The last week we were part of a training seminar in cross-cultural conflict resolution. It was really excellent! I thought I would share some of the things we learned about culture that were really interesting.
I don’t have the illustrations to post, so you will have to use your imagination to picture the simple diagram that was used. It is four circles, each inside the other. The outside circle is ‘behavior,’ what is done; how people act, manners, customs, reactions, including the ways people try to resolve or avoid conflict. The second circle is ‘values’; what people think is good or best. The third circle is ‘beliefs,’ what is true; every culture has a belief system that gives a foundation for their values. The circle in the center is ‘world view,’ what is real. Culture is built from the inside out, with the world view being basic to beliefs, beliefs are foundational to values, values determine behaviour, and language, which is a way of thinking, is the glue that enables people in a culture to communicate.
There are three main world views. All cultures have some elements of all three, but each culture is usually dominant in one of these world views.
1. Guilt–Innocence. This kind of world view tries to move a person from guilt to innocence, which is the place where he is acceptable to himself and his community. ‘Right’ and ‘wrong’ are very important. Society declares guilt or innocence. This types of world view is often expressed by individualism since in this kind of culture, a person can decide for himself if he is right or wrong, guilty or innocent, without the community. Guilt and innocence can be determined by an internal set of principles.
2. Shame–Honor. This type of world view tries to move a person from a state of shame to one of honor, in which he is acceptable to himself and others in his community. There is a push to make him look shameful and a response that attempts to make him look honorable, particularly in the sight of his community. This type of world view often values collective (group) actions and decisions and values community, since shame and honor often require a reference in the community and the reaction of the community. Shame and honor often depend on what others think of the person.
3. Fear–Power. This type of world view attempts to move the person from fear of powers greater than himself to a position of power over these outside forces. There is a thrust–usually by powers outside of him– to cause him to fear and a response by himself to gain power over these outside force. This type of world view is often found in ‘animistic’ cultures where their view of the world fills all things outside themselves with spiritual powers which can seriously harm them. The response is ‘power objects,’ amulets and ceremonies that ‘appease’ these outside forces and give the individual power over them.
There are attributes of culture which can be used to describe differences in cultures. The words used describe points at each end of a line, so a culture can fall anywhere along this line. Think about where your culture would be located on these lines.
Time ————————————— Event
Punctuality…………………………………Details of event
Set limits…………………………………..Resolution
Schedule/goals…………………………….Come what may attitude
Rewards…………………………………….Completion
Emphasis on past/future…………………Emphasis on present
Task—————————————–Relationship
Focus on task/principles…………………..Focus on persons/relationships
Satisfaction in reaching goals…………….Satisfaction in interaction
Seeks friends with………………………….Seeks friend with group-orientation
similar task orientation
Individual————————————–Collective (Decision making)
individual decisions…………………………..Group decisions
Independent actions………………………….’all or none’ actions
Participates out of enjoyment……………….Participates out of duty
Takes initiative………………………………..Conformity to the group
Large——————————————Small (Power distance)
Separate from the people…………………..Controlled by the people
Directive………………………………………Participatory
Close supervision…………………………….Little supervision
Authoritarian………………………………….Independent
Obedience……………………………………..Discussion
No input for decisions……………………….Much input for decisions
Linear—————————————- -Matrix (Thinking)
One thing at a time…………………………..”All over the map”
Orderly………………………………………….Random
Sequential………………………………………Within boundaries
Planned………………………………………….Fortuitous
Formal…………………………………………..Casual
We can see can see these attributesas manifested in different personalities, but cultures as a whole can also have these attributes.
It is really interesting to think about the cultures we come from, and how living in a different culture from our birth culture affects our thinking and interaction. I hope you find this interesting and mentally stimulating!
to pass the American hospital accreditation process. The other two hospitals with this accreditations are the Philippine Medical Center and St. Luke’s. Everything was very clean and cleanable. They even have some restrictions on visiting hours and discourage visitors under the age of eight!The only quirky things were that the shower water never got very hot, and that venting for the air conditioning was arranged is such a way that the smells of 
