Who Needs Intercultural Awareness?

 

Stereotypes

Explanations > Theories > Stereotypes

 

Stereotypes are generalizations about a group of people whereby we attribute a defined set of characteristics to this group. These classifications can be positive or negative, such as when various nationalities are stereotyped as friendly or unfriendly.

It is easier to create stereotypes when there is a clearly visible and consistent attribute that can easily be recognized. This is why people of color, police and women are so easily stereotyped.

People from stereotyped groups can find this very disturbing as they experience an apprehension (stereotype threat) of being treated unfairly.

We change our stereotypes infrequently. Even in the face of disconfirming evidence, we often cling to our obviously-wrong beliefs. When we do change the stereotypes, we do so in one of three ways:

Bookkeeping model: As we learn new contradictory information, we incrementally adjust the stereotype to adapt to the new information. We usually need quite a lot of repeated information for each incremental change. Individual evidence is taken as the exception that proves the rule.

Conversion model: We throw away the old stereotype and start again. This is often used when there is significant disconfirming evidence.

Subtyping model: We create a new stereotype that is a sub-classification of the existing stereotype, particularly when we can draw a boundary around the sub-class. Thus if we have a stereotype for Americans, a visit to New York may result in us having a ‘New Yorkers are different’ sub-type.

We often store stereotypes in two parts. First there is the generalized descriptions and attributes. To this we may add exemplars to prove the case, such as 'the policeman next door'. We may also store them hierarchically, such as 'black people', 'Africans', 'Ugandans', 'Ugandan military', etc., with each lower order inheriting the characteristics of the higher order, with additional characteristics added.

Stereotyping can go around in circles. Men stereotype women and women stereotype men. In certain societies this is intensified as the stereotyping of women pushes them together more and they create men as more of an out-group. The same thing happens with different racial groups, such as 'white/black' (an artificial system of opposites, which in origin seems to be more like 'European/non-European').

Stereotyping can be subconscious, where it subtly biases our decisions and actions, even in people who consciously do not want to be biased.

Stereotyping often happens not so much because of aggressive or unkind thoughts. It is more often a simplification to speed conversation on what is not considered to be an important topic.

 

Example

Stereotyping goes way beyond race and gender. Consider conversations you have had about people from the next town, another department in your company, supporters of other football teams, and so on.

So what?

Using it _ Find how others stereotype you (if possible, getting them to stereotype you positively). They will have a blind spot to non-stereotyped behaviors, so you can do these and they will often ignore it. Thus if you are stereotyped as a ‘kind old man’, you can do moderately unkind things which may be ignored.

Defending

To change a person’s view of your stereotype, be consistently different from it. Beware of your own stereotyping blinding you to the true nature of other individuals.

Stereotyping can be reduced by bringing people together. When they discover the other people are not as the stereotype, the immediate evidence creates dissonance that leads to improved thoughts about the other group

 

Cross Cultural Gift Giving Etiquette

 

Within the interdependent, global and multi-cultural marketplace of the 21st century, cross cultural differences in the approaches to and practices of business people across the world are important to learn. A lack of cross cultural understanding can lead to misunderstandings which may result in offense. Cross cultural awareness and an understanding of foreign etiquette is important for today's globe trotting business person. One area of importance in cross cultural awareness is in the different gift giving etiquettes of the world. Understanding gift giving and the etiquette surrounding it can help international business people cement better relationships with foreign colleagues, clients or customers.

 

Cross cultural gift giving etiquette involves considering the following points:

. Who is receiving the gift? Is it a person or a group? What is the status of the receiver(s)?

. What types of gifts are acceptable or unacceptable?

. What is the protocol associated with gift giving and receiving?

. Should gifts be reciprocated?

 

In many countries such as in North America or the UK, gift giving is rare in the business world. In fact, it may carry negative connotations as gift giving could be construed as bribery. However, in many other countries, gift giving and its etiquette have a central place in business practices. In order to highlight some of the different aspects of cross cultural gift giving etiquette a few examples shall be presented.

 

Gift Giving Etiquette in China

 

. It is the proper etiquette for gifts to be exchanged for celebrations, as thanks for assistance and even as a sweetener for future favours.

. It is however important not to give gifts in the absence of a good reason or a witness.

. When the Chinese want to buy gifts it is not uncommon for them to ask what you would like.

. It would be wise to demonstrate an appreciation of Chinese culture by asking for items such as ink paintings or tea.

. Business gifts are always reciprocated. Not to do so is bad etiquette.

. When giving gifts do not give cash.

. Do not be too frugal with your choice of gift otherwise you will be seen as an 'iron rooster', i.e. getting a good gift out of you is like getting a feather out of an iron rooster.

. Depending on the item, avoid giving one of something. Chinese philosophy stresses harmony and balance, so give in pairs.

