What is Culture?

- Basics in Sociology

Language, Beliefs, Values, Norms, Behavior

Passed from One Generation to the Next

Material Jewelry, art, buildings, etc.

Nonmaterial Cultures beliefs, values, etc.

Story in Ampleforth unfamiliar territory and

universal norms
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 Chapter 2: Culture

Culture and Taken-for-Granted

Orientations

Using your sociological imagination in culture

Meeting someone new and seeing the effects of a much different

culture

Internalization of our norms eye contact, space, etc.

Culture Shock When your material and non-material fail

you. The eerie feeling is culture shock. Ex. Pushing

Ethnocentrism Culture within us - Positive/Negative

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Chapter 2: Culture

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Ampleforth

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Ampleforth Spring

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Ampleforth Orchards

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Researchers Accommodation

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 Different?

Same?

Both?

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Universal Values?

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 Chapter 2: Culture

Stereotypes and Humor Material

Heaven Vs Hell

Elephants across cultures

Allowed | Prohibited

War

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 Definition
Culture: The deposit of knowledge,
experience, beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, notions of time, roles,
spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and
material objects and possessions acquired by
a group of people in the course of generations
through individual and group striving
(Samovar & Porter, 2003, p. 8)
 Definition (Cont.)
An historically transmitted pattern of
meaning embodied in symbols, a system of
inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic
forms (Geertz, 1973, p. 89)
The term culture usually is reserved to refer
to the systems of knowledge used by
relatively large numbers of people *i.e.,
national groups] (Gudykunst & Kim, 2003, p.
17)
 Definition (Cont.)
Culture is simply a way of talking about
collective identities (Kuper, 1999, p. 3)

All people are the same, its only their habits,

that are different. Confucius
 Practicing Cultural Relativism

Understanding cultures on their own terms

Not seeing the culture as inferior or superior
None of us can be entirely successful at practicing
cultural relativism. Strange foods.
Evaluation through our lens.
Sick Cultures Robert Edgerton - Lack of
enhancement in our lives
Confronting Contrasting Views of Reality
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 Components of Symbolic Culture or
Non-Material Culture

Symbol something to which people attach meaning

and that they use to communicate
Gestures
Using ones body to convey messages without words
Gestures meaning differ among cultures
Can Lead to Misunderstandings
Left handed Americans
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 Components of Symbolic
Culture
Language
Because written language lacks subtle cues,
Emoticons online use
Provides social or shared past
Provides social or shared future
Allows shared perspective
Allows complex, shared, goal-directed behavior
Like Gestures the same sound in one culture is
entirely different in another
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Emoticons - Mike Jones Microsoft Programmer

:-) Smile ;-) Smile with a wink

User with
:<}) :-|| Mad
mustache, smiling

:-)) Really happy :-D Big grin

:-* A kiss :' -( Crying
Sticking out your
:-P~ A lick :-P
tongue
Bug-eyed with
=8O :-~~~ Drooling
fright
User sports a
Frightened (hair
=:O -:-) mohawk and
standing on end)
admires Mr. T

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Language and Perception:
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Language has embedded within it ways of
looking at the world
Sapir-Whorf reverses common sense
It is our language that determines our
consciousness
Language both reflects and shapes cultural
experiences

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Values, Norms, and Sanctions
Values - What is desirable in life
The standards at which we determine what is good or
bad. Education, time is money, technology.
Norms - Expectations or rules for behavior
Should Do
Expectations in our societies
Behaviour in religious gatherings.
Sanctions - Reaction to following or breaking norms
Positive Sanctions
Negative Sanctions
Moral Holidays
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 Folkways and Mores
Folkways - Norms not strictly enforced. Line between
right and rude. Customs
Walking on the right side of the sidewalk
Holding a door
Not belching and burping.
Mores - Core Values: We insist on conformity. Drug
use or extreme dress style. Marriage - no bfs and gfs.
Taboo Most extreme more. Extreme disgust. For
example, Abortion, Giving an even number flowers in
Russia.
Law - Norm written down, Enforced. Theft, murder,
trespassing. 21

Chapter 2: Culture

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Values in U.S. Society. Are ours
different?
Achievement
Progress Equality
and Success
Racism and
Material
Individualism Group
Comfort
Superiority
Activity and
Humanitarianism Education
Work

