Discuss how differences in cultural dimensions influence human behavior. (1 hour) You need to know the cultural dimensions!!! What are they? Explain how you would
1. INDIVIDUALISM vs. COLLECTIVISM. In individualistic societies (mainly western societies), the individual is promoted. People are encouraged to be independent and different, to stand out. In collectivist societies (mainly Asian and sub-Asian societies), the is a large emphasis on groups, such as family, including extended family (ie. aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc). Being different is most definitely is not supported. A study by Markus and Kitayama (1991) backed this argument up with a proverb: "In America, the queaky wheel gets the grease; in Japan, the nail that stands out gets pounded down." Their argument is that the "boundary" between the individual and environment pertains mostly, if not solely, to the west.
2. UNCERTAINTY vs. AVOIDANCE. This is basically whether society teaches its members to feel uncomfortable or comfortable in unfamiliar situations. A researcher, Bond (1988), argued that the Chinese culture used the Confucian work dynamism, instead of focusing on truth focus on virtue, instead of the uncertainty-avoidance dimension. Asian countries/cultures have an implicit need to protect the identity of the group, or collective identity, and they do this by strongly emphasizing and placing high value on persistence, loyalty, and trustworthiness; aka long-term orientation. Hoefstede found that the US and some European countries have a short-term orientation. In contrast with China, these cultures place a high value on stability, on working towards the future, and innovativeness.
- criticism of dimensions (by Hoefstede): ecological fallacy- when one looks at 2 diff. cultures, don't assume they are different from each other, or that an individual will always show the dimensions which are the norm of that culture. the "dimensions" are simply a way for psychologists to generalize cultures and to better discuss the role of culture on behavior.
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Mrs. Brown
4/26/2012 07:28:12 am
Great detail!!! Very Nice Maiken!!!
The question asks you to discuss - so refer to the command terms dictionary. Discuss means you need to:
Offer a considered and balanced review that includes a range of arguments, factors or hypotheses. Opinions or conclusions should be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.
So, in addition to the detailed explanation you need to include your opinion or conclusion of the topic.
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