 

Gift Giving Etiquette in Japan

 

. Gift-giving is a central part of Japanese business etiquette.

. Bring a range of gifts for your trip so if you are presented with a gift you will be able to reciprocate.

. The emphasis in Japanese business culture is on the act of gift-giving not the gift itself.

. Expensive gifts are common.

. The best time to present a gift is at the end of your visit.

. A gift for an individual should be given in private.

. If you are presenting a gift to a group of people have them all present.

. The correct etiquette is to present/receive gifts with both hands.

. Before accepting a gift it is polite to refuse at least once or twice before accepting.

. Giving four or nine of anything is considered unlucky. Give in pairs if possible.

 

Gift Giving Etiquette in Saudi Arabia

 

. Gifts should only be given to the most intimate of friends.

. Gifts should be of the highest quality.

. Never buy gold or silk as a present for men.

. Silver is acceptable.

. Always give/receive gifts with the right hand.

. Saudis enjoy wearing scent - itr. The most popular is oud which can cost as much as £1000 an ounce.

. It is not bad etiquette to open gifts when received.

The above are a few of many examples of cross cultural differences in gift giving etiquette. It is advisable to try and ascertain some facts about the gift giving etiquette of any country you plan to visit on business. By doing so, you maximise the potential of your cross cultural encounter.

Cross Cultural Etiquette Awareness

 

The Thai government announced in September 2004 that it is now formulating, writing and preparing to publish a guide on Thai etiquette for foreigners. The patience shown towards poor cross cultural etiquette by foreigners was exhausted when a poster was distributed for a US film showing a man sitting on the head of a statue of Buddha.

The poster illustrated the lack of cross cultural awareness individuals and companies can have when dealing with different cultures. Thailand is an overwhelmingly Buddhist country and the poster was seen as an act of degradation towards the holy.

'Hollywood Buddha', the film that caused the offence, is the story of a struggling film producer who turns to the Buddhism in order to find success. His new faith helps him to turn things around.

The poster had also angered Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Burma. Around 500 monks took to the streets of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, to protest against the film.

"Please Western people, or US government or US people or whatever people who is trying to degrade the Buddha, please stop that act," pleaded protesting monk Sachu Waru.

In response to the affair the Thai government is now preparing a guide book for foreigners to educate them in Thai etiquette, protocol and public behaviour.

The incident is a good example of why cross cultural knowledge is critical in international ventures. Had Philippe Caland, the film's director, applied a little cross cultural understanding and examined the possible repercussions of the poster, his film could have been a success in Thailand. Instead, revenue will be lost via the boycotting of the film by those offended by the poster.

Similarly, travellers to foreign countries must also ensure that they appreciate the differences in etiquette. Poor etiquette can and does lead to offense, which reflects poorly on foreigners and mars their visit.

Cultural Practicum

 

My introduction to the Osaka practicum was…hurried. We had never gotten our schedule or gotten in contact with our new host families, so it was only natural that I would be trembling as I stepped on the shinkansen. The student projects from previous years provided little help to what I would be doing for a month in a brand new place with brand new people outside of “going to the library” or “playing with cute elementary school kids.” So, as for my report on how things went, I decided that it would be my legacy to provide future waves of GLCA/ACM students with REAL information about the internship; what I would have wanted to know to make my experiences in Daito-shi and around Osaka-fu even more positive. Please excuse my frankness in writing about my experience, but I believe that there is no need to elaborate or explain what a both immensely fun and personally liberating time I had. I HAVE changed by going to Daito-shi, and, if you decide to go, you WILL change. That much is inevitable; change is why I went and what I sought. I write this as a sort of question-answer format to the basics, but I do not want to give away everything about the month you may choose to spend.

Why I Chose Daito-shi

 

Osaka is the third largest city (population wise) in Japan; second largest in commercial-cultural influence. What can I say; I’m a city girl and I do well in more densely populated areas, plus for my thesis research I needed to be based in an urban/commercial environment. Knowing myself and my psychological needs in choosing a practicum, and being immensely curious about Kansai culture, Kansai-ben, and overall the differences between the two largest urban centers in Japan, I decided to choose Osaka. I was basically going on very little outside of what I had been told about the internships position at City Hall: tour around city-run facilities and help out with city workers.

 

The Work Itself

 

Over the course o the month I never stayed working at one place for more than four days, which had its positive and negative points. Positive: if you do not like the people you work with or the job you are doing, you do not have to stay there long. Negative: if you do like the people you work with or the job you are doing, you have to leave too soon. Because of the short time I was there I was not able to make many deep relationships outside of my host family and a few members of the Daito English Club. But, while I was with everyone, especially elementary school children and the elderly (who are very warm to you and will say some of the funniest things in Japanese that you have ever heard) I had a great time and the time went by very quickly. Over the course of the month I worked leading exercises with the elderly and disable with the Rehabilitation Division, was a guest teacher for a sixth grade class and played with first through third graders at after school clubs at three different public elementary schools, visited a prosthetics company, went to art classes at the city community center, checked books in and out and reshelved at the public library, and hung out around City Hall observing bureaucracy in action. It was fascinating meeting and observing all different kinds of citizens within the city at these sites. Be prepared, as always, to tell about yourself and your country, foreigners are rarer in Osaka than they are in Tokyo and especially rare in Daito-shi.

