Cultural Values
«Urals State Technical University - UPI»
Foreign language department
Thesis
«Cultural Values»
Student: Zaitseva S.V.
Group: PП-4
Supervisor: Hramushina Zh.A.
Ekaterinburg
2004
Table of contents:
Summary
3
Key words
4
Introduction
5
1. Definitions: beliefs, values
7
The value / belief puzzle
8
Contrastive orientations
12
Japanese interpersonal norms
15
2. Japanese and American patterns of social behavior
22
The national status image
25
A Cultural model of interaction
27
Seven statements about Americans 31
3. Factors influencing values
40
Intercultural communication: a guide to men of action
40
Cuisine, etiquette and cultural values
52
Patterns of speech
55
4. Contrast Russian’s stereotypes
58
Nine statements about Russians
58
Middle Eastern interview responses
61
5. American’s view of Russian. Russian’s view of American
65
American interview responses
65
Russian interview responses
75
Conclusion
79
Literature
80
Appendix
SUMMARY
A diploma work contains 80 pages, 2 tables, 1 figure, 4 books are a
source of it.
Key words: cross-cultural communication, values, beliefs, clusters,
stereotypes.
In detail it is said about concept "values", factors influencing
values, the meaning of values in intercultural communication and
understanding between different nations.
In brief it is mentioned differences between beliefs, values.
The actuality and novelty of a theme consist in the following points.
Problems of the intercultural communications and cultural values are
"young". Scientists started to consider them rather recently. In Russia
researches have begun only in the 80th years. In such a way, there is not
enough literature and materials on the given questions. Therefore any new
works and researches make the significant contribution to studying these
problems.
So in my work I tried: to research the influence of cultural values to
attitude one country to another; to explore and to compare Japanese and
American patterns of social behavior; to understand the factors influencing
values; to discover stereotypes between different countries.
In conclusion it is noted that excellent knowledge of language is only
half-affair for successful cooperation with other country. Also it is
necessary to know features of people of other country in negotiating or
their attitude to business. Also it is necessary to take into account
features of dialogue, etiquette, relations with grown-ups and many other
things.
KEY WORDS
Cross-cultural communication is the information exchange between one
person and any other source transmitting a message displaying properties of
a culture different to the one of the receiver’s culture. The source of
such a message can be either a person, in an interpersonal communication
process, or any form of mass media or other form of media.
Values. A value is something that is important to people — like honesty,
harmony, respect for elders, or thinking of your family first. They are
represents what is expected or hoped for, required or forbidden. It is not
a report of actual conduct but is the inductively based logically ordered
set of criteria of evaluations by which conduct is judged and sanctions
applied.
Beliefs are generally taken to mean a mental acceptance or conviction in
the truth or actuality of something. A belief links an object or event and
the characteristics that distinguish it from others. The degree to which we
believe that an event or object possesses certain characteristics reflects
the level of our subjective probability (belief) and, consequently, the
depth or intensity of our belief. The more certain we are in a belief, the
greater is the intensity of that belief.
Clusters are groups of inter-related industries that drive wealth
creation in a region and provides a richer more meaningful representation
of local industry drivers and regional dynamics trends than traditional
methods and represents the entire value chain of a broadly defined industry
from suppliers to end products, including supporting services and
specialized infrastructure.
Stereotype is a fixed set of ideas about what a particular type of person
or thing is like, which is (wrongly) believed to be true in all cases.
INTRODUCTION
The subject of my diploma work is cultural values.
Our perception of foreign cultures is usually based not on their
complex reality, but on the simplified image they project. The clearer and
more sharply defined that image is, the more convinced we will be that we
are intimately acquainted with it: it is a mere outward confirmation of
knowledge we already possess.
All cultures have been designed to meet universal human needs: for
shelter - for love — for friendship. While they have commonalties, they
have great variety too! Values - universal feature of culture, how they
might vary within and between cultures.
One universal feature of culture is values. A value is something that
is important to people — like honesty, harmony, respect for elders, or
thinking of your family first.
We can't see values directly, but we can see them reflected in
people's ordinary, day to day behavior. What we value shapes what we do. If
respect for elders is important to me, I might listen very patiently to
grandmother's stories and not argue with her. In fact, I might turn to her
for valuable and wise advice. If I value honesty, I will hope that my
friends will tell me the truth and not what they think I want to hear. If
harmony is more important to me, I prefer to say things that make people
happy, even if those things are not exactly true.
In the course of human interaction, evaluations are assigned to given
types of behavior, attitudes, and kinds of social contact. Taken together
they form the belief and value system, the cultural premises and
assumptions, and the foundation for law, order, and the world view of given
cultural groups. These systems embrace a number of assumptions about how
the world is put together. Some values and norms, differentiate between
good and evil, right and wrong. Some of these assumptions are made explicit
in the beliefs and myths of the people. Beliefs, value systems, and world
view often combine with other features of social and cultural organization
to provide shared cultural symbols.
The actuality and novelty of a theme consist in the following points.
Problems of the intercultural communications and cultural values are
"young". Scientists started to consider them rather recently. In Russia
researches have begun only in the 80th years. In such a way, there is not
enough literature and materials on the given questions. Therefore any new
works and researches make the significant contribution to studying these
problems.
