This course is about International Communication. Most often the term is used to describe the study of different media systems and media cultures around the word. But even that concept is not simple. Often the analysis of International Communication has been very much based on Western models. That can be contested (as one of your readings for today notes.)
Intercultural Communication, then, refers to interpersonal communication, directly between people, and how patters of interaction differ from country to country. But in these times of mediatization of all communication, there clearly is some overlap. So this week we will explore the interaction of the two.
To start on a light note – “Diversity Day”:
We will also prepare for the Mid Term.
Assignment
1. Readings
Please read 3 short texts available in our Dropbox. One highlights the core aspects of Asian International Communication; two focus on Intercultural Communication (a general overview, and an example: Negotiating Across Cultures). The texts will help you to answer the last part of today’s assignment.
2. Choose YOUR Country (in Asia)
The idea is that, in the course of this semester, you will become an expert in a country in Asia. You will be asked in different assignments to dig deeper into that country and teach the rest of us about it.
Please mark your choice of country in this Google Map.
Create your tag, with your name_the name of the country.
Note that only 3 people can choose the same country. If you see that 3 others have already chosen a country you want, you need to find another one that interests you. (There is a time code in the map so it’s easy to determine who has posted first.)
The country I have chosen is off limits as it’s geographically partly Europe, partly Asia. See the map — and I mean Turkey, of course.
(I took this picture in Istanbul, of the bridge that connects the European and Asian parts of the city. I don’t know the happy newlyweds.):
The Mid Term Connection: As a part of the Mid Term, you will be asked to create a short “Country Brief” on your country, from the perspective of media systems and markets, so you may want to keep that in mind already now.)
3. Make Intercultural Comparisons
This week, you will explore a Culture Comparison tool by an intercultural communication consultancy company. The link above and in the questionnaire will lead you to choose a country from the drop-down menu — see the example:
Choose a country in Asia. (If YOUR country is not listed by the Hofstede Centre, choose a country that you think might resemble yours.)
Explore the dimensions of the comparison, as well as the results of the country of your choice vs the US.
(If interested take a look at the other tools as well (although, to get any country reports, you’d need to pay for the other tools…)
4. Write a mini report
Compose a short account of what you learned about your country/a country in Asia vs. the US, in terms of intercultural communication.
- Basic similarities and differences?
- How might this manifest in a real life situation?
- Between people (intercultural communication, and
- As reflected in media contents (news or fiction).
- Do you personally believe in these kinds of analyses, categorizations, and comparisons? (The good folks at the Hofstede Centre have been criticized about their simplified approach that seems to reinforce stereotypes.) Are these kinds of analyses and tools useful? Or, are we all getting closer to universal culture (especially online)?
1-3 paragraphs, total. Post below as a comment to this post. You may want to write this first as a word doc or equivalent, in case there are connectivity issues and your comment isn’t saved. Due Fri 2/5 at midnight.
COM 3102 - Asia 
My country of choice was Japan, and I compared it to the United States. Save for “Power Distance”, there was a huge disparity in scores, most notably in the “Individuality” and “Avoidance of Uncertainty” categories. My theory of both is this. In reference to the first one, the idea of individuality in Japan is difficult. The country is notably homogeneous, and there is a certain “stigma” of difference between natives and foreigners. In Japan, there is exceedingly one communa; culture, and everything falls under this culture, despite your being of it or not, or is assimilated to accommodate it. The United States has a higher level of individuality solely based on the fact we are immeasurably more diverse, and as a result, slightly more accepting of individual behaviors and cultures. Slightly being the key term there.
The second most notable difference was “Uncertainty Avoidance”. As a whole, Japan is one of the safest countries in the world. Crime rates are near the lowest in the world, and there is a different culture surrounding crime and as there is in the US. The US, sadly, is on a different level in terms of safety, as we suffer severely from terrorism, gun violence, and other forms of unrest that lead to a lack of safety. However, Japan has a lengthy history of danger from nature, most notably earthquakes and tsunamis. For example, the tragic 3/11 Tohouku Earthquake and Tsunami destroyed the nation’s land and spirit. In terms of Japanese history, it is parallel to September 11th, as a day of great grief and tragedy. Americans are fearful of interpersonal violence and uncertainty – i.e. guns, terrorism, hate crimes, etc. Japanese are greatly fearful of natural violence – i.e. earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, etc. This difference I make an inference on, as it is only an inference is Japan’s culture greatly regards nature, in a religious way. Japanese pray to a different sort of religious entity, and revere nature as a God in itself. The United States on the other hand is more of a streamlined tumultuous religion, with beliefs being at the core of many of our issues. This isn’t to say that Japan does not suffer from religious violence and intolerance, as a growing number of refugees continue to enter the country, bringing with them religious beliefs different to that to the nation. This may even be classified as an avoidance in itself.
Japan and the United States differ on many levels. In addition to the differences I just mentioned, there is indulgence, and masculinity. Americans, if only in stereotype, are more prone to over-indulgence, whereas Japanese culture is more subdued and moderate. Masculinity however is something I would have expected the nations to be even on, as both are very male-dominated (unfortunately), and have been for many, many years, especially in terms of corporate structure and power roles. I think the chart and study given are accurate, if not brutally honest, and for that I respect it, especially in its portrayal of the United States. But, in many way, the two nations are different but the same, and in those similarities and not, share an equal bond of flaws and strengths.
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Just an add on about “individuality” that I think works here, this is an English subbed video of interviewed people on the streets of Tokyo about “gaijin” or foreigners. It seems for the most part that Japanese are either unaware of race as a construct or see it as there is only Japanese or non-Japanese, and nothing in between. I was saying individuality has a different meaning in Japan than the US, and I think this sums that up greatly.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_dyx4Dub5U — Forgot the link, sorry.
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Thank you Tony! This is indeed very interesting — but not so unlike, for example, some small countries in Europe that have been relatively isolated (I’m now thinking the Nordic countries). Geographical isolation may create a very strong uniform national sensibility; but things are naturally changing with the increase in travel and global media exposure.