Efficiency and
Freedom Religiosity
Practicality

Science and
Democracy Romantic Love
Technology

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 Subcultures and
Countercultures
Subculture - A World Within the Dominant Culture
Example Engineering or Management Society.
Tens of thousands of subcultures
Some broad Some specific
Countercultures - Groups With Norms and Values at
Odds With the Dominant Culture
Survivalists -a person who anticipates and prepares
for a future disruption
Enthusiasts v. Gangs

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 Values Clusters,
Contradictions, and
Social Change
Value Clusters values that together form a larger whole
Hard work, education, efficiency, material comfort, and individualism
are bound together

Value Contradiction to follow the one means that you will

come in conflict with another. Freedom, democracy applied
only to some groups. Women's Liberation, Racism, Sexism

It is precisely at the point of value contradictions, then, that one

can see a major force for social change in a society.
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Emerging Values
Leisure
Luxury Cruises
Self-fulfillment
Self help movement
Physical Fitness
Fitness centers
Youthfulness
Plastic surgeries
Concern for the Environment

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Values and Culture
Culture Wars: When Values Clash
A student going abroad!
Value as Blinders What is attainable?
Ideal vs. Real Culture
Norms, values etc. that the group sees as ideal
However most people dont reach these ideals,
this is what sociologist call Real

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Cultural Universals
Some Activities are Universal - Courtship,
Marriage, Funerals, Games.

No universal way of doing any of them.

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Sociobiology
Controversial View of Human Behavior

Biology Cause of Human Behavior

Charles Darwin and Natural Selection

Sociologists and Biologists on Opposite

Sides
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Technology in the
Global Village
The New Technology - New Tools

Cultural Lag and Cultural Change

Cultural Diffusion

Technology and Cultural Leveling

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 Chapter 2: Culture

Sources of Cultural Change

There are several causes of cultural change,
including:
(1) a change in the societal conditions,
(2) cultural diffusion,
(3) innovation, and
(4) the imposition of cultural change by an
outside agency.

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 Culturally Based Differences in
Management Style: Stereotypes
United States

Emotional,
egalitarians

China Germany

Low-profile, Technically expert,

tough authoritarians
negotiators

Japan
France
Formal, Elitist,
consensus authoritarians
seekers
 Multicultural Managers and
Organizations
The Multicultural Manager
Has the skills and attitudes to relate effectively to and
motivate people across race, gender, age, social attitudes,
and lifestyles. Respects and values the cultural differences.
Has the ability (e.g., is bilingual) to conduct business in a
diverse, international environment.
Has a cultural sensitivity in being aware and interested in why
people of other culture act as they do.
Is not parochial in assuming that the ways of ones culture are
the only ways things should be done.
Is not ethnocentric in assuming that the superiority of ones
culture over that of another culture.
 Protocol Dos and Donts in Several Countries

Great Britain

DO say please and thank you often.

DO arrive promptly.

DONT ask personal questions because the British protect their privacy.

DONT gossip about British royalty

France

DO shake hands when greeting.

DO dress more formally than in the United States. Elegant dress is highly valued.

DONT expect to complete any work during the French two
- hour lunch


DONT chew gum in a work setting.
Italy

DO write business correspondence in Italian for priority attention.

DO make appointments between 10:00 and 11:00 or after 3:00.
DONT eat too much pasta, as it is not the main course.

DONT handout business cards too freely. Italians use them infrequently.

 Protocol Dos and Donts in Several Countries

Greece

DO distribute business cards freely so people will know how to spell your name.
DO be prompt even if your hosts are not.

DONT expect to meet deadlines. A project takes as long as theGreeks think is
necessary.
DONT address people by formal or professional titles. The Greeks want more informality.

Japan

DO present your business cards with both hands and a slight bow as a gesture of
respect.
DO present gifts, American-made and wrapped
.
DONT knock competitors.

DONT present the same gift to everyone, unless all members are the same organizational
rank.

