Exam 2 Flashcards
Five problems each culture must address:
What is the
- Human orientation to activity?
- Relationship of humans to each other?
- Nature of Human beings?
- Relationship of humans to the natural world?
- Orientation of humans to time?
Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck four conclusions about the functions of cultural patterns
- People in all cultures face common human problems for which they must find solutions.
- The range of alternative solutions to a cultures problems is limited.
- Within a given culture, there will be preferred solutions, which most people within the culture will select, but there will also be people who choose other options.
- Over time, the preferred solutions shape the cultures basic assumptions about beliefs, values, norms, and social practices
Activity Orientation
How the people of a culture view human actions and the expression of self through activities
Social Relations Orientation
How the people in a culture organize themselves and relate to one another
Self Orientation
How peoples identities are formed, wether the culture views the self as changeable, what motivates the individuals actions, and the kinds of people who are valued and respected
World Orientation
Cultural patterns that tell people how to locate themselves in relation to the spiritual world, nature, and other living things
Time Orientation
How people conceptualize time
Cultural Differences (Hofstede)
An approach to understanding the range of cultural differences. Based on the assertion that people carry mental programs or “software of the mind”
Power Distance
The degree to which the cultures believes that institutional and organizational power should be distributed unequally and the decisions of the power holders should be challenged or accepted
Uncertainty-Avoidence
Extent by which the culture feels threatened by ambiguous, uncertain situations and tries to avoid them by establishing more structure
Masculinity-Femininity
Indicates the degree to which a culture values “masculine” behaviors, such as assertiveness and acquisition of wealth, or “feminine” behaviors such as caring for others and the quality of life
Individualism- Collectivism
Degree to which a culture relies on and has allegiance to the self or the group
Indulgence
View that pleasure and the enjoyment of life are very desirable, puts focus on happiness as a way of life
Restraint
Focuses on self discipline and believe that individuals should curb their urges and desires for unrestrained fun
High-context Cultures
Used in high-context cultures, in which most of the meaning is either implied by physical setting or is presumed to be part of the individuals internalized beliefs, values, norms, and social practices
EX: Japanese, African American, Mexican
Low-context Cultures
Used in low-context cultures, in which a majority of the information is vested in the explicit code
EX: German, Swedish, American
Unexamined Cultural Identity
Stage where One’s cultural characteristics are taken for granted, and consequently there is little interest in exploring cultural issues
Cultural Identity Search
A process of exploration and questioning about ones culture in order to learn more about it and to understand the implications of membership in that culture
