SCLOA: Cultural norms

Culture

"A meaning and information system transmitted across generations" (Matsumoto & Juang, 2007). One of the major functions of culture is to ascribe meaning to context: the nature of the people interacting, the physical setting, the events that occur. Cultural norms are generated that provide guidelines for how a culture's members think, feel and act in those contexts. These norms are essential to avoid social chaos, maintain social coordination and produce efficiency in effort. A dynamic culture is by definition constantly shifting in response to environmental and social changes. Cultural norms are part of the culture. They are behaviour patterns that are typical to specific groups and are passed down through the generations by "gatekeepers" such as parents, teachers, elders and the media. Cultural norms influence almost every element of life, either visibly (as in the particular form of the marriage ceremony) or more often less visibly (as in assumptions about whom you may marry).

Etic approach to research

- It is focused on the universal - Uses as its starting point theories and concepts from outside of the setting being studied - A researcher who takes an existing theory or conceptual framework and conducts research to see if it applies to a new setting or population is taking an etic approach - The categories used are those that have meaning for the researcher - Strength: allows for comparison across contexts and populations, and the development of more general cross-cultural concepts.

Emic approach to research

- The emic approach to research usually investigates just one culture or one group - It takes as its starting point the perspectives and words of participants - A researcher using an emic approach will use accounts and descriptions given in the very words used by the members of the culture being studied - The researcher tries to put aside psychological theories and let the data from the participants "speak for itself" - This approach is the basis for "grounded theory" in which the theory grows out of the material, rather than the theory being used to examine if the data supports it or not, where the data creates the meaning - Often used when researching topics that have not yet been heavily theorized - Strength: appreciation of the particularity of the context being studied, in its respect for local viewpoints, and its potential to uncover the unexpected - It is the main qualitative approach

Indulgence/restraint

= The attitude of a society to the gratification of natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun. Restraint stands for a society that suppresses gratification of needs and regulates drives by means of strict social norms.

Short/ long-term orientation

= The extent to which a culture has a dynamic future-orientated mentality and refers to the degree to which a culture encourages delayed gratification of material, social and emotional needs among its members.

Masculinity/femininity

= The extent to which a society is competitive (masculine) or cooperative (feminine).

Power distance

= The extent to which people in societies accept, or do not accept, a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification.

Individualism/Collectivism

= The extent to which people prefer a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate families or a tightly-knit framework wherein individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. A society's position on this dimension is reflected in whether people's self-image is defined in terms of "I" or "we."

Uncertainty Avoidance

= The extent to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. The fundamental issue here is how a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known. A society high in uncertainty avoidance tries to control people's behaviour through rigid codes of belief and is intolerant of unconventional ideas.

Cultural dimensions: Hofstede (1973)

Aim: To identify cultural dimensions in businesses worldwide in order to help facilitate communication between cultures. Method: Large-scale survey of employees of the multinational company IBM. This was followed by a content analysis of the responses received, focusing on the key differences submitted by employees in different countries. The research looked at the 40 most represented countries in the surveys. The cultural patterns he noticed he called "dimensions". Results: He thereby identified and validated four independent dimensions of national culture differences, with a fifth dimension added later. They are: individualism/collectivism; power distance; uncertainty avoidance; masculinity/femininity. The fifth that was added in 2001 is long-term/short-term orientation or Confucian dynamism. Conclusion: Cultural norms may be analysed by taking a dimensional approach.

Research on cultural dimensions: Short/ long-term orientation: Ayoun and Moreo (2009)

Ayoun and Moreo (2009) investigated the influence of time orientation on the behaviour of hotel managers. A questionnaire was posted to international hotel managers in the USA and Thailand. Compared to US managers, Thai managers were found to place a stronger emphasis on longer-term strategic plans and a stronger reliance on long-term evaluation of strategy. Aim: To investigate the potential influence of the cultural dimension of time orientation on the strategic behavior of hotel managers. Method: A survey questionnaire was mailed to top-level hotel managers in the U.S.and Thailand. A usable sample of 120 was used in the analysis. Results: Compared to their American counterparts, Thai managers were found to place a stronger emphasis on longer term strategic plans, have a stronger tendency toward involving others when developing their business strategy, and a stronger reliance on long-term evaluation of strategy. No significant differences were found between the managers concerning openness to strategic change and commitment to strategic decisions. Conclusion: Time orientation is a relevant cultural dimension for explaining the differences between managers from these two countries.

