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)