Learning Journal #2

[Devin Chen]

The “Figuring Foreigners Out” article identifies several ways that cultures differs: individualist vs. collectivist, nonverbal communications, monochromic vs polychromic, etc. The notion of individualistic versus collectivist identities that are found within all cultures, though no one single culture is exclusively individualist or collectivist, I can see how countries such as the United States places an emphasis on individualist more. This manifests in the form of self-autonomy, First Amendment rights, etc. I predominantly agree with the article’s various arguments on how different cultures have general trends in personality but not everyone within the community act the same way. This reminds me of anthropology’s definition of culture, that it is shared yet contested, meaning that each individual interprets cultural rules and values differently because we have different experiences, desires, and needs. The experiment conducted by Dr. Hofstede attempts to categorize countries base on different dimension and rate their inclination or the lack thereof respective to that dimension. Based on this map, it shows that my native culture, China, as well as my target language culture, Korea, is very collectivist focused whereas United States is completely on the other end of the spectrum, very individualist focused. I think the most interesting I found looking at these maps is the underlying historical circumstances that has prompted the various developments of cultural norms and values.