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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