Daito-shi Itself

 

Daito-shi is a tiny city on the eastern side of Osaka-fu, bordered by the city of Osaka to the west and the mountains of Nara prefecture to the east. Large rivers flow throughout the city, which is serviced by three JR Nishi Nippon train stations. It takes about twenty-five minutes by train from Daito-shi to the heart of Osaka. The central station, Suminodo, is the stop closest to City Hall and the center of town, including the central post office, grocery stores, bakeries, fast food restaurants, bookstores, and shopping. You are not in the middle of nowhere, by far, but more like a suburb of Osaka. However, while being the city center it is not exactly the peak of conveniences due to it being, much like the rest of the city, highly residential. Almost everyone rides a bicycle or drives due to the time and distance it takes to and from places, for example, my homestay was “close” to Suminodo station, and it took thirty minutes to walk there one way. Time management, as always in Japan, is key. Daito-shi is slightly poorer than surrounding Osaka city and its other suburbs; whereas the national average would be one hundred yen the average wage for citizens of Daito is about 96 yen. Historically, 500 years ago the area was part of the ocean and didn’t even exist! So, it used to be considered “dirty” because it was so close to the water; it was the slums around Osaka castle until around the Meiji area. They leave this part out in the city handouts but I find it fascinating. Tokyo is full of all different kinds of people, of course, but there is this air of wealth about the place, being one of the largest and most influential cities in the world, but in Daito you get the (somewhat refreshing) look into a more evenly middle to lower-middle class Japan.

 

Kansai Culture and Host Families

 

People in Tokyo and people in Osaka are inherently different, as you will find right away simply from listening to conversations on the train ride in. Osakans pride themselves on humor, honesty, saying things rather directly, and, like any other locality, their own culture. This culture is inherently linked to the long Osakan merchant tradition, reflected within Kansai-ben (which people will either be very impressed or slightly offended if you can speak) with greetings asking about business and the existence of some of the oldest trading companies/department stores in the country. Also, food is cultural property, especially takoyaki and okonomiyaki, which many people make at home masterfully. Speaking Kansai-ben and respecting Kansai culture is part of your experience living there and you should make an effort to do so. Do not keep going on about Tokyo unless someone asks you; people I talked to do not especially look down on Tokyo, but see it as sort of a rivalry between the two cities. As for the host family situation, it is an ideal opportunity to get to know Kansai-jin better. My homestay was wonderful precisely because my family members were…nuts. Well, not exactly nuts, but hilarious and so kind. It was so refreshing to live with people who spoke their mind and loved to joke around with me because it felt like my own family back in America. I really bonded with them and plan on visiting them again! Just as in the homestay situation in Tokyo, conduct yourself with grace and respect and you will have a great experience.

 

Lessons I Learned (and that you, regardless of which practicum you choose, should maybe consider, too)

 

First of all, “JAPAN” is not “TOKYO;” and “TOKYO” is not “JAPAN.” Get out of the city and LOOK. Tokyo is exciting and seductive by it easily sucks you in. Perhaps it sounds obvious, but there exists so much more to the thousands of cultures and subcultures within the political, intellectual, social, and influential boundaries of Japan beyond what you can find in Tokyo. Also, daily life may be the same everywhere, but that is what makes it interesting. The mundane, the trivial, and the unexpected built up to make my month wonderful. As with experiential learning, you grow inter-personally and discover by acting through participant observation. People are inherently good-hearted and warm. This is especially apparent in Kansai/Osaka, where the veneer of alienation at the onset of sprawling urbanization has peeled away and the local culture thrives on humor, honestly, and frankness. However, especially in Kansai, don’t take people’s jokes (or even what you assess to be insults) too seriously. For example, I was snacking on some cookies in my host family’s kitchen and my host mom laughed, “Jessi, you love snacks. That’s why you’re a little fat!” I was taken aback at first, but as I observed Osakan culture more and more I grew used to the concept of comments such as those as interpretations of affection. There are all different kinds of love in the world.

 

Finally, “distance makes the heart grow fonder.” That is, yes, you will miss you host family, friends, and most of all the familiarity of Tokyo; it’s your current home! But it will be there when you get back. Daito may not be Tokyo, but it is a lot more relaxing, less crowded, and close enough to a big city that if you get the small-town blues, the urban air is a train ride away.

