Discussion/Posting #2 – Your Thoughts on the Hofstede Website and Its Information on Cultural Patterns and the Individualism-Collectivism Self-Assessments

 

For this Discussion/Posting #2, in Activity #2, you should have accessed the web link on Hofstede’s website and entered different countries to compare as well two (2) self-assessments on individualism-collectivism.  Please answer the following questions in relation to that activity.  Refer to course concepts and material in your response.  

Total Points:  60 points

Here are my parameters (which will help guide you in terms of what I am looking for):

*Your Initial Post (you have to answer questions in an initial posting on every discussion):  This should be 250 words single-spaced.

************************************************

*What do you notice about the scores and cultural patterns attributed to the countries that you entered? Is such information accurate? In what ways?

*What larger presumptions seem to be made by Hofstede’s website (about what culture is, the nature of cultural behavior)?

*How useful is this information from Hofstede’s research?  In what ways?  How can it be limiting?

*In Activity #3, from the two (2) self-assessments that you scored yourself, what was revealed about your level of individualism or collectivism?

(

activity2

https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/

activity3

Please do the following in this Activity #3.

1) Go to the following website:

https://fr.mashallow.com/quizzer/217151/individualism-vs-collectivism-self-assessment-quiz (Links to an external site.)

2) Answer the items by pressing on the appropriate choices.

3) Once you are finished (there is an item countdown), it will tell you your score or the more tendencies towards individualism or collectivism.

4) Now, go to another website below:

https://itsallaboutculture.com/collectivisticindividualistic-self-assessment/ (Links to an external site.)

2) Complete the questionnaire given the instructions at the top of the website.  You will need to write down  or type up (in a separate document). your numerical answers by numbered items.  For example:  1) 4 (Important To Me).

3) Once you are done putting down your answers on paper or in a document, go ahead and score it based on the instructions:

“To find your individualism score, add your responses to the odd numbered items. To find your collectivism score, add your responses to the even numbered items. Both scores will range from 10 to 50. The higher your scores, the more individualistic and/or collectivistic your values are.”

You will reflect on this Activity #3 for one question in Discussion #2!)

COMM 174
Dr. Rona T. Halualani

Week 2, Unit 2

Geert Hofstede’s Cultural PaAerns/Dimensions
—  Dutch social psychologist
—  Worked for IBM
—  Collected over 100,000 questionnaires on how

employees from other countries reported on
their national cultures

—  Examined how a society’s culture affected its
values and how those values affect behavior

—  Found four cultural dimensions of 40 initial
countries:
—  individualism-collectivism
—  power distance
—  uncertainty avoidance
—  masculinity-femininity
—  In later research, he added:

—  long-term orientation
—  indulgence vs. self-restraint

—  Deemed these as “national cultural differences”

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  Individualism-Collectivism: Use of pronouns
— EX: A member of a collectivistic culture who
identifies with the group may use the pronoun “we”
when stating a personal opinion. A member of an
individualistic culture would perceive such a
statement as being about something that the group
may do or believe, but not necessarily the speaker’s
opinion. (Could be seen as more of an obligation and
not actual opinion.)

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  Individualism-Collectivism: “Face”
—  Face refers to the public self-image. (We portray different
faces for inclusion into a group or for autonomy as a
person; how we are perceived by others).

— When our bosses/parents issue a directive, and we do not
comply, we threaten their face; we question their
individual personhood and their authority. When you are
a teacher and have students from collectivistic cultures,
you provide direct feedback and can threaten their face.

—  In collectivistic cultures, the concern for face is
predominantly other-oriented.

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  EX: U.S.-Japanese business merger (“Tim,” a U.S. executive is

responsible for setting up a company in a merger with a Japanese
company. He worked well with the Japanese executives. One
executive, “Yoshi” was elected chairman of the board of this company
when his grandfather retired. Over the course of a year, Tim and
Yoshi and others worked on ways in which to develop this merger.
Then one day, Yoshi’s grandfather attended the meeting. This
grandfather talked about the history of the company and how it was
formed by traditional practices. Tim expected Yoshi to share the new
directions they had been discussing. However, Yoshi said nothing –
he nodded with his grandfather. Tim was frustrated and started to
protest and share these new strategies. The atmosphere became tense
and a week later, the Japanese company withdrew from the
negotiations. (Has to do with the face not of your self but of a group,
a culture, a family, an organization).