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I’ve been thinking your comment about individuality — and I think it gives us a sobering reminder about these kinds of cultural barometers and comparisons. When we are mapping cultures there are aspects, words, characteristics that are not easily translatable — yet might be something that essential about that culture. I’m thinking about the concept of “sisu” which is an essential and highly valued concept in my native culture, in Finland. It’s about resilience and endurance but also about stubbornness (almost bordering mad obsession; you’d rather die than give up). (It’s interesting that a young US-trained Finnish psychologist has made “Sisu” now almost to a brand; using it to indicate our psychological tools for survival.) This is not directly about Asia, but about cultural relativity and things that get lost in translation, like, what do we mean about individuality or individualism?
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The country that I decided to choose is Indonesia. Indonesia, compared to the United States, has a higher percentage of accepting and understanding that power is distributed unequally (with a percentage difference of 78%-Indonesia and 40%-the United States). This means that in Indonesia, those who are under managerial positions or positions of leadership are submissive. They follow orders and comply with directions and orders. This may seem like an admirable trait to have, respecting those of authority but unfortunately it also means that “all individuals in societies are not equal.” A few other differences that Indonesia has compared to the United States in individualism (Indonesia-14%/U.S.-91%), masculinity (Indonesia-46%/U.S.-62%), long-term orientation (Indonesia-62%/U.S.-26%), and indulgence (Indonesia-38%/U.S.-68%). One of the basic similarities that Indonesia and the United States share is uncertainty avoidance (Indonesia-48%/U.S.-46%).
This interested me because in Indonesia, it is said that the people show politeness and retreat from visibly being upset. People in Indonesia enjoy positivity and happiness and never want to transmit bad news or put a damper on both personal relationships and the relationships they share in the workplace and with strangers. Though the percentages are very close, I think that it is difficult to say that the United States acts in the same manner, because we are all so different. I also think that this uncertainty avoidance, or the avoidance of accepting unknown situations can impede on the process of communications and prevent international communications from flourishing. I think that communications is most effective when all things are brought to the forefront and are known and discussed in a respectful but necessary manner.
When we focus on long-term orientation I think that it’s necessary for internal communications and communications through the media to link our past with what we are dealing with in our present and what we will face in our future. It keeps us aware of our past and helps us compare our present to it to see how we can better ourselves as members of a society for our future. I thought it was quite remarkable how Indonesia scored so high.
I like to believe in these kinds of analyses because some like the ones I discussed can really help our world communicate on an interesting level. However I think that these percentages aren’t exact because everyone changes and everyone grows and develops new views, new ideas, new skills so it can be hard to maintain consistency with the analyses. But it is interesting to at least get a feel for the comparisons between various countries. I’m glad I chose Indonesia, however I’m really interested to examine other countries as well especially in Asia.
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christinap15 – Indonesia is a great choice: It is one of Asian rising economic stars and one of the mega markets for mobile communication (Indonesians are amongst the world most active nations on Twitter) — but that’s something few of us know. The latter is perhaps due to the fact that Indonesia faces some political challenges (http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21650173-new-president-charts-markedly-different-course-thousand-jilted-friends?zid=306&ah=1b164dbd43b0cb27ba0d4c3b12a5e227). It is also the world largest Muslim nation and entails hundreds of local cultures. So knowing about Indonesia in some more detail might not be a bad thing — a complex nation with great economic potential and something Western companies/organizations would probably love to know more about…
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The country that I originally chose was Yemen, but it was not available, so I went with Saudi Arabia for this assignment. There were three categories that were noticeably different in numbers, those being “Power Distance,” “Individualism,” and “Uncertainty Avoidance.” With individualism, the United States is known as the “melting pot.” We are an extremely diverse country, which leads to higher numbers of individualism. Saudi Arabia is considered a collectivist society, which means that rather than people looking after only themselves or their family, they belong to “in groups” that take care of them in exchange for loyalty. Saudi Arabia scored high on the “Power Dimension” because they accept a hierarchal order, so everyone has a place. In the United States, we strive for equality (although that is unfortunately not always the case), and we all have equal say and power. The last category that was significantly different, “Uncertainty Avoidance,” has to do with the way that a society deals with knowing that the future can never be known. Saudi Arabia scores so high on this because it exhibits belief and behaviors that are intolerant of unorthodox behavior and ideas.
The two countries were very similar in the “Masculinity” category. This indicates if the society is driven by competition and success, and knowing they are the best. Both Saudi Arabia and the United States both scored fairly high on the scale, showing that they are both in fact masculine countries. The other category that they were somewhat similar in was “Long Term Orientation,” which refers to how every society has to maintain some link with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and the future. Saudi Arabia had a low score of 36, while the United States was even lower at just 26. This means both countries have great respect for their traditions and always want quick results. I think that the information that was given was accurate. I can see how it could be criticized for a simplified approach and for reinforcing stereotypes, but I don’t think that was a problem in this case.
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Very clever to choose SA to “substitute” for Yemen. I’m thinking about your report about the degree of “masculinity” (this is an interesting choice of term by the consultancy company; to me it seems a tad old-fashioned, but it’s just a term…) and also Tony’s comment about individuality… I’m certain that the ideals, and norms, around competition and success are somewhat different in American and in Saudi cultures; alone in terms of access to success.
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In 1987, a Seoul National University student, Park Jong-chul, was tortured to death by the martial law enacting National Defense Emergency Policy Committee established by the tyrannical general Chun Doo-hwan. The event sparked national outcry and incited the June Democratic Movement around the country and led to the nation’s first democratic election. This chain of events sparked the beginning of South Korea’s trend towards economic growth resembling the United States, and yet maintained deep cultural differences with the nation.
