Intercultural insights Quizz Preparation.docx

**Intercultural Insights Quizz Preparation** **Modules:** **DEFINITIONS OF CULTURE** **CULTURE SHOCK** **CULTURAL ONION : theory and application** **EGO-CULTURE-UNIVERSAL TRIANGLE: theory and application** **DIMENSIONS OF HOFSTEDE: theory and application** **+ READING ASSIGNMENTS** Since 195...

**Intercultural Insights Quizz Preparation** **Modules:** **DEFINITIONS OF CULTURE** **CULTURE SHOCK** **CULTURAL ONION : theory and application** **EGO-CULTURE-UNIVERSAL TRIANGLE: theory and application** **DIMENSIONS OF HOFSTEDE: theory and application** **+ READING ASSIGNMENTS** Since 1952, **there are 164 different definitions of culture**. One of them: **"despite a century of efforts to define culture\... In early 1990s no agreement regarding its nature"**. Avruch claims that **the difficulty of defining this term comes from different usage of it. At first, it was used in three ways**: 1^st^ -- something we might call today a **"high culture"** (which was used by "a small portion of any social group") 2^nd^ -- **"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art**... and any other capabilities and habits **acquired by man as a member of society**" 3^rd^ -- The author, Franz Boas, emphasizes **the uniqueness of varied cultures of different people and societies.** There are different levels of culture and their interaction: - **Artifacts and creations** (physical layout: the dress code, smell and feel of place, emotional intensity) (**Visible, audible, technology, arts..)** - **Values** (they are hard to observe directly, but artifacts, such as documents, represent only the manifest of espoused values of culture) (**Level of awareness, debatable, overtly espoused values**) - **Basic assumptions** (they determine how group members perceive, think and feel) (**Taken for granted, invisible, pre-conscious**) **Value leads to behavior -- behavior begins to solve the problem -- value transforms into an underlying assumption.** **INDICATIONS OF A CULTURE SHOCK** **1. No indications on how to behave** **2. Values that you know as 'good' are not recognized by the other** **3. Feeling of disorientation, depressed or hostile, tensed** **4. Being unhappy with the way things are done** **5. Social skills that always worked no longer work** **6. The feeling that this terrible cultureshock will never pass** **Culture shock in the professional field:** - Savvy negotiating skills working in international environment - Movie scenarios, format adaptations, introducing new characters... - IA (Integrated Assignment) Phases of culture shock: - Excitement - Disorientation - Hostility - Autonomy/Integration - Independence / Bi-culturality Barriers for intercultural interaction: - Language - Non-verbal communication - Stereotypes - Judging people's behavior as good/bad - Stress **Layers of cultural onion:** - **Symbols** - are words, gestures, pictures or objects that have a certain meaning, which is only recognized as such by those people who belong to the same culture. Examples: the hairstyle, clothes or flags. In addition, other markers can occur that are also ‚visible'. These include language, gestures and\ facial expressions. Symbols are not fixed but are subject to change over time. Symbols of specific cultural groups." - **Heroes** are people, dead and alive, real or fictional, who possess characteristics that are highly regarded in the culture: they therefore serve as models of behaviour. - **Rituals** -- Hofstede describes them as collective activities that are actually superfluous to the achievement of desired goals, but are considered socially necessary within a culture" - **Values and Practises** - **Location Indicators** Non-verbal language is also assumed as a symbol! **"although certain aspects are visible, meaning remains invisible"** Examples of **symbols** in films or TV shows: mask of Salvador Dali from "Casa de Papel", Hahoe-mask from South Korean adaptation "Money Heist", masks in "Shogun" as symbol of strength, royalty and a sense of sacrifice. **Heroes** -- Superman, Suzume, viking Thorfinn in "Ghosts" American adaptation **Values** -- the difference between "The Good Wife" and its South Korean adaptation (the lead character couldn't slap her husband in the face because of Korean values) Indian Matchmaking cultural onion: **LOCATION INDICATORS -** Building, streetviews, market, music, **SYMBOLS -** Language (music), traditonal clothing/sari, elephants (\...), floral patterns, traditional jewellery, paintings, bindhi, \...Bollywood dancing, horoscope **HEROES -** (matchmaker), **RITUALS -** Big weddings, matchmaking, **VALUES -** collective **TABOOS -** Gender roles/higher education; being single over 30, ethnic backgrounds **"EMILY IN PARIS"- Netflix (US meets France)** ** Location indicators onion : Eiffel tower, 'chambre de bonne'** ** Symbols: dress-code ("la ringarde"), language as symbol, food (croissants)** ** Rituals: greetings, eating habits\...** ** Values: work to live -- not live to work (working hours); chauvinisme\...** ** Time: arrive a little late\...(?)** **Ego-Culture-Universal Triangle** - **Ego -- Specific to individual and inherited and learned; these are individual choices, personal experience, individual preferences, emotional personality.** - **Culture -- it is learned and specific to each group or category** - **Human nature -- it is universal and inherited (universal software -- genes)** **There are 3 basic human emotions: Fear, Anger, Sorrow/Pain, Joy, Love. BASIC NEEDS : eating, drinking, sleep, procreation, etc** **CULTURE IS ASSOCIATED WITH SOCIAL GROUPS** National level Regional - Ethnic - Religious Gender level Generational level Role category Social class Organizational Or Corporate Level **Wrong/ LIMITED conceptions of culture** **1. Culture is homogeneous** **2. Uniformly distributed among members group: no behavioral** **uniformity** **3. An individual possesses a single culture** **4. Culture is timeless** **Dimensions of Hofstede** The original data started with covering data **from 40 countries** with the largest groups of IBM (= multinational technology corporation) - respondents and afterwards extended the analysis to 50 countries and 3 regions. Now it expanded to a world map. Professor Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most comprehensive studies of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture -\> **BEHAVIOUR**. **PIONIER** -- one of the most cited social scientists in EUROPE "the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others". **A FRAMEWORK** Hofstede developed this cultural model primarily on the basis of differences in values and beliefs regarding work goals. Hofstede's FRAMEWORK is especially useful because it provides important information about differences between countries and how to manage such differences. **There are 6 dimensions of Hofstede for understanding and comparing cultures**: - **Hierarchy -- Power distance** - **Identity -- Individualism vs collectivism** - **Sexe -- Masculinity vs femininity** - **The unknown -- weak or strong uncertainty** - **Timeframe -- Long or short-term orientation** - **Indulgence (basic and natural human drives & enjoying life and having FUN) vs Restraint (means of strict social norms)**