The assigned reading from Figuring Foreigners Out was about basic types of differences between cultures. It touched on collectivism vs individualism, which pertains to the culture’s priority of seeking group vs. individual goals; nonverbal communication, which helps humans communicate more than just the sum of their words, but can cause misunderstandings in inter-cultural contact; monochronic vs. polychronic, which pertains to a culture’s sense of time [which has caused the most issues for me personally in intercultural contexts]; internal vs. external, which considers if the perceived locus of control is within the person or within their circumstances; and finally, direct vs. indirect communication, which is concerned with how people infer or state directly what they want to say.
The Hofstede Dimensions of Culture is similar, but with the following well-researched dimensions: Individualism, Power Distance, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long-Term Orientation, and Indulgence.
I do generally agree with these theories, with the caveat that country-wide statistics cannot possibly describe every culture within a country (especially in diverse countries like the U.S. and India). A few things in the readings which I had never been able to specify/name before was the cultural differences in time (Oh India, sweet India, where is your sense of time… :)) and the idea that one person can use nonverbal communication which means nothing in the other culture and thereby has communicated nothing when he thought he had.
I went ahead and checked out the comparative culture tool with India and the United States. I can definitely relate to the data! For example, the U.S. scores low (40) on the Power Distance index and India scores higher (77), showing how Indians have more appreciation and respect for hierarchical structure in society compared to Americans. I have seem that demonstrated daily in India, even in how people treat waitstaff in restaurants. In America, waiters/waitresses often interact as “friends”, using very familiar language and body language. Especially in the South, you can’t be surprised to hear a waitress call you “Honey” or say “If you need anything, just holler!” In India, on the other hand, even at casual cafés the servers keep a very respectful distance emotionally and generally treat patrons as being much higher in status than them. It confused me at first, but I had to remind myself to keep an open mind and accept that India is a different culture.
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