The major differences pointed out by the Hoftsede Centre were a 73-point difference in Individualism and a 74-point difference in Long Term Orientation. South Korea maintains more a collectivist society than our very individualistic culture in America. There is a long-term commitment to the family and the society fosters strong relationships between individuals where all feel accountability. In the article by Raymond Cohen, there are a number of examples showing the difficulties that can occur when negotiating is occurring between countries in these two separate camps. When negotiating the KORUS Free Trade Agreement, misunderstandings might have occurred when concerning the power of the President to make decisions because the high-context society of South Korea may have underestimated the power of the perceived hierarchal leader. One really interesting difference I discovered was South Korea having a perfect score in Long Term Orientation, which is the inclination to take a pragmatic approach and be focused on the long-term economic benefits of a corporation. I would expect a collective society to be impeded in old time traditions and yet South Koreans tend to forgo long held beliefs in exchange for practical good examples. There is an emphasis on taking exuberant costs to protect the environment rather than focusing on the bottom line as is emphasized here. This might explain why the growth of the South Korean economy has boomed as of late with the Seoul Capital Area having the 4th largest economy while being labeled the most “livable megacity” as of 2016. I hate to bring back another Bong-Joon Ho film but “The Host” is a perfect example of the contradiction in business perception. Taking a “Godzilla” approach, an American military pathologist dumps formaldehyde down the drain as per country protocol, creating a monster that wrecks havoc near the Han River. It actually garnered so much sympathy for it’s anti-American image that North Korea allowed the film to be played throughout theaters in the country.
The comparisons used at the Hoftsede Centre I find to be extremely informative and quite important when it comes to the subject of intercultural communication. The University of Melbourne Helpsheet on Intercultural Communication points out a criticism of intercultural communication is its tendency to “generalize about cultures. “ However, they brilliantly stated the idea is not to state in generalizations but to clarify the particular characteristics existing within a spectrum of individuals in a country and use those characteristics to understand, empathize, and act accordingly to these specific beliefs and values.
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Sorry for the spacing!! It was separated into neat paragraphs when I first cut the comment into the box.
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No worries 🙂
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Matthew: This is an extremely insightful analysis! I have to say, you combine the readings and the cultural comparative scores in very interesting way here. You left me wondering about the aspects of long-term orientation vs. pragmatism. Environmental sustainability is a great example of (perhaps?) a culture-specific modification, or a melange of long-term & pragmatism; of the willingness to spend now for the future. (I remember “The Host” but for some odd reason don’t remember having experienced it as “anti-American” at all — another interesting cultural perception…)
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I had the same feeling towards it as well when I first saw the film. It was based off an actual event that occurred with a Korean mortician working for the American military. Joon-ho explained that he sees it more as a critic on U.S. politics more so than flat out anti-sentiment. Yet again, an interesting cultural perception in the way they believe corporations or the “American” attitude is. Maybe lingering resentment post Korean war military presence……?
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Hello ! So during my scope of the map I chose a country which hadn’t been marked yet, and Vietnam was just the one. The article highlighted several cultural dimensions different from U.S. customs but it was 2 certain categories that stood out to me. First, was the extremely high levels of Power distance in Vietnam. “Power Distance” in a nut-shell refers to the way power is rationed and the level that which the less powerful members accept that power is distributed unequally. Here in the U.S. we pride ourselves on being a country of equality and equal rights for all and at any moment that rule is compromised, we are quick to fight for it. Vietnam in contrast has a 70 percent ratio, whom believe in the complete opposite. The majority believe in a “hierarchical order” in which everyone has a certain place and level they stand at and no further justification or change is needed. Those at a high level remain in leadership and those at lower levels remain as subordinates, and any “challenge of authority” is disapproved.
The Second distinctive category was Individualism. Individualism in societies are measured at two levels: Collectivist or Individualist. Individualist tend to be more self-originated and remain focused on the well-being of only themselves and close family. Collectivist however, are more formulated into groups, in which they take care of in exchange for loyal. America has more of an individualist stand point and mostly worry about covering their own-selves for we feel a sense of “your on your own” towards others. Vietnam on the other hand at a 20 percent score, stand as strong collectivist and build on the loyalty to their groups. Long-term relationships and bonds are what drive this country for the better.
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In my own opinion I believe in Vietnam’s Collectivist society for I think more can be accomplished by the masses versus just being selfish and only worry about you and your own. Being open to others viewpoint past your own, gives more insight how to proper run management. But moving forward I 100% disagree with Vietnam’s level power distance. The lack of movement and growth within their society is ridiculous and unrealistic in my world. To be placed and level and have to remain stagnate beside having no voice or opposition to authority is simply unjust.
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The idea of collectivism has indeed been linked to many Asian cultures (as diverse as they are). But perhaps the power distance and collectivism are also related, in that perhaps collective cultures are not challenging authority as much as more individualistic cultures. If the collective well-being matters more than individual up-ward mobility, then perhaps existing power structures remain more static. Your point is well-taken, though: both are good qualities, just in moderation.
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1. The country that I have chosen is the Philippines and some of the similarities it has with the United States is the Masculinity, which means that you really have to work for what you want in life and nothing is given. Also it shows how competitive the Philippines is just like the United States in terms of achievement and success by oneself. Also like the United States they are similar through the Uncertainty Avoidance meaning that they pretty much just got with the flow rather than worry about what the future entails and they live more in the present. Also they are similar in the Long Term Orientation meaning they like the United States care about tradition and don’t really want to spend but rather save for the future.
They are different in the Power Distance and how the Philippines is a hierarchical society meaning that the higher of a class you are there is a major difference in life compared to the lower class and you begin to have more power similar to the United States but on a much larger level. They are also different because of the Individualism because how most Americans begin to move out and live on their own from their families at a certain age in the Philippines they tend to live with their families for a majority of their lives.
2. This might manifest between people in the Philippines on how close knit they are and tend to not rely only on themselves but rather on others. I think media really doesn’t show the life in the Philippines because of it being a third world country, us in the United States really don’t get exposed to how drastically different life is their until we actually visit a third world country.
3. I personally believe these categorical comparisons because I’ve been to the Philippines multiple times and the life there is analyzed pretty well with this chart based on my experiences there first hand. I think these tools are still useful because universal culture I believe is still far away from being accepted by everyone because life is so different from country to country.