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  In individualistic cultures, the concern for face is self-
oriented. (There are misunderstandings when
individualists fail to give face to collectivisits when they
interact). Yoshi was giving his grandfather face

—  EX: Like Tim

—  European American teachers misunderstand African
American students – (stylin) – refusing to comply as part
of a verbal sparring game. They could be perceived as
threatening the teacher’s face.

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  Low and High Context Communication
—  Low-context cultures use more direct styles of communication.
—  High-context cultures use more indirect styles of communication.

— 

—  EX: Greek-US communication (Greeks employ an indirect style of comm and

interpret others’ behavior based on the assumption that they are also using
the same style. Americans use direct styles of communication.)

— 
—  W (direct): Bob’s having a party. Wanna go?
—  M (indirect): OK
— 
—  (later)
—  W (direct): Are you sure you wanna go?
—  M (indirect): OK, let’s not go. I am tired anyways.
—  (the male interpreted the woman’s questions as an indirect indication that she

did not want to go)

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  EX: Uncertainty reduction with low and high context cultures
— 
—  *If high context cultures believe that meaning resides in the context/

person, low context cultures believe that the meaning resides in the
verbal message. In initial interactions with strangers, we often reduce
uncertainty of each other but differently. In the U.S., which is a low
context culture, members try to find info about beliefs, values, and
attitudes to reduce uncertainty. In Japan, a high context culture must
know one other’s status and background in order to reduce
uncertainty and know which version of the language to use (for e.g.,
different ways of addressing/talking to superiors, equals, and inferiors:
“I belong to Mitsubishi Bank. What is your job? How old are you?
What is the name of your company — many misinterpret these as rude
and nosey).

— 

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  We might use these cultural patterns to reduce uncertainty
about specific cultural groups.

—  Uncertainty Reduction Theory: We try to reduce uncertainty
when we communicate with strangers for the following:

—  *prediction (to predict stranger’s behaviors)
—  *explanation (to be able to explain stranger’s behaviors – to ask
why they behave the way they do)

—  *anxiety (tenseness about what might happen; when we
communicate with others from different cultures, we have a
level of UNC and anxiety) (wanting to know info, to be in
control, fear negative evaluations by other group or awkward
communication encounters).

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
— EX of misunderstanding:

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
— Which cultural patterns from this unit do you see
operating in the previous slide (table)?

— How much can we rely on cultural patterns to guide
explanations for behaviors? Are these guaranteed
predictors?

—  If not, how should we use cultural patterns?

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  Critical Incident Examples
—  Critical Incident #1: The Job Interview
— 
—  John is an Irish American exchange student from San Jose State University who is studying at a Japanese university as a part of a one-year-

abroad program. It has been two months into the school year and John feels settled into the routine life of a college student and feels ready
to start a part-time job teaching English for extra money. For the past few weeks, he has been looking at various English-language
newspapers and responding to job advertisements. After going to several interviews, however, John has experienced a growing sense of
frustration with his prospective employers. Interview after interview, John would leave the building feeling confident that he would get the
job. The interviewers would not only seem extremely responsive but would also comment on his excellent qualifications. Each interview
would end with something to the effect of: “John we are very impressed by your qualifications we will think about it and let you know.”

—  Infallibly, however, John would never hear from them. After waiting a couple of weeks, he would try calling the companies to see if any
progress was made. Each time he would hear a rather baffled answer and would be told that they would have to think about it some more
and call him back. Again he would wait to no avail. Angry and frustrated, John mentioned this to two American friends (Mary and Frank) he
had met at the university. Their conversation went as follows:

— 
—  John: I can’t believe it’s been 3 weeks since I started interviewing and all of the places are “still thinking”! What’s taking them so long??
— 
—  Mary: You know what? If I were you I’d give up and try looking some more . . .
— 
—  John: But there’s still the possibility that I’ll get one of the jobs I interviewed for . . . right?
— 
—  Frank: Not necessarily . . . The Japanese can tell you one thing and mean another. I have been through 20 different interviews myself

and the only time they actually called me back was when I got the job. Even though all the other places told he how qualified I was during
the interviews, none of them had the decency to keep their promise of notifying me later.