 

Who Needs Intercultural Awareness?

 

Although intercultural awareness and the need for it are gaining mainstream recognition, people still ask - "Who needs intercultural awareness?" In truth the question should be, "Who does not need intercultural awareness? The mixing of people from all cultures, faiths and countries has always existed, yet today's world sees it occurring more frequently and in greater numbers. People are interacting on the international stage for both work and business purposes and it is often the case that intercultural misunderstandings lead to negative consequences. There have been well documented incidences of tourists receiving hostile reactions by natives or business personnel losing deals. In many instances the cause has been cultural, such as wearing inappropriate clothing in a conservative culture or approaching a business relationship too casually. In short, intercultural awareness is a skill needed by anyone mixing with people from different cultural backgrounds. However, there are four distinct categories of people that are in need of intercultural awareness the most.

Tourists

Although this group of people may not realise it, when visiting a foreign country you come to represent your own culture. An ignorance of the culture you are visiting can and does lead to development of stereotypes and occasionally the causing of offence to the native culture. There are many examples within the tourist industry of feathers being ruffled due to the behaviour and actions of visiting tourists, whether it is alcohol fuelled teens in Greece or scantily clad women in the Gulf. Intercultural awareness at a surface level helps tourists understand their boundaries when visiting a foreign country and promotes good relations with the native culture.

People who work in Multi-Cultural Teams

Very few industries are now homogenous in their ethnic make-up. With the development of transport technology and the increased need for immigrant labour, we now find foreigners working in industries as varied as agriculture, nursing, manufacturing, law, education, social services, catering and transport. With the numbers of different cultures interacting, communication problems naturally occur. Intercultural awareness is a necessity to ensure communication between staff is clear and also between management and personnel. With clearer lines of intercultural communication established, companies face fewer problems and see greater productivity.

People who work globally

Domestic companies can rarely escape the need to deal with clients or customers from different cultures. Whether it is for import, export, or general trade, business personnel need to work effectively with people from different cultures and therefore different ways of communicating, thinking, meeting, negotiating and doing business generally. Intercultural awareness is a means to establishing better relationships and promoting healthier business prospects through minimising the possibility of misunderstandings born of intercultural differences.

Expatriates

As companies continue to expand globally, more and more people are being sent to work in foreign countries. Usually on a two or three year stint, the expatriate is expected to apply skills that may have been honed within their native culture to an alien one. In many cases the intercultural differences in areas such as interpersonal communication, managerial styles, conflict resolution and office culture lead to such relocations failing.Intercultural awareness allows the expatriate to enter into the new environment with the intercultural knowledge to mould their behaviours and preferences so that intercultural synergy is achieved.

Intercultural Awareness

As we can see, being sensitive to intercultural differences is a need for many people. In a world that is constantly shrinking, coming to know and appreciate the cultural differences between us is paramount to ensuring the future is one of co-operation and mutual success.

Stereotypes are generalizations, or assumptions, that people make about the characteristics of all members of a group, based on an image (often wrong) about what people in that group are like. For example, one study of stereotypes revealed that Americans are generally considered to be friendly, generous, and tolerant, but also arrogant, impatient, and domineering. Asians, on the other hand, were expected to be shrewd and alert, but reserved. Clearly, not all Americans are friendly and generous; and not all Asians are shrewd. If you assume you know what a person is like, and don't look at each person as an individual, you are likely to make errors in your estimates of a person's character.

In conflicts, people tend to develop overly-negative images of the other side. The opponent is expected to be aggressive, self-serving, and deceitful, for example, while people view themselves in completely positive ways. These stereotypes tend to be self-perpetuating. If one side assumes the other side is deceitful and aggressive, they will tend to respond in a similar way. The opponent will then develop a similar image of the first party, and the negative stereotypes will be confirmed. They may be grow worse, as communication is shut down and escalation heightens emotions and tension.

References:

1. Bennett, M. (1991). A developmental approach to training for intercultural sensitivity. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10. 179-196.

2. Bereiter, C. & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Surpassing ourselves: An enquiry into the nature and implications of expertise. Chicago: Open Court.

3. Booth, E. (1997). Visitors and hosts in Fiji: A professional and cross-cultural experience. In B. Hill, N. Thomas & Joost Coté (Eds.) Into Asia: Australian Practicums in Asia. Carlton, Victoria: Asian Education Foundation.Ch.4.

4. Brake, T., Walker, D. M. & Walker, T. (1995). Doing business internationally: The guide to cross-cultural success. New York: Irwin.

5. Brick, J. (1991) China: A handbook of intercultural communication. Sydney: Macquarie University.

6. Brill, R. (1995). Internationalising professional practice for undergraduates. In A. Barthel (Ed.) International Interaction and Development: Convergent Perspectives Conference Proceedings

 

Lecture #4

Body Language