 Multicultural Organizations

The Multicultural Organization

Values cultural diversity and is willing to
encourage and even capitalize on
such diversity.
Benefits of a Multicultural
Organization
Achieves the benefits of valuing diversity.
Avoids the problems of not managing
for diversity:
increased turnover
interpersonal conflict
communication breakdowns
 Barriers to Good Cross-Cultural Relations

Perceptual expectations
Predispositions about the appropriate appearance and
physical characteristics of individuals.
Ethnocentrism
A belief that ones culture is the best and judging other
cultures by how closely they resemble ones own
culture.
Intergroup rather than interpersonal relations
Stereotyping individuals based on their group
membership
Stereotypes in intergroup relations
Assuming an individuals personal characteristics based
on their group membership.
 Cross-Cultural Processes:
Motivation
In order to use motivational concepts across cultures,
managers must know two key factors:
Which needs the people are seeking to satisfy.
Which rewards will satisfy those needs.
Research findings:
A motivational concept that
has a good cultural fit with
a culture can be
successfully applied
to that culture.
 Chapter 2: Culture

Cultural dimensions how people look at life

Hofstede's dimensions
Trompenaars dimensions
 Hofstedes Cultural Chapter 2: Culture

Dimensions
Power Distance
Power distance: The extent to which less powerful members
of institutions and organizations accept that power is
distributed unequally
High power distance countries: people may blindly obey the orders of
their superiors and are less likely to question authority. Companies
tend to use centralized decision-making and tall organization
structures (many levels of management)
Low power distance countries: flatter and decentralized organization
structures, smaller ratio of supervisors. Employees are more likely to
question their bosses. Participative management may be used.
 Chapter 2: Culture

Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions

Individualism and Collectivism
Individualism: Tendency of people to look after themselves
and their immediate family only
Countries high in individualism: High individual initiative.
Promotions are based on achievement. Salaries are
based on market value.
Collectivism: Tendency of people to belong to groups or
collectives and to look after each other in exchange for
loyalty
Countries high in collectivism: Low individual initiative.
Salaries and promotions may be based on seniority
Chapter 2: Culture
 Chapter 2: Culture

Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions

Uncertainty Avoidance

Uncertainty avoidance: Extent to which people feel

threatened by ambiguous situations and have created
beliefs and institutions that try to avoid such situations
High uncertainty avoidance countries: people have high need for security,
strong belief in experts and their knowledge, more written rules and
procedures, less risk taking by managers
Low uncertainty avoidance countries: people are more willing to accept
risks associated with the unknown, fewer written rules and procedures,
more risk taking by managers, higher employee turnover, more ambitious
employees
Chapter 2: Culture
 Chapter 2: Culture

Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions

Masculinity and Femininity

Masculinity: the dominant social values are success, money

and things
Countries high in masculinity: People place great
importance on earnings, recognition, advancement,
challenge, and wealth. High job stress.
Femininity: the dominant social values are caring for others
and the quality of life
Countries high in femininity: great importance on
cooperation, friendly atmosphere, employment security,
and the natural environment. Low job stress.
Chapter 2: Culture
 Chapter 2: Culture

Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions

Universalism vs. particularism
Universalism the belief that ideas and practices
can be applied everywhere in the world without
modification. People tend to focus on formal
rules and expect business partners to do the
same.
Particularism the belief that circumstances
dictate how ideas and practices should be
applied and some things cannot be done the
same way everywhere. People tend to focus on
relationships, working things out to suit those
involved.
 Chapter 2: Culture

Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions (2)

Neutral vs. Emotional Cultures

Neutral culture a culture in which emotions
are held in check. People try not to show their
feelings
Emotional culture a culture in which
emotions are expressed openly and naturally.
People smile, may talk loudly, greet each other
with enthusiasm, show happiness or
unhappiness.
 Chapter 2: Culture

Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions (3)

Achievement vs. Ascription n

Achievement culture - culture in which people
are accorded status based on how well they
perform their work and what they have
accomplished
Job, work performance, education, etc.
Ascription culture - culture in which status is
attributed based on who or what a person is
For example, status may be accorded on the basis
of age, gender, family, tribe, ethnic group, etc.
Chapter 2: Culture
 Chapter 2: Culture

Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions (4)

Use of time
Sequential use of time - people do one thing at
a time, keep appointments strictly, follow plans
to the letter
Synchronous use of time - people do more
than one thing at a time, appointments are
approximate
 Chapter 2: Culture

Trompenaars' Research on
People and the External Environment

Inner-directed: People believe in controlling

environmental outcomes and think that
they can control what happens to them
Outer-directed: People believe in allowing
things to take their natural course and
living in harmony with nature. People are
less likely to believe that they can control
what happens to them.