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Your #3. is very persuasive — and it goes well with our Week 3 (to be published): Globalization doesn’t mean uniformity; and we use metaphors and, yes, simplifications, in order to understand and categorize the world. Clearly the consultancy company creating these models has a market for them — Western companies wanting to work with, or set up shop, in other countries. Since you have the experience — what do you think a consultancy company in the Philippines would say about the US? Do you think they would use the same terminology and categories? Would some other cultural characteristics interest them more?
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The country I chose was South Korea and doing a comparison with the United States, almost everything is the complete opposite. For example, individualism in South Korea is at 18 while in the United States it is at 91. This shows that South Korea is more of a collectivist society, being that they take care of each other and work together as groups, whereas in America, it’s more like “every man for himself” and his family. The chart also shows that Korea is at 100 for long-term orientation while America is at 26, which is a significant difference.
Between people, I feel that being a collectivist society, it makes Korea a very “close” country being that they are working together with extended relationships. With those in Korea, even those who are not Korean, they all become a group increasing the intercultural communication. While in America, although we are a very diverse country filled with many different cultures, a lot of Americans are not interested in learning about other cultures because we’re into individualism and just taking care of ourselves and our families. As for the media, I think that the long-term orientation can definitely affect what is put out for citizens to see. Since Korea is very long-term oriented, they take a more pragmatic approach and live by virtues and practical good examples. They look further in the future and try to choose the best path in order to achieve the best results for the generations to come. Here in America, people are always finding and analyzing new information with a “can-do” attitude and taking risks. We are more of a short-term basis country, which is the opposite of South Korea. This being said, what we see in our newspapers or on websites with statistics can differ significantly since we have different goals in mind.
I think this information can definitely be helpful, especially to students. These comparisons helped me learn a lot more about Korea and even America. It showed statistics and explained in depth about each factor. These comparisons show the differences between a person living in America and a person living in South Korea, which I find fascinating.
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Kara, something I personally took away from your insightful analysis is the impact of culture in the economic success of a nation. This is indeed something many politicians and business experts discuss after several deep global recessions. What DOES it take? Japan, now struggling with economic challenges, was for a long time the economic miracle of the East. (Other rising tech economies would be called “the Japan of… Europe /Latin America, etc.) How much is it about certain opportunity, how much about culture? As you note, it would seem SK and the US are almost the opposite; yet they are weathering the economic turmoil well. At the same time, they both have a flourishing pop culture scene (and one that seems to be influencing one another). Interesting…
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The Country I have selected is Bangladesh. I found this country very interesting due to the fact that it is a third world country but seems to operate very efficiently. A few things to point out about Bangladesh is that it has a huge gap between the wealthy and the poor, the United States has a gap but not to the extent of the Bengali people. They operate under a prime minister which to me would be akin to our president. They operate a bi partisan system similar to the U.s and anyone within those parties is welcome to run for a government position.
Looking at the reports I’m finding that the two countries have some similarities as well as some vast differences. This could make communications between the two in a real life situation simple or difficult depending on the subject they are discussing. They ranked higher in uncertainty avoidance which shows that they value tradition a lot more, The united states is a lot more unorthodox so that could always cause a conflict. They rank the same in their masculinity so that characteristic could be for the advantage of some diplomats. As far as media is concerned I would never expect to see some of the more extreme shows that we see in the United states in Bangladesh.
I believe there is some truth to these analyses, but I wouldn’t go as far as to see its completely reflective of these societies. It is a useful tool for research purposes but I could understand the complaint that it has some stereotypical aspects to it. I personally believe that there is truth to some stereotypes and because of that I won’t go as far as to deem there research inaccurate. When thinking about a universal culture I don’t think this either helps or hurts it. I don’t really believe it affects it too much to be completely honest. I believe that social media helps to breed the universal culture and the increased connectivity we have to information and other people helps bring forth the universal culture.
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Interesting! I have to react immediately. Do you think there’s a separate, online, universal culture emerging; and I mean separate from the real-world cultural contexts?
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And another comment re: your wise reflections about stereotypes and their relative nature. When you have a moment take a look at India vs. Bangladesh. As you probably know B used to belong to the same region (see Week 3). I haven’t done this comparison but you just made me think whether and how much I&B would differ, given that they share a great part of history but have had a very different past 100 or so years…
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I am comparing Japan to the United States. By just looking at the numbers in comparison, Japan and US differ a pretty good amount, especially that of Individualism, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation. However, a lot of the numbers for Japan are around the 50 mark. The closet similarity of the two is power distance, in which refers to expected and accepted unequal power, Japan being a little higher than the United States, but generally both have a bare minimalist hierarchical society. In some sense there is a higher man in a certain setting but people are technically born equal, but hard work and dedication one can be ahead of another. There are differences as well Individualism is relatively low or average for Japan, meaning to be a more of a collectivist society than the United States. In the US we are much more to ourselves, and immediate family than Japan is, but comparing Japan to other Asian cultures, they are much more individualist. This could be a staying at job long-term is more usual for the Japanese, which is a more individualist thing to do, comparable to the US. A huge difference is the long-term orientation. Japanese are big on completing their duty that will provide for the future, which is what they believe to be inevitable. They are providing for society as a whole, rather than the big cash money. However, the United States is pretty opposite. The US works more off a short-term basis, looking for quick results within their job. One more big difference between the two is uncertainty avoidance. Japan is very high because they have to be prepared for any type of natural disaster that can happen, because many happen in this country. Everything is set out with a plan and a predicted outcome. Compared to the United States, we are a pretty go-with-the-flow type of society. Trial and error is big as well. A similarity and difference within the same category is masculinity. While both countries are largely competitive, Japan is competitive for their group or company, while America is competitive for them personally.
I don’t believe there is a universal culture coming about and I believe this type of analysis shows this. There may be certain similarities, but there will always be something that one culture does differently than another, or believes in differently. I found this analysis to be interesting because I learned things about the United States that I never thought of before, or realized. Also, reading about how different Japan actually is from other Asian cultures was interesting to read about as well. Like they explain, these analysis are the basic, typical statistics of the country, what the usual is, and it may just confirm certain stereotypes, but a stereotype wouldn’t have came about if it weren’t just a little bit true somewhere in that culture, in my opinion. I found the analysis to be fun and interesting to read.
