Cultural Patterns and Communication: Taxonomies

1. Cultural Patterns and Communication: Taxonomies

2. Taxonomies of Cultural Patterns • Hall’s high-to low-context cultural taxonomy • Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy • Schwartz’s cultural taxonomy • The GLOBE cultural taxonomy

3. Hall’s high-to low-context cultural taxonomy • Hall organizes cultures by the amount of information implied by the setting or the context of the communication itself, regardless of the specific words spoken. • Cultures differ on a continuum that ranges from high to low context. • Hall contends that some cultures have a preponderance of messages that are high-context, others have messages that are mostly low-context, and yet others have a mixture of both.

4. Hall’s high- to low-context cultural taxonomy • High-context cultures prefer to use high-context messages. • In high-context messages, most of the meaning during communication is either implied by the physical setting or presumed to be part of the individual’s internalized beliefs, values, norms, and social practices. • Low-context cultures prefer to use low-context messages. • In low-context messages, the majority of the information is vested in the explicit code.

5. Hall’s high- to low-context cultural taxonomy • Use of Indirect and Direct messages • In a high-context culture, meanings are internalized and there is a large emphasis on nonverbal codes. • Much more is taken for granted and assumed to be shared (the preferred interpretation of messages is already known). • In low-context cultures, people look for the meaning of others’ behaviors in the messages that are plainly and explicitly coded. • The details of the message are expressed precisely and specifically in the words that people use as they try to communicate with others. • Little of the communication is taken for granted, and the speaker is responsible for explaining specifically what he or she is communicating.

6. Hall’s high- to low-context cultural taxonomy • Importance of Ingroups and Outgroups • Communication differs when communicating with ingroup and outgroup members. • A person’s ingroup is a group to which he or she belongs. • An outgroup is a group to which a person does not belong. • In high-context cultures, it is very easy to determine who is a member of the group and who is not. • Determining group membership in low-context cultures is not as easy.

7. Hall’s high- to low-context cultural taxonomy • Importance of Ingroups and Outgroups • In a high-context culture, the commitment between people is strong and deep. • In a low-context culture, bonds between people are very fragile and the extent of involvement and commitment to long-term relationships is lower. • The orientation to time • In high-context cultures, time is viewed as more open and less structured. • In low-context cultures, time is highly organized and people are forced to pay more attention to time to complete the work of living with others.

8. Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy • Hofstede’s approach is based on the assertion that people carry mental programs or “software of the mind.” • An individual’s mental programs are developed during childhood and reinforced by his or her culture. • These mental programs contain the ideas of a culture and are expressed through its dominant values.

9. Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy • Hofstede’s value orientations • Power distance • Uncertainty avoidance • Individualism versus collectivism • Masculinity versus femininity • Long-term versus short-term • Indulgence versus restraint

10. Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy • Power distance refers to the concerns that cultures have regarding the issue of human inequality. • Types of power distance are categorized as being “small” or “large.” • Cultures that prefer small power distances believe in the importance of minimizing social or class inequalities. • Cultures that prefer large power distances all believe that each person has a rightful and protected place in the social order. • Consider the consequences of the degree of power distance in families, schools, business.

11. Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy • Uncertainty avoidance addresses how members of a culture adapt to changes and cope with uncertainties. • Cultures differ in the extent to which they prefer and can tolerate ambiguity and in the means they select for coping with change. • The uncertainty avoidance dimension is the extent to which the culture feels threatened by ambiguous, uncertain situations and tries to avoid them by establishing more structure. • Continuum of high uncertainty avoidance to low uncertainty avoidance. • Low uncertainty avoidance cultures have a high tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. • High uncertainty avoidance cultures have a low tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity.

12. Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy • The individualism versus collectivism dimension involves people’s relationships to the larger social groups of which they are a part. • The individualism-collectivism dimension resides on a continuum that addresses the degree to which a culture relies on and has allegiance to the self or to the group. • People in highly individualistic cultures are only supposed to take care of themselves and, perhaps, their immediate family members. • People in highly collectivistic cultures value a group orientation. • The individualism-collectivism dimension is by far the most important attribute that distinguishes one culture from another.

13. Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy • The masculinity-femininity dimension pertains to gender expectations and the extent to which people prefer achievement and assertiveness or nurturance and social support. • This dimension indicates the degree to which a culture values “masculine” behaviors (e.g., assertiveness and acquisition of wealth) over “feminine” behaviors (e.g., caring for others and the quality of life). • Masculine cultures believe in achievement and ambition. • Feminine cultures believe in the importance of life choices that improve intrinsic aspects of the quality of life.

14. Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy • The time-orientation dimension focuses on how cultures relate to the concept of time. • The time orientation dimension refers to a person’s point of reference about life and work. • Continuum from long term to short term. • Cultures that promote a long-term orientation toward life admire persistence, thriftiness, and humility. • Cultures that promote a short-term orientation toward changing events have an expectation of quick results following one’s actions.

15. Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy • The indulgence versus restraint dimension juxtaposes hedonism with self-discipline. • Cultures high on the indulgence side of the continuum encourage pleasure, enjoyment, spending, consumption, sexual gratification, and general merriment. • Cultures high on the restraint side of the continuum encourage the control of hedonistic gratifications, and discourage the pleasures and enjoyment associated with leisure activities.

16. Schwartz’s cultural taxonomy • Shalom Schwartz reasoned that there are three problems or issues that all groups must resolve. • Autonomy versus embeddedness—a cultural preference for the kinds of relationships and boundaries that ought to exist between individuals and the larger group. • “Autonomy cultures” = ppl are independent. • Split between “Intellectual Autonomy”(independent pursuit of thoughts, ideas, and knowledge), and “Affective Autonomy”(Individuals should pursue personal pleasurable emotional states, enjoyable feelings, varied experiences, an exciting life.) • “Embeddedness cultures”= Identification with group is central concern. One’s routines, activities, goals– entire life– is to be shared communally.

17. Schwartz’s cultural taxonomy • Egalitarianism versus hierarchy—people must organize and coordinate their activities in a way that preserves and fulfills the needs and goals of the social group. • Egalitarian = ppl view others as social and moral equals who work together as peers to fulfill shared interests. Key ideals: cooperation, help others. • Hierarchy = ppl view the unequal distribution of social, political, and economic power as legitimate and desirable. Taught to defer to those with higher status. Values authority and humility. • Harmony versus mastery—deals with people’s orientations to social and natural resources.

18. The GLOBE cultural taxonomy • GLOBE is an acronym for Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness. • Project GLOBE is based on Hofstede’s work on value dimensions and on Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s work on value orientations. • In this project, 20,000 middle managers from 61 cultures were asked to describe cultural practices – what is, or what people actually do – and the cultural values – what should be, or what is regarded as ideal – in their cultures. • Nine dimensions are used to describe the dominant patterns of a culture.

19. The GLOBE categories • Power distance refers to the degree to which cultures believe that social and political power should be distributed disproportionately, shared unequally, and concentrated among a few top decision makers. • Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which cultures feel threatened by the unpredictability of the future and therefore try to establish more structure in the form of rules, regulations, rituals, and mandatory practices. • Ingroup collectivism reflects the degree to which people express pride, loyalty, and solidarity with their family or similar group, and it is similar to what Hofstede calls individualism-collectivism. • Institutional collectivismrepresents the degree to which cultures support, value, and prefer to distribute rewards based on group versus individual interests.

20. The GLOBE categories • Gender egalitarianism is the extent to which a culture minimizes differences in gender expectation for men versus women. • The assertiveness dimension describes the extent to which people value and prefer tough aggressiveness or tender nonagressiveness. • The performance orientation dimension refers to the degree to which a culture encourages and rewards people for their accomplishments. • The future orientation dimension refers to the extent to which a culture plans for forthcoming events. • The humane orientation dimension refers to the extent to which cultures encourage and reward their members for being benevolent and compassionate toward others or focused on self-interest and self-gratification.

21. A Synthesis of Cultural Taxonomies • Based on extensive research, the authors suggest that there are seven universal problems, and therefore seven cultural dimensions, that are fundamental to understanding a culture. • Individualism versus collectivism • Power distance • Gender expectations • Task versus relationship • Uncertainty avoidance • Harmony versus mastery • Time orientation

22. Cultural Taxonomies and Intercultural Competence • Taxonomies serve as useful devices for people to understand and appreciate cultural valuations. • To improve your intercultural communication competence, create a profile of a culture’s values. • Seek out information about the cultural patterns of individuals with whom you engage in intercultural communication. • Study the patterns of your own culture. • Be willing to reflect on your personal preferences. • Mentally consider your own preferences by juxtaposing them with the description of the typical person from another culture.

23. Discussion Questions • Which (if any) taxonomy best explains cultural patterns? Why? • Based on your own intercultural experience, how does the GLOBE taxonomy of cultural patterns hold up? • Describe how each of Hofstede’s dimensions of cultural patterns is displayed within your culture. • Compare your own values with the GLOBE’s cultural values for the “typical” person from your culture. In what ways are they the same? Different? What might this suggest about intercultural communication?

24. Discussion Questions • How are the following two philosophical statements related to the GLOBE’s continuum of ingroup individualism-collectivism: (a) “I think, therefore I am” and (b) “I am because we are?” • (i) How would a culture that believes in statement (a) rank on the individualism collectivism dimension? • (ii) How would a culture that believes in statement(b) rank on the individualism-collectivism dimension? • How would a marriage consisting of people from these twocultures would be influenced by these disparate philosophical perspectives?