Comparing and Differentiating Cultures

Important dates

• The next class will be held on February 12th, Wednesday, in Large Studio D5.301, for both Graphic Design and Media/Product Design students as compensation for the class on February 24th.
• Graphic Design students will attend slot 3.
• Media and Product Design students will attend slot 5.
• Normal classes will be held on February 17th, Monday.
• There will be no class on February 24th, Monday.

Differentiating Cultures

• Is it possible to compare cultures?

Recap of Concepts of Culture

• Anthropologist Robert M. Keesing proposed 6 definitions of culture.
  • Cultures as Adaptive Systems.
  • Ideational Theories of Culture: Cultures as Cognitive Systems, Cultures as Structural Systems, and Cultures as Symbolic Systems.
  • Culture as a System of Competence.
• Discussions on Cultural Studies have raised awareness of inequities and discrimination within and between different societies and cultural contexts.
• Different situations that arise when cultures meet and mix include:
• Diaspora communities.
• Hybridity and Mimicry.

This lecture will cover

• Geert Hofstede.
• Onion Model of Culture.
• Cultural Dimensions Theory.

Geert Hofstede

• Geert Hofstede was a Dutch anthropologist and social psychologist, born in 1928 and died in 2020.
• Hofstede's focused on intercultural communication in companies and organizations.

Cultural Dimensions Theory

• Cultures & Organizations – Software of the Mind: Intercultural Cooperation and Its Importance for Survival is a book by Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede, and Michael Minkov, published by McGraw Hill in 2010.
• Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context is a text by Geert Hofstede from the Universities of Maastricht and Tilburg, Netherlands.

'Software of the Mind'

• Hofstede coined this term describing thinking, feeling, and acting.
• It concerns patterns learned throughout a person's lifetime and mental programming.

The Onion Model

• The Onion Model describes culture with three layers around a core, and the practices go through these layers.

Geert Hofsteede's Onion Model

• Values form the core of a culture and do not change much.
• The values remain mostly the same and still play a role subconsciously.
• This core includes individuals as well as groups.
• The values develop in early childhood and change little throughout a person's life and appear subconsciously.
• The outer layers consciously develop, are trained, and learned through practices.
• The inner cultural values (e.g. good vs. bad) are difficult to change.

Values

• Values represent the deepest level of a culture, its core.
• Values are broad feelings:
• Often unconscious and not open to discussion.
• What is good and bad, right or wrong.
• Values are present in the majority of culture members.
• It is difficult for a person to unlearn and change their understanding of values such as:
• Evil versus good.
• Dirty versus clean.
• Dangerous versus safe.
• Forbidden versus permitted.
• Decent versus indecent.
• Moral versus immoral.
• Ugly versus beautiful.
• Unnatural versus natural.
• Abnormal versus normal.
• Paradoxical versus logical.
• Irrational versus rational.

Symbols

• Symbols are words, objects, and gestures which derive their meaning from convention.
• At the level of national cultures, symbols include the entire area of language.
• Within organizational culture, symbols include slang, modes of address, dress codes, and status symbols recognized by insiders only.
• Symbols involve words, gestures, pictures, objects that carry a meaning, which can include:
• Jargon.
• Dress.
• Hairstyles.
• Flags.
• National symbols.
• New symbols develop easily & old ones disappear.
• They are learned through semiotic understanding.
• Examples of symbols from different countries are shown in a series of images

Semiotics

• Symbols, icons and indexes, differ based on relationships between the signifier and signified.
• The signifier changes when a sign is a symbol, an index, or an icon.

Heroes

• Heroes are real or imaginary people, dead or alive, who serve as models for behavior within a culture.
• Founders of organizations sometimes become mythical heroes later on, with incredible deeds ascribed to them.
• Heroes can be alive/dead persons, real/imaginary and their characteristics are highly valued in a culture.
• Images shown represent different heroes

Rituals

• Rituals are collectively agreed activities socially essential within a particular culture.
• Rituals are technically superfluous activities to reach desired ends considered socially essential.
• Hofstede's examples:
• How to pay respect.
• How to greet.
• Social and religious ceremonies.
• Images shown represent different rituals.

No One Can Escape Culture

• When people from different cultures are stranded on an unpopulated island, they create a new culture with shared rules.
• This new culture will be based on the values of different group members, but prominent members' values will dominate.

Geert Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory

• The cultural dimensions theory is a framework for intercultural communication.
• It was first developed between 1967 and 1973 with IBM employees from over 50 countries and has since been refined.

Cultural Dimensions Theory Origins

• The theory classifies six dimensions such as:
  • Power Distance.
  • Individualism vs Collectivism.
  • Masculinity vs Femininity.
  • Tolerance of Uncertainty.
  • Long Term vs Short Term.
  • Indulgence vs Restraint.

Power Distance Index (PDI)

• Power Distance Index (PDI) concerns the degree to which less powerful members of a society accept and expect power to be distributed unequally.
• A society handles inequalities among people.
• In societies with a large Power Distance, people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and needs no further justification.
• In societies with low Power Distance, people strive to equalize the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power.

Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV)

• Individualism Versus Collectivism (IDV) concerns the preference for a loosely-knit social framework.
• High level of individualism defines a preference for a loosely-knit social framework where individuals are expected to take care of only themselves and their immediate families.
• High level of collectivism represents a preference for a tightly-knit framework in society where individuals can expect relatives/members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.
• A society's position on this dimension is reflected in whether people's self-image is defined in terms of "I" or "we."

Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS)

• Masculinity Versus Feminity (MAS) may also related to as "tough versus tender" cultures.
• The masculinity side shows preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material rewards for success, the society at large is more competitive.
• Femininity stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life, society at large is more consensus-oriented.

Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)

• Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) is the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity.
• People deal with the fact that the future can never be known; societies try to control the future or let it happen.
• Societies with a high UAI maintain rigid codes of belief/behavior and are intolerant of unorthodox behavior/ideas.
• Societies with a low UAI maintain a more relaxed attitude where practice counts more than principles.

Long-term Orientation versus Short Term Normative Orientation (LTO)

• Every society has to maintain some links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present/future and prioritizes these existential goals differently.
• Societies with a more long-term orientation prefer to maintain time-honored traditions and norms and view societal change with suspicion.
• Societies with a more short-term orientation take a more pragmatic approach; they encourage modern education to prepare for the future.

Indulgence versus Restraint (IND)

• Indulgence stands for a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun.
• Restraint stands for a society that suppresses gratification of needs and regulates them by strict social norms.

World maps

• Each dimension is derived by comparing many, but not all, countries.
• Summarized into six world maps of the distribution of that dimension.
• There can be within-country variation, therefore, maps can be seen as rough "climate maps" of culture.
• Reference https://geerthofstede.com/culture-geert-hofstede-gert-jan-hofstede/6d-model-of-national-culture/ for more explanation.
• Maps include: Collectivism-Individualism, Power Distance, Femininity-Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Short-term vs Long-term Orientation, and Indulgence vs Restraint

Country Comparison

• Use https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/ to compare your personal preferences to the scores of a country of your choice, or purchase the culture survey tool, Culture Compass

See you on 12 February!