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See my comment to Kara — and you seem to be offering the solution in your analysis: Japan is competitive for their group or company, while America is competitive for them personally. – Both can be recipes for success, the latter might be more supportive of an attitude for small and medium-sized businesses while the former kind of culture would support bigger organizations. BONUS points for then checking Japan against other Asian cultures! Perhaps the connections to the West have altered that significantly in the past decades.
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The country I chose is India. Something interesting was the difference in scores on the power distance dimension. The United States scored a 40, while India scored a 77. Being rather high, this means that the Indian people have an appreciation for hierarchy and have an acceptance for unequal rights. They feel that everyone has their place in society and feel one must act upon their place. America scoring a 40 shows how the American underclass do not accept that all people are unequal and wish to make a change. According to this dimension, the Indian people are more comfortable with top-down structure in society. Another dimension that had a drastic difference was individualism. India scored a 48, while the US scored a 91. This shows that India is much more community based than the US. In Indian culture, people rely on family, friends, neighbors, and other members of their community while the American people are much more “do it myself” types. I know that it is often common in India, as well as many Asian cultures for families to live together all through life, including the extended family at time. This differs from Americans, who usually purchase their own homes. A similarity however, was the dimension of masculinity. India scored a 56 while America scored a 62. There is not a big difference among the two, showing that both countries are driven by competition, achievement and success. India is the fourth largest economy in the world, while the US is first so this comparison makes sense. Both countries are world economy leaders. Masculine countries such as India and the US focus on their achievements and admire brand names and material items.
My roommate is first generation American, her parents being born in India. I’ve visited her house several times where she lives with her mom, dad, brother and grandpa. They are very family and community oriented. They are friendly and involved with those in their community, including the members of their church. My family is personally not religious at all, which I am not sure if this is a reflection of differing of cultures or if because my parents and my roommate’s parents were raised differently. I say this because although my mom is not religious, my aunt is. One thing I found interesting with on of my visits was when my roommate’s dad blessed her and I with holy water before bringing us back to school. This is something he does to her often and a part of their culture. Her parents are also very big on becoming successful, trying to push their children to go to good schools and get top careers. Although I notice some cultural differences, mostly in their religious practices, food, and at times clothing, they are still just a family like any other.
I found this website more informative than stereotypical. I watched a Ted Talk once by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in which she discusses “the danger of a single story”. She addresses stereotypes and says how often times they are not wrong, but they are just one side of the story. Stereotypes come into play because many times people do not take the time to educate themselves on a matter, but rather just listen and absorb what is being told to them. I think the comparisons in dimensions on this website were fairly accurate and are definitely a helpful tool when looking at globalization.
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Alyssa: THANK YOU so much for the wise quotation and the TED Talk – here’s the link for those interested: https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en
Thank you also for sharing your personal reflections. This is precisely how we can think and rethink those single stories – sharing and assessing real-life experiences.
Having traveled and worked in the academic context in India, I want to make the note of the old Caste system that certainly has to do with issues of power hierarchy. It is vanishing to an extent, and Dalits (casteless cast) have gained political visibility and power in the democratic context of India (e.g., http://indianhope.free.fr/site_eng/dalit.php3) , but it’s still in the historical web of India’s culture. As I have been explained, the caste was working a tad similarly as Western European systems of Guilds (resulting in castes of sorts (notwithstanding kings, priests, farmers, merchants…). But clearly the Caste system still has more concrete, cultural power in India.
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When looking at the dimensions the caste system kept coming to mind. A country’s history is what shapes it to become what it is today, so the caste system definitely plays a definitive role in India’s culture. Thinking of their history helps explain their scores on this website.
Also, I highly recommend those who have not seen it to view the Ted Talk. It is extremely eye opening and inspiring!
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For my country, I chose China. I thought about choosing the Philippines which is my homeland but I decided to challenge myself and immerse myself in a culture that I don’t know too much about.
For starters, the biggest difference between China and the U.S. according to the Hofstede Centre is Individualism. China has a score of 20 and the U.S. has a score of 91. In the U.S., I feel that a lot of people only feel responsible for their family, their close friends, and themselves. I think this comes from a lack of ‘real’ relationships created from person to person. Many of the friends that we have are only in our lives for a certain period of time with a few exceptions. Look at just about any TV show. The main character will have a couple of best friends (maybe two or three) and then recurring characters who aren’t really friends but people they’re just friendly with. Even the word ‘friend’ is very different to the Chinese, according to the Hofstede Centre. In China, a friend is someone who is supposed to be a life-long companion. Also, the Chinese seem to be more caring about groups of people instead of their close-knit groups in general.
This leads me to another major difference between China and the U.S. For ‘Long-Term Orientation’ China scored 87 and the U.S. scored 26. According to the Hofstede Centre Long-Term Orientation refers to “how every society has to maintain some links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future.” People in the U.S. are constantly changing its ideals. I believe this happens because of the constant mixing of different cultures as well as the emphasis of different values. For instance, one of the main reasons for the formation of this country was the ability to freely practice any religion. Now, it seems that organized religion is disappearing within our culture. In China, a lot of traditions are passed down through generations. Their culture seems to be based more on retaining the knowledge of the pass and evolving slowly rather as opposed to American willingness to change.
I was surprised to see that ‘Masculinity’ was the biggest similarity between the two countries. China had a score of 66 and the U.S. had a score of 62. However, when I started reading more into the definition of Masculinity, it was not what one would think. It actually refers to ambition for success. In China, it seems that adults push students for the best results in schools. After some research, I saw that some students are also in school for twelve hours a day, six days a week. I’m not too sure if this is reflected in their media but if you watch certain movies and television shows in America, Asians are typically stereotyped as being smart in school (not all movies and TV shows but a good amount of them). Even though the U.S. has almost the same score, I believe that Americans’ ambition comes from individuals themselves, especially those immigrants who strive to achieve the ‘American Dream.’ The struggles that immigrants face in America are starting to be more exposed in the media through books and documentaries that focus on a specific person but can be applied to thousands of other people.