Emic approach to research: Blumhagen (1980)

Blumhagen (1980) suggested that hypertension in North Americans is a "folk illness". This is the same as saying it is a "culture-bound syndrome" = a culture-specific psychological disorder which can only be fully understood within a specific cultural context. The medical term "hypertension" has become converted to the folk-term "Hyper-tension", suggesting high stress is responsible. Aim: To investigate the Individual illness belief system underpinning the medical term "hypertension". Method: 117 North American men with biomedically defined hypertension were interviewed for their explanation of their condition. Results: 72% of the interviewees said that they had "Hyper-tension," a physical illness characterised by excessive nervousness caused by untoward social stress, sucvh as family arguments. The data was used to derive a composite diagram of the cognitive domain of "Hyper-tension" in North America which demonstrates the various options people have for interpreting their experiences and choosing appropriate therapeutic actions. They use this illness belief system to justify otherwise unwarranted social behaviour and to assume various aspects of the sick role. Conclusion: Popular belief systems are different from, yet linked to, expert belief systems. Popular illness terms often help support a stable cultural milieu by linking concepts of causes and significance of types of illness problems with a set of health care seeking choices; as well as linking typical physical and psychological symptoms with associated social problems. This study presents an example of how illness beliefs perform these functions in urban, mainstream America. "Hyper-tension" is the belief system related to the medical term "hypertension".

Evaluation of emic and etic approaches to research

Both types of research are often combined to give a holistic picture of human behaviour within and across cultures.

Etic approach to research: Hoftstede (1973)

Cross-cultural approach that characterises the etic concept of research. Aim: To identify cultural dimensions in businesses worldwide in order to help facilitate communication between cultures. Method: Large-scale survey of employees of the multinational company IBM. This was followed by a content analysis of the responses received, focusing on the key differences submitted by employees in different countries. The research looked at the 40 most represented countries in the surveys. The cultural patterns he noticed he called "dimensions". Results: He thereby identified and validated four independent dimensions of national culture differences, with a fifth dimension added later. They are: individualism/collectivism; power distance; uncertainty avoidance; masculinity/femininity. The fifth that was added in 2001 is long-term/short-term orientation or Confucian dynamism. Conclusion: Cultural norms may be analysed by taking a dimensional approach.

Cultural norms

Cultural norms are behaviour patterns that are typical of specific groups. Such behaviours are learned from parents, teachers and peers from within the same culture. Cultural norms often are so strongly ingrained in an individual's daily life that the individual may be unaware of certain behaviours. Until these behaviours are seen in the context of a different culture with different values and beliefs, the individual may have difficulty recognising them. Culture shock is when we realise the difference between our own culture and another, and struggle to adapt.

Cultural dimensions

Geert Hofstede (1973) originally distinguished four "cultural dimensions" by which life in a society is organised. They are dimensions along which cultural values may be analysed: - Individualism/Collectivism - Power distance - Masculinity/femininity - Uncertainty Avoidance - Short/ long-term orientation - Indulgence/restraint

Research on cultural dimensions: Short/ long-term orientation: Levine and Norenzayan (1999)

Levine and Norenzayan (1999) demonstrated how time orientation relates to everyday behaviours, by measuring how fast people walked a 60 foot distance in downtown areas in major cities, the speed of the service in a post office and the accuracy of clocks in 31 countries. They found that life pace, as indicated by the activities they measured, was fastest in countries like Japan, Switzerland, Ireland and Germany and slowest in Mexico, Indonesia and Brazil. Aim: To investigate pace of life in large cities from 31 countries around the world. Method: Three indicators of pace of life were observed: average walking speed in downtown locations, the speed with which postal clerks completed a simple request (work speed), and the accuracy of public clocks. Results: pace of life was fastest in Japan and the countries of Western Europe and was slowest in economically undeveloped countries. The pace was significantly faster in colder climates, economically productive countries, and in individualistic cultures. Faster places also tended to have higher rates of death from coronary heart disease, higher smoking rates, and greater subjective well-being. Conclusion: Time orientation is intertwined with the social-psychological and community characteristics of a culture, and has a central role in defining the personality of a place and its people.