Theories of Cultural Dimensions

Emilie W. Gould

RPI

Values vs. Perception

Two sets of theory; two theoretical mechanisms to explain differences between cultures:

• Cultural Values

• Perception

The first set comes from anthropology and sociology

The second from psychology – the attempt of a Western social science to find universal mechanisms to explain variance

Cultural Values

Based on some organizing principle:

• Universal Problems

• Spheres of Human Activity

• Structural Analysis

• Communication Styles

• Nonverbal vs. Verbal Preferences

• Work Dimensions

Some of the Best-Known Theories of Crosscultural Variability

• Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s Value Orientations• Parson’s Pattern Variables• Hall’s High-Low Context Cultures• Hall’s Monochronic-Polychronic Cultures• Witkin and Berry’s Loose | Tight Sociocultural

Systems• Condon and Yousef’s Spheres of Human Activity• Victor’s LESCANT model• Hofstede’s Dimensions

Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s Value Orientations

Five existential beliefs influence individual choices: – Character of Human Nature (good, evil, mixed;

changeable or given)– Relationship to Nature (mastery, harmony, mastered

by)– Time (past, present, future orientation)– Human Action (doing, being, becoming)– Relationships to Others (individualism, lineality,

collectivity)

Foundational theory (Condon & Yousef, Trompenaars)

Parson’s Pattern VariablesSocial context structured by various dichotomies:

– Affective | Affective neutrality (immediate/ delayed gratification)

– Self | Collective (relationships to others)– Universalism | Particularism (mode of characterizing

people and objects)– Diffuseness | Specificity (response to others -- focus

on whole or parts)– Ascription | Achievement (human qualities)– Instrumental | Expressive (interactional goals)

Theory developed for society as a whole

Hall’s High/Low Context CulturesCultures vary in the importance of context for

communication.– In high-context cultures, most of the information is

contained in the context; the message is not explicit– In low-context cultures, meaning must be clearly

spelled out in messages

High-context cultures tend to be traditional and collectivist; low-context cultures are present or future-oriented and individualistic

Hall’s Monochronic/Polychronic Cultures

Cultures are further divided by their use of time:

• Monochronic cultures:– Focus on one thing at a time– Reduce context by segmenting reality– Dislike interruption– Consider time as tangible (something to be saved,

spent, etc.)– Like closure

• Polychronic cultures like the opposite

Witkin and Berry’s Loose | Tight Sociocultural Systems

Degree of hierarchical structure in society determines levels of differentiation between people:– Role Diversity– Role Relatedness

Expectations are reciprocal but differ according to whether they are:– imposed and received– proposed and interpreted

Condon & Yousef’s Spheres of Human Activity

Expanded Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s five relationships 24 categories

Much more descriptive but less valuable in terms of identifying regularities between cultures

Victor’s LESCANT ModelBased on a structural analysis of society; what

mechanisms have people established to control their environment – Language– Environment and technology– Social organization– Context– Authority– Nonverbal behavior– Time

Hofstede’s Work Dimensions

Hofstede studied IBMers in 40 countries and found 4 universal sociocultural dimensions:

• Power Distance (degree that power in organizations is distributed unequally)

• Individualism | Collectivism

• Masculinity | Femininity (valuing things or relationships)

• Uncertainty Avoidance (lack of tolerance for change and ambiguity)

A Fifth “Hofstede Dimension”

After writing Cultures and Organizations, Hofstede persuaded to define a fifth dimension:

– Long/short term orientation (degree that the culture looks ahead)

Concentrated in countries with a Confucian tradition of respect for elders, focus on the past, and allegiance to family (and state)

Gundykunst’s Model of Crosscultural Comparison

Recognized that multiple dimensions of cultural variability

• Influence social cognitive processes

• But are mediated by various factors:– Situation | Affect | Social scripts (including schema

| historical experience)

• To result in varying levels of understanding:– Description | Prediction | Explanation

Next Week

• Perception…

and

• Social Categorization

Perceptual Models

Depend on psychological explanations of attention to features of the physical and social environment

Perception

How do people – Select– Categorize– Interpret

information about the natural and social world around them?

The “Onion” metaphor

Perception - Selection

The first task in perception is separating an item of interest from its background…

• Selective exposure

• Selective attention

• Selective retention

Consider a four-legged creature

Perception - Categorization

In the second stage of perception, we begin to develop structured categories that help us identify the same phenomenon through time

• Perceptual object stored in the mind as a stable concept

• Internal visualization developed in association with memory (image)

The creature acquires the identity of dog

Perception - Interpretation

In the third stage, we attach meaning to our categories and begin “thinking about” them

• Thinking falls into embedded patterns

• Relationships are elaborated and higher-level meaning assigned to perceptions

– Is the dog a good companion? – Is the dog good to eat?

Perception – Symbol Systems

Intepretations may vary; different groups of people will think differently about the same object

• Development of complex symbol systems to record and communicate about the world

• Art, music, language, mathematics, cuisine

“Spot” or Dinner

Stewart and Bennett’s Perceptual ModelStructure Product Process

Sensation Sensory stimuli Sensing

Surface

Perception •Figure/ ground

•Objects

•Images

•Concepts

Perceiving

Cognition Patterns of thinking Thinking

Complex symbol systems

•Language

•Visual

•Music

•Math

Encoding/ symbolizing

Onion Metaphor

To understand a problem, you sometimes have to work back from language > underlying perceptions

“Figure and ground” are reciprocal– Our culture predisposes us to notice some things and

not others– We cannot perceive things we have no language for

Can learn to be more attentive to certain stimuli, give them names, and incorporate them into our personal and social systems

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Grammar and vocabulary of language constrain perception

Different languages incline people to different world views– German (which puts verbs at the end of sentences)

changes the culture’s action orientation– ASL (American Sign Language) inclines speakers to

“physical”humor and puns– French (uses nominalizations) encourages abstract

thinking and discussion of “ideas”

European Patterns of Reasoning

• Universalistic – deductive; power to know the truth given certain premises (France)

• Nominalistic/ hypothetical – emphasizes empiricism and induction (Anglo-American)

• Intuitional – stresses organic unity of the whole and its parts (German/ Slavic nationalism)

• Dialectical – systematic (like universalism) but focuses on naturally antagonistic forces found in “the world” (German Hegalian)