Objects of research in my diploma work are behavioral samples and
cultural clusters.
1. DEFINITIONS: BELIEFS, VALUES
It is useful at this juncture to make some distinctions between
beliefs and values.
BELIEFS
Beliefs are generally taken to mean a mental acceptance or conviction
in the truth or actuality of something. A belief links an object or event
and the characteristics that distinguish it from others. The degree to
which we believe that an event or object possesses certain characteristics
reflects the level of our subjective probability (belief) and,
consequently, the depth or intensity of our belief. The more certain we are
in a belief, the greater is the intensity of that belief.
This is well attested to in the power of religious beliefs. There are
three types of beliefs, all of which are of concern to us. They are
experiential, informational, and inferential. Experiential beliefs come
from direct personal experience, of course; they are integrated at the
intrapersonal level. The second type involves information. This is
transferred on the interpersonal level and shows great cultural variation.
Here cultural beliefs are stated, transferred, learned, and practiced.
Informational beliefs are connected with what are called "authority
belief," or credible information sources. If a group of people believes
that exercising increases the individual's physical and mental well-being,
these believers may also be willing to accept athletes as authority figures
even though the testimonies of these idols range beyond their physical
prowess. Witness the selling success of Olympic champions and football
stars in promoting breakfast food or panty hose.
Inferential beliefs are those which go beyond direct observation and
information. These concern rules of logic, argumentation, rhetoric, and
even establishment of facts (the scientific method). Although internal
logic systems differ from one individual to another within a culture, they
differ more from one culture to another. The most dramatic difference in
cultural variance in thinking lies between Western and Eastern cultures.
The Western world has a logic system built upon Aristotelian principles,
and it has evolved ways of thinking that embody these principles. . . .
Eastern cultures, however, developed before and without the benefit of
Athens or Aristotle. As a consequence, their logic systems are sometimes
called non-Aristotelian, and they can often lead to quite different sets of
beliefs.
VALUES
Values bring affective force to beliefs. Some of these values are
shared with others of our kind some are not. Thus, we all adhere to some of
the beliefs and values generally accepted within our cultures; we reject
others. Values are related to what is seen to be good, proper, and
positive, or the opposite. Values are learned and may be normative in
nature. They change through time and are seldom shared in specifics by
members of different generations, although certain themes will prevail. For
example, the positive attributions placed upon competitiveness,
individualism, action, and other general principles that pervade the belief
and value orientation of members of the North American culture of the
United States remain. They include the constitutionally guaranteed and
socially valued "unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness" in individualistic, action-oriented, and competitive ways. These
values have endured their expression varies from generation to generation.
A cultural value system "represents what is expected or hoped for,
required or forbidden." It is not a report of actual conduct but is the
inductively based logically ordered set of criteria of evaluations by which
conduct is judged and sanctions applied.
THE VALUE / BELIEF PUZZLE
Value and belief systems, with their supporting cultural postulates
and world views, are complex and difficult to assess. They form an
interlocking system, reflecting and reflective of cultural history and
forces of change. They provide the bases for the assignment of cultural
meaning and evaluation. Values are desired outcomes as well as norms for
behavior; they are dreams as well as reality, They are embraced by some and
not others in a community; they may be the foundations for accepted modes
of behavior, but are as frequently overridden as observed. They are also
often the hidden force that sparks reactions and fuels denials. Unexamined
assignment of these characteristics to all members of a group is an
exercise in stereotyping.
ATTRIBUTIONS AND EVALUATIONS
Often values attributions and evaluations of the behaviors of
"strangers" are based on the value and belief systems of the observers.
Have you heard or made any of the following statements? Guilty or not?
Americans are cold.
Americans don't like their parents. Just look, they put their mothers
and fathers in nursing homes.
The Chinese are nosy. They're always asking such personal questions.
Spaniards must hate animals. Look what they do to bulls!
Marriages don't last in the United States.
Americans are very friendly. 1 met a nice couple on a tour and they
asked me to visit them.
Americans ask silly questions, they think we all live in tents and
drink nothing but camel's milk! They ought to see our airport!
Americans just pretend to be friendly; they really aren't. They say,
"Drop by sometime" but when I did, they didn't seem very happy to see me.
Of course, it was ten o'clock at night!
How should such statements be received? With anger? With explanation?
With understanding and anger? Should one just ignore such patent half-
truths stereotypic judgments, and oversimplifications? Before indulging in
any of the above actions, consider what can be learned from such
statements. First, what do these statements reveal? The speakers appear to
be concerned about families, disturbed by statistics, apt to form opinions
on limited data (friendliness), given to forming hasty and unwarranted
generalizations (Spanish bullfighting), and angered by the ignorance of
others. No one cultural group has a corner on such behavior. Second, we
might be able to guess how certain speakers might feel about divorce,
hospitality, or even animals. Third, the observations, while clearly not
applicable to all members of the groups about which the comments were made,
represent the speakers' perceptions. To many, Americans are seen as cold
and uncaring. Because perceptions and native value and belief systems play
such important roles in communication, it is important to recognize and
deal with these perceptions-correct or incorrect, fair or unfair.
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