playing of the American national anthem prior to the start of games as an expression of protest against racism in American society and culture. What other contested symbols come to mind?
SYMBOLS CAN EVOLVE AND BE UPDATED WITH CHANGING TIMES
Traditional “Aunt Jemima”
Contemporary “Aunt Jemima”
Cultures can exist at the national level and even transcend national boundaries to exist at the international level. What examples of international cultures that simultaneously function in several geographic areas come to mind?
Subcultures, which Kottak defines as being “different symbol-based patterns and traditions associated with particular groups in the same complex society,” exist within nations. Kottak acknowledges that many cultural anthropologists shy away from this term “subculture” because they deem it to be pejorative, actually serving to demean those who are thereby labeled. The main reason for such aversion on the part of such anthropologists is their association of the prefix “sub-“ with the notion of “below” or “less than” (Kottak, 32-33).
LEVELS OF CULTURE
Kottak defines ethnocentrism as being “the tendency to view one’s own culture as superior and to apply one’s own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures.”
The opposite perspective is cultural relativism, an attitude proverbially associated with the field of Cultural Anthropology. This attitude is defined by Kottak as being “the viewpoint that behavior in one culture should not be judged by the standards of another culture.” Kottak himself mentions potential problems with cultural relativism in cases where it is taken to such an extreme as to deny the existence of any universal moral standards, extrapolating from the underlying principle that the moral and ethical rules of all cultures deserve equal respect (Kottak, Mirror, 33). Quite often this stance is criticized as constituting moral relativism.
ETHNOCENTRISM VS. CULTURAL RELATIVISM
In his chapter entitled “The Power of Hidden Differences,” Edward T. Hall focuses on how the subtle complexity of culture affects interaction between cultures: “We humans are guided by two forms of information, accessed in two entirely different ways: type A — manifest culture [also called “word culture”] — which is learned from words and numbers, and type B — tacit-acquired culture [also called “unconscious culture”] — which is not verbal but is highly situational and operates according to rules which are not in awareness, not learned in the usual sense but acquired in the process of growing up or simply being in different environments” (Hall, 54, 63).
“HIDDEN DIFFERENCES”
“HIDDEN DIFFERENCES”
Regarding “hidden differences,” Hall says “humans must take into account the existence of ‘out-of-awareness’ features of communication” (Hall, 58-59).
1. “When interacting with each other, it should never be assumed that we ever achieve full awareness of all the implications of any communication” — particularly nonverbal communication.
2. “Culture hides much more than it reveals and...what it hides, it hides most effectively from its own participants.” (How does this work?)
“CROSS-CULTURAL”/”INTERCULTURAL”: A NOTE ON USAGE
An admittedly subtle distinction between the respective connotations of two closely-related related terms:
“Cross-cultural” -- used in the sense of “pertaining to or contrasting between two or more cultural groups” (as in, “cross-cultural comparison” or “cross-cultural differences”)
“Intercultural” -- used in the sense of “pertaining to or taking place between two or more cultures” (as in, “intercultural encounters” or “intercultural communication”)
THE METADISTINCTION BETWEEN INDIVIDUALISTIC AND COLLECTIVISTIC CULTURES
As anthropologist and former missionary Michael Rynkiewich observes, “Western thought, especially as revealed in the social sciences, has imagined that the basic unit of society is an individual” (Rynkiewich, 11). This definitely is not the case in the Majority World, where the most basic sociocultural unit is the group, whether that be the extended family, the tribe, the clan, or the social caste. Within the respective cultural contexts, these contrasting priorities and emphases make perfect sense.
INDIVIDUALISTIC CULTURES
COLLECTIVISTIC CULTURES
INDIVIDUALISTIC CULTURES VS. COLLECTIVISTIC CULTURES
Individual rights and privileges prized over group preferences
Nuclear families predominate, with expectation that children will eventually seek independent existence
“Love marriages” predominate
Prevailing expectations for “self-made” identity for individuals
Group preferences prevail over individual rights
Extended families predominate, with children expected to maintain proximity and loyalty to family
Arranged marriages predominate
Prevailing dependence by individuals upon “in-group” for identity, contacts, support, and influence
See EIC, pp. 101, 154-155
INTERRELATED CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
Monochronic Time Orientation (“Clock Time”)
Low-Context Communication
Innocence-Guilt (or Justice) Orientation
Low Power Distance
“Masculine Culture”
INDIVIDUALISTIC CULTURES
Polychronic Time Orientation (“Event Time”)
High-Context Communication
Honor-Shame Orientation
High Power Distance
“Feminine Culture”
COLLECTIVISTIC CULTURES
THE METADISTINCTION BETWEEN INDIVIDUALISTIC AND COLLECTIVISTIC CULTURES
The previous slide shows how various pairings of opposite cultural characteristics are consistently aligned in accordance with the overarching contrast between the individualistic cultures that predominate in the West and the collectivistic or group-oriented cultures that predominate outside the West, in the “Majority World,” which is inhabited by the vast majority of the Earth’s inhabitants.
Edward Hall distinguishes between two basic cultural orientations towards time (Hall, 60). On the one hand there is “monochronic time” (also called “clock time”), in which time is perceived as being tangible, relatively scarce, and spendable. It is associated with an emphasis on punctuality, which tends to mean that schedules, planning, and timely completion of tasks are valued more highly than people.