— 
—  Mary: That’s the same for me! When I got my job they called me back almost immediately after the interview. The other places didn’t

even bother writing or calling me. It’s so frustrating, because if they would tell us “Yes” or “No,” at least we would know whether we should
keep looking some more or not!

— 
—  John: Yeah! Personally, I think it’s really rude that they don’t call us back after saying that they would!
— 
—  Why are these employers not calling John back? Provide an interpretation/explanation. What should John do?

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  Critical Incident #1: The Job Interview
—  Why are these employers not calling John back? Provide an interpretation/

explanation. What should John do?

—  Employers were baffled by John’s phone call and told him that they would have to think
about it some more.

—  The employers did not want to embarrass John and make him lose face. They tried to
relay this message through nonverbal cues such as delaying the answer and simply not
replying. The Japanese avoid saying “No” outright in order to save the party’s face and to
preserve interpersonal harmony. Direct rejection is humiliating for Japanese; people
employ tactics such as using silence or making tangential responses instead of a direct
“No.”

—  The collective is revered over the individual. People must constantly strive at
maintaining good interpersonal relationships. Avoiding unpleasantness is a part of
social responsibility. Thus, one must read between the lines here. The use of indirect
forms necessitates a more active role on the part of the listener.

—  Cultural Patterns at Work: Individualism-Collectivism, Low-High Context,
Power Distance, Face

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  Critical Incident #2: Get To The Point

— 
—  James, an American business executive in San Jose, CA, hosted two suppliers from Brazil. He was pleased

with the initial courtesies. The executives from Brazil brought gifts and were very kind.
—  The next day, there was a meeting between James and his staff and the executives from Brazil, Mr. Lorenzo

and Mr. Ota. The parties in attendance were introduced to each other. Coffee and pastries were served and Mr.
Lorenzo and Mr. Ota asked about the San Jose area, if any of the staff had been to Brazil, and what their hobbies
were. As time passed and Mr. Lorenzo and Mr. Ota showed no sign of talking business, James started to worry. He
gently suggested that he had many things to discuss with them. Mr. Lorenzo said there was no rush to get into the
drudgery of business talk and that they needed to understand each other and that business would take care of itself.

—  After about 40 minutes, James started looking at his wristwatch and brought up the business issues to be
discussed. Mr. Lorenzo and Mr. Ota steered him away from business talk and led him into discussing golf. One of
them proposed that they should go to a golf course after lunch because it was a pleasant, sunny day. James was quite
confused about his visitors’ lack of desire to discuss business and was not certain that he would be able to get a
contract signed in the next 24 hours.

— 
—  What is going on in this incident? What should James do?

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  Critical Incident #2: Get To The Point

—  What is going on in this incident? What should James do?

—  Negotiation involves both socializing, rapport building, information exchange, persuasion, and arriving at an
agreement. Developing trust through socializing and getting to know each other is important for collectivist cultures
in business contexts. Business cannot be done without knowing a person’s needs and preferences and establishing
trust. Collectivisits deal with only the ones they know and trust; they bring people into their primary network of
family, relations, and friends. Thus, there is a tendency to be relational (valuing a relationship even when it is
unprofitable to do so) rather than rational (choosing relts that serve one’s immediate interests). Signs of impatience
lead to apprehension

— 
—  Individualist cultures spend little time on socializing and rapport building and prefer information sharing. The main

thrust is on persuasion (convincing the other party of one’s point of view).

—  Cultural Patterns at Work: Individualism-Collectivism, Low-High Context, Uncertainty Avoidance

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  Critical Incident #2: Get To The Point

—  What is going on in this incident? What should James do?
—  Negotiation involves both socializing, rapport building, information exchange, persuasion, and arriving at an
agreement. Developing trust through socializing and getting to know each other is important for collectivist cultures
in business contexts. Business cannot be done without knowing a person’s needs and preferences and establishing
trust. Collectivisits deal with only the ones they know and trust; they bring people into their primary network of