The information gathered from the Hofstede Centre does seem to have some truth behind them but their statistics do not reflect the beliefs of each citizen. I think it was useful to gain insight and compare cultures in a general sense but if I was doing a research paper on it, I would like to gain insight from actual people instead relying on this website. With regards to the media, I think that the media is more than capable of warping public belief. However, it is slowly becoming better in accuracy due to the internet. With the internet, people can automatically find individuals who will expose certain aspects in cultures based on their own experiences.
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Understanding China is possibly one of the most important challenges for anyone wanting to understand globalization and its future. This also the case in terms of the media and entertainment business. It’s surprising how little we actually discuss this — but here are some news from just a few days ago: http://uk.businessinsider.com/china-is-buying-a-lot-of-foreign-companies-2016-2?r=US&IR=T
Your critique of the comparison seems fair to me. Indeed, China, compared to the US seems to resemble many other Asian countries — yet, we know, that China is very different from, say, Vietnam. Intercultural communication is naturally just one aspect of a culture — and the model you used is created by Europeans. If you could imagine the categories, say Chinese would like to assess in other cultures, do you think these categories would work for then, too?
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The country that I choose is North Korea. North Korea and China is separated by only the Yalu River，but the vision in North Korea is totally different than China. It seemed asleep, and the roadside trees were the tallest landmarks. Therefore, in many people’s eyes, North Korea is a state, which is mysterious. It is also the most isolated and secretive country in the world due to the seclusion policy.
There are a lot of difference between North Korea and the United States. Firstly, the media of North Korea is among the most strictly controlled in the world because of the intense censorship, meanwhile，it is difficult for foreign media freedom to report. According to the World Press Freedom Index Ranking, which by Reporters Without Borders, the data shows from 2007 to 2015 North Korea has been listed second to last of the 177 countries, and from 2002 through 2006 it was listed the worst in the world. The report means there is no change in North Korea’s inadequate press situation. Because of the tight control, people in other countries can’t get enough information to understand and know the country. It caused people to have had limited recognition of North Korea. Meanwhile, the computer and Internet penetration rate is very low in North Korea.
The second thing that I want to mention is the slavish devotion to leaders in North Korea. Kim II-Sung, Kim Jong-Il and Kim Jong-un are three leaders，whom are regarded as“god”in North Korea. Direct criticism of leaders is virtually taboo in North Korea, so citizens in North Korea never dare to criticize the leadership out loud. If someone said something wrong as well as criticize the leader, they might be arrested by the government or blamed by others. North Koreans have rituals of worshiping their leaders; I used to watch a documentary, which was recorded by BBC, one-scene shows a group of pedestrians leave after paying their respects at the statue of Kim II-Sung in Pyongyang. They were standing in front of the statue with a deep and formal bow.
I personally believe in these kinds of comparisons due to some of my friends used to travel the North Korea, their experiences are very similar as well as what I got from the Internet. But, I do hope North Korea can be better.
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In terms of intercultural communications, China and the United States contrast each other in almost all six aspects recorded. For power distance, a vast majority of the population expect and accept that power is distributed unequally throughout the population. In the United States on the other hand, only 40% of the population expects and accepts these terms. For individualism, China is on the lower side of the spectrum, showing very little individualism. The United States values individuals drastically more with 91% of the population preferring individualistic qualities. The one category where both countries run fairly parallel is masculinity. With both countries in the 60 percentile, each desires being the best at something in life over merely liking what they do by a small margin. Although not too far from each other, the Chinese generally feel less threatened by new or unknown events, while almost half of the US population avoids these situations. China’s long term orientation value staggers over the United States as the Chinese feel far more obligated to maintain ties with their past than Americans. Being a country that truly appreciates indulging itself, the United States typically indulges almost three times as much as China.
Since these two countries are quite different from each other in terms of intercultural communication, I believe this could result in a lack of understanding each other’s perceptions. According to this data, we have very different values as far as intercultural communication goes, which means we may not see eye-to-eye in real life situations. For media content, I believe they would differ greatly in order to better suit the general population of each country. For example, since we as Americans value individualism far more than China, I feel that our media would produce a much larger variety of content.
In the end, I have a hard time agreeing with this analyses because of how large the population in China is. Although I feel this gives a proficient general analyses on the topic, overall I would question its accuracy. For the United States, I believe the data could be somewhat more accurate due to the fact that our population is over four times smaller than China’s. In conclusion, I think this data can be useful in regards to giving somebody a basic idea of a country’s intercultural communication values. I believe that we are growing closer to universal culture, but certain aspects of society such as traditions and religion continue to separate us culturally.
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Annika, Joshua & you have indeed chosen an important country — thank you for that. I’m convinced that you are right in terms of the cultural diversity of China; and I’m sure you are onto something suggesting that some kind of unification of cultures is underway. I’m not sure if the latter is related to popular culture and online communities, only, but your comment made me think of claims of almost a class-based unified culture of those engaged in international business; equally at home in Hong Kong, Lima, and New York.
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Yuxiao: Thank you for choosing North Korea! — Note re: week 3 that North and South Koreans are a prime example of ethnic nationalism — sharing a long common history before the division — but naturally divided in terms of civic nationalism.
North Korea is also perhaps one of the most extreme examples of the “Taliban model” of communication (Week 3) — the most insular in terms of communication. — You are also ahead of yourself in that I was going to refer to the RwB and Freedom House indices in Week 4. You’ve done your homework well, and beyond!