As you might expect, this orientation towards time is generally identified with more industrialized, technologically oriented, and/ or urbanized cultures. (continued)
MONOCHRONIC TIME VS. POLYCHRONIC TIME
MONOCHRONIC TIME VS. POLYCHRONIC TIME
On the other hand, Hall observes that, in accordance with the “polychronic time” orientation (also called “event time”), time is perceived as being flexible and unlimited in supply. Hence, spontaneity is highly valued, and people are considered to be more important than the completion of tasks. In general, this orientation towards time tends to be more characteristic of more rural or less technologically oriented cultures — particularly in the Majority [non-Western] World.”
MONOCHRONIC TIME
POLYCHRONIC TIME
MONOCHRONIC TIME VS. POLYCHRONIC TIME
Time viewed as being limited, rigid, and measurable
Punctuality valued more highly than human relationships
Considerable reliance upon scheduling
Time viewed as being unlimited and flexible
Human relationships valued more highly than punctuality
Considerable reliance upon spontaneity
See EIC, pp. 146-150; Hall, p. 60; Changing Minds.org
HIGH-CONTEXT VS. LOW-CONTEXT COMMUNICATION
M.Q. Jeffrey, the author of the online article “High-context vs. Low-context Communication” from Tough Nickel, provides some helpful clarifying insights:
“High-context and low-context communication refers to how much speakers rely on things other than words to convey meaning.... In each culture, members have been supplied with specific ‘filters’ that allow them to focus only on what society has deemed important. In general, cultures that favor low-context communication will pay more attention to the literal meanings of words than to the context surrounding them” (Jeffrey, 1-2).
HIGH-CONTEXT VS. LOW-CONTEXT COMMUNICATION
Moreau, Campbell, and Greener, the authors of the chapter on “Contexting” in the book Effective Intercultural Communication, point out that the distinction between high-context and low-context communication doesn’t only refer to a unconscious, passive phenomenon; it can also function as a deliberate strategy.
“‘Contexting’ refers to a strategy of choosing the appropriate mix of verbal and extraverbal communication to get a message across.” The authors provide a biblical example of this point in the episode of Abraham effectively and appropriately negotiating with Ephron the Hittite to purchase a burial plot for his wife Sarah (Genesis 23) (Moreau, Campbell, and Greener, 129, 132-133.
LOW-CONTEXT COMMUNICATION
HIGH-CONTEXT COMMUNICATION
LOW-CONTEXT COMMUNICATION VS. HIGH-CONTEXT COMMUNICATION
Greater focus upon verbal communication than upon nonverbal communication
Direct communication--primary meaning conveyed in the explicit words of the message
The speaker has the primary responsibility for communication
Greater focus upon nonverbal communication than upon verbal communication
Indirect communication--primary meaning conveyed via the corresponding physical, social, interpersonal, and emotional context
The listener has the primary responsibility for communication
See EIC, pp. 129-131; Hall, p. 61; Changing Minds.org
INNOCENCE-GUILT
Essential focus: what a person has done
Ethical standards: universal, internalized by individuals
Violation of standards: requires restitution, whether financial penalty, incarceration, or even death
Essential focus: what a person’s
standing within his or her “in-group” is
Ethical standards: based on group expectations, enforced by group
Violation of standards: requires ritualized removal of impurity to restore ties to group
See EIC, pp. 196-199
HONOR-SHAME
INNOCENCE-GUILT ETHICAL ORIENTATION VS.
HONOR-SHAME ETHICAL ORIENTATION
LOW POWER DISTANCE
Social inequality and titles deemphasized
Rules assumed to apply equally to everyone
Personal initiative encouraged
Mutual respect cultivated between bosses and workers
Social hierarchy pronounced and titles emphasized
Rules applied differentially as a function of social class
Personal initiative discouraged
Generalized social dependency sustains pervasive patron-client relationships
See EIC, pp. 166-169 and 171-174
HIGH POWER DISTANCE
LOW POWER DISTANCE VS. HIGH POWER DISTANCE
“MASCULINE” CULTURE
Comparatively greater distinction between respective expectations for gender roles
Materialism, competitiveness, and assertiveness highly valued
Considerable overlap between gender roles
Compassion and concern for the less fortunate in society highly valued
See EIC, pp. 181-183
“FEMININE” CULTURE
“MASCULINE CULTURE” VS. “FEMININE CULTURE”
“ETHNOCENTRISM” REVISITED
With all these specific examples of cross-cultural differences in mind, it is worth revisiting the concept of “ethnocentrism,” this time defined by Michael Rynkiewich as “the all-too-human tendency to respond to other people’s ways by using one’s own culture, especially values and feelings, to prejudge people’s behavior and explain differences as if they were the result of perceived physical and mental differences (racism) or spiritual and moral differences (elitism).” Rynkiewich goes on to point out the ironic contrast between Greeks labeling all other peoples as “barbarians” and American English speakers complaining “It’s all Greek to me” when they can’t understand either speech or text (Rynkiewich, 24, 25).
CONCLUSION
An insightful grasp of these cross-cultural differences is crucial for engaging effectively in intercultural relationships.
The Cultural Intelligence in Action (CIA) assignment in this course will require you to show how you would apply your understanding of cross-cultural differences in addressing a true-to-life scenario.
