Figuring Foreigners Out

[Nile Harris]

Figuring Foreigners Out and Geert Hofstede's analysis are both very interesting. Figuring Foreigners Out pretty much describes a lot of the different cultural dimensions while Geert Hofstede maps those same cultural dimensions around the world. One of the dimensions that I found most interesting to look at was the "individualism vs. collectivism" dimension. Individualist cultures pretty much have a primary focus on the individual. People really only care about themselves and their own survival which can be seen as selfish. In collectivist cultures, the primary focus is the group as a whole. People are friendlier, and care a lot about other people's well-being. When Geert Hofstede maps "individualism vs. collectivism", it is not surprising to see what countries tend to be more individualist or collectivist. The United States, which is arguably the most capitalist nation in the world, was identified as the most individualist which is not surprising. In contrast to that, Cuba, which is one of the most socialist nations in the world, was identified as one of the most collectivist nations in the world. I definitely do agree with these assessments. My target culture of Brazil falls right in the middle of the spectrum which also does not surprise me when analyzing the favela lifestyle vs. the city-dwelling lifestyle.