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My country of choice was Thailand, one of the reasons I chose to pick Thailand was because it has been on my bucket list and I am in the mists of planning my next getaway there! When comparing Thailand to the United States with the Hofstede model I was surprised by some of the graph results, which I will go further into detail as I explain all the results. The first category was “power distance,” the power distance has to do with the individuals and societies not being equal and the citizens of the county understand and accept this. Thailand had a score of 64, which the chart explains is slightly different than other Asian countries, which normally have a percentage of around 71. What this means is that the citizens of Thailand are not only ok with not being equal with one another, but they in fact are more loyal and respectful to people that are “above” them because they want security and direction. I found this to be very interesting because the United States scored 40 and this does not surprise me, I do not believe people in the U.S. are okay with inequality and this is shown and proven not only by our laws, but our lifestyles and rights. The next section on the graph was individualism; Thailand had a number of 20 while the United States 91, Thailand is a very collectivist country as described online and show by the results, which does not surprise me by the previous numbers in the power distance section. The United States is again quit the opposite, however I couldn’t slightly argue this because as independent as people are in the United States they still rely heavily on businesses, our government, and higher authorities to make their lives easier in some sense.
The next section on the graph is masculinity; the graph shows Thailand at 34 and the United States at 62, Thailand’s results show that it is a more feminine country, which means that quality of life is a sign of success and being different is not highly regarded. This is quite the opposite in the U.S., which is why I expected to see a higher number than 62 in this section. The following section “uncertainty avoidance” Thailand scored 64 and the U.S. 46, this section has to do with society not knowing what the future holds. Thailand’s score indicates that the country does not see change happen often and that the government and citizens try to avoid change along with uncertainty. Once again this is not the case with the United States, as fortunate as we are to have the freedom we do, I feel as though we often don’t really know what will happen next and have come to a point where nothing seems to surprise us anymore whether it is positive or tragic. In the “Long Term Orientation” section the graph shows Thailand at 32 and the U.S. at 26, this section has to do with how citizens deal with the fact that the future can never be known. The website indicates that Thailand’s low score signifies that Thai’s culture is normative, meaning that the people want truth, culture, and tradition. The last section on the graph talks about indulgence, which is described “as the extend to which people try to control their desires and impulses.” Thailand scored 45 and the U.S. at 64, the results indicate that a score of 45 cannot determine whether Thailand is Indulgent or a restrained country. Over all by the graph results it is very clear that Thailand and the United States live a completely different lifestyle especially in the first two categories.
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The country that I decided to choose is Indonesia. Indonesia, compared to the United States, has a higher percentage of accepting and understanding that power is distributed unequally (with a percentage difference of 78%-Indonesia and 40%-the United States). This means that in Indonesia, those who are under managerial positions or positions of leadership are submissive. They follow orders and comply with directions and orders. This may seem like an admirable trait to have, respecting those of authority but unfortunately it also means that “all individuals in societies are not equal.” A few other differences that Indonesia has compared to the United States in individualism (Indonesia-14%/U.S.-91%), masculinity (Indonesia-46%/U.S.-62%), long-term orientation (Indonesia-62%/U.S.-26%), and indulgence (Indonesia-38%/U.S.-68%). One of the basic similarities that Indonesia and the United States share is uncertainty avoidance (Indonesia-48%/U.S.-46%).
This interested me because in Indonesia, it is said that the people show politeness and retreat from visibly being upset. People in Indonesia enjoy positivity and happiness and never want to transmit bad news or put a damper on both personal relationships and the relationships they share in the workplace and with strangers. Though the percentages are very close, I think that it is difficult to say that the United States acts in the same manner, because we are all so different. I also think that this uncertainty avoidance, or the avoidance of accepting unknown situations can impede on the process of communications and prevent international communications from flourishing. I think that communications is most effective when all things are brought to the forefront and are known and discussed in a respectful but necessary manner.
When we focus on long-term orientation I think that it’s necessary for internal communications and communications through the media to link our past with what we are dealing with in our present and what we will face in our future. It keeps us aware of our past and helps us compare our present to it to see how we can better ourselves as members of a society for our future. I thought it was quite remarkable how Indonesia scored so high.
I like to believe in these kinds of analyses because some like the ones I discussed can really help our world communicate on an interesting level. However I think that these percentages aren’t exact because everyone changes and everyone grows and develops new views, new ideas, new skills so it can be hard to maintain consistency with the analyses. But it is interesting to at least get a feel for the comparisons between various countries. I’m glad I chose Indonesia, however I’m really interested to examine other countries as well especially in Asia.
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Christinap15: I believe you posted twice and I replied to you above…
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Edina: I’m delighted that this assignment (and really, the semester) can be a part of your planning process. It would be interesting to hear what you think after your travels. Thailand is a big travel destination — and perhaps the way the nation survived the Tsunami of a decade ago has been one example of communal, resilient, accepting nature of Thai people. (Some note this is the strong influence of Buddhism but, judging from your assessments of a variety of Asian countries, these characteristics seem to be pan-Asian to some extent.)
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China was a bit too obvious of a choice for me. If anything, I feel obligated to do it to see whether or not my anecdotal evidence is supported or denied by genuine research. Now, having said that, let’s actually look at what Hofstede Centre says.
For the most part, I would say that America’s one similarity (Masculinity) is rather accurate, although they are driven by clearly driven by different rationales. Indeed, America is marked extremely high for its sense of individuality, whereas that is clearly the opposite for the Chinese. Indeed, whereas many Americans are driven by the goal to compete, hence their focus on success, many Chinese are driven to succeed because of the heavy societal pressures of both school and family. I had not actually considered it until I saw it on the graph, but it does make sense that America is much more inclined to indulgence than the Chinese. What struck me as most interesting however, was that, despite being a highly collectivist culture, the nature of Chinese power distance is twice as high as America, despite the fact that we often talk about American economic equality which usually implies heavy power distance.
While I think it’s too much to say that you can just break an entire country down into numbers, I would say that Hofstede Centre does the best it can with the format. If anything, I don’t really need to guess at hypotheticals. Rather, I feel like this has helped contextualize some previous situations where my girlfriend had an odd sort of reverence for her landlord in a way that most of my friends simply did not. Similarly, the clear value of collectivism is established as several of my students at the GLCC have clarified that their majors were decided either directly or indirectly by their parents, either to continue the family business or to simply learn something that they deemed to be useful or worthwhile.
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A A Ron & Annika have made very similar observations to yours about China. I’m delighted that you 3 will focus on China this semester because it is a global superpower. Again, because China’s de facto business imperialism is a reality, this makes me wonder what qualities we need from commercial success. http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/china-in-africa-the-new-imperialists In a general level, China seems quite similar to other Asian countries. We know how natural and other resources play a great part, but what else?
I would also love to encourage one of you to look at HONG KONG (maybe vis-a-vis mainland China) — what an interesting case!
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The country I chose was South Korea. The biggest differences between South Korea and the United States lie in individualism, long term orientation, and uncertainty avoidance. South Korea is classed as being not so focused on the individual and more about the collective whole. People think of themselves more as “we” rather than “I.” South Korea was given a 100 for long term orientation and the United States got a 26. South Korea thinks more about the wellbeing of society in the future. This means they forego short term thrills and view societal change as something positive. South Korea scored very low on uncertainty avoidance. This means they are very strict when it comes to their beliefs and behavior. Essentially, they strive for perfection in all things to cope with the fact of how uncertain the future is.
When it comes to individualism, it is clear how this manifests in America. America is the symbol for being yourself. It is only natural that a nation that stresses individualism not be so focused on long term orientation and uncertainty avoidance. Individualism results in deviations from the norm which go against the idea of uncertainty avoidance. Taking new risks welcomes new dangers that perhaps would not have been encountered by playing it safe. The situation with North Korea demonstrates how all these manifest themselves. South Korea is classed as a feminine nation. This means conflicts are resolved through compromise and negotiation. The Korean War “ended” on an armistice. Due to the situation they are in with North Korea, it is almost imperative they have such discipline when it comes to the future of their nation because the threat of war is very real. In times of great turmoil, people naturally think of themselves as part of something greater. When the Twin Towers fell, people came together as New Yorkers. When people go to war, they think of themselves either as the unit they’re in or the country they belong to. The same applies to how the enemy views them.
There is some degree of truth to what was posted by the Hofstede Center but it should go without saying that one should not trust this entirely. The way an entire nation of people conduct themselves cannot be quantified into a bar graph.
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Ryan: Your analysis of crises unifying nations is directly related to Week 3 – excellent. The discussion re: NK, SK, and the US highlights a certain “layers” of culture; how different ethnically nationalist countries SK & NK are; and yet how different both are from the US. (See also Yuxiao’s comment.) I would have loved to read a bit more about your thoughts in terms of negotiations (especially as some of our readings addressed this specifically).
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There are prominent differences in intercultural communication between the United States and the Philippines. In the United States, the way one addresses someone who is not familiar to the person, is not as significant to those who are from the Philippines. In the Philippines, if one is not familiar with someone or they do not know of that person’s last name, it is customary to address the person as “sir” or “ma’am” while that is of less importance in the United States. The government in the Philippines also plays a bigger role in what media outlets put out, which in turn affects the way that the Philippine people relate to people of other cultures. If you or only use to seeing certain groups of people and hearing about others, and you are only presented with these images consistently, it will make it harder to relate to people who are not what you are use to. And if one has a preconceived idea or notion about a group of people due to what is in the media, people cannot get past stereotyping or cultural appropriation, whether intentionally or not.
I seemingly agree with the report that Hofstede Centre has provided. With the government of the Philippines being corrupt and controlling, I would believe that the power difference, individualism, and indulgence are not very similar to those of the United States. The government has control of the media outlets in the Philippines, so who would want to indulge in a government that is not fair to its citizens but praises the nature of the state, if this is the case. The media have such a choke hold on it due to the power struggle in the Philippines that the United States is not really faced with the simple fact that the United States allows media outlets the opportunity to express what placates them and demonstrates a welcoming culture that thrives on the inclusion of people of a copious number of backgrounds. For example, The Miss Universe pageant. The winner of the 2015 Miss Universe crown, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, is from the Philippines and a perfect example of what the United States, as a cultural melting pot has to offer. Ms.Wurtzbach had to compete against a cornucopia of women from other cultures in order to win her crown. There are not many if any other countries that hosts such an event allows contestants to embody what the country they are from and get to explicate how their true emotions without being in fear of being retaliated against.
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Octavia thank you for making your assessment of the Philippines very concrete, illustrating the kind of communication the degree of familiarity and informality results in. Also, I appreciate your notion of the government’s involvement in media content — that, in tern, naturally influences cross-cultural communication and intercultural understanding. This is exactly the point of this week’s exercise!
Annika — what is your take on Octavia’s analysis?
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My country of choice is India. I chose this country because my mother’s side of the family has Indian heritage. I wish to see the correlations of how my mom’s guyanese culture compares to that of India. I already know that the cuisine is something that I can honestly say is a direct correlation. It’s very interesting to see that India still operates with a caste system. Seeing as how Guyana was not an option for a comparison country, I decided to compare to the US instead. In Individualist societies people are supposed to look after themselves and their direct family only. In Collectivist societies people belong to ‘in groups’ that take care of them in exchange for loyalty. It caught my attention that although India had a rather “intermediate” score, the US had a far higher score of 91. This means that the US is far more individualistic than India, which I find surprising. I find this surprising because as the polls have established, India is very dependent on the boss or power holder for instruction.
Apparently, the Individualist aspect of Indian society is seen as a result of Hinduism, which happens to be the dominant religion. The Hindus believe in a cycle of death and rebirth, with the manner of each rebirth being dependent upon how the individual lived the preceding life. People are, therefore, individually responsible for the way they lead their lives and the impact it will have upon their rebirth. So this is another reason I was surprised that the US had a higher score. I believe comparisons like these could definitely enforce stereotypes about nations. However it does have its benefits, because not everyone is fortunate enough to visit these countries and make their own first hand observations. I completely disagree that we are all getting closer to a “universal culture”. Every nation has something that makes them differ from the others around the globe, and I believe that is something they should hold strong, otherwise it lead to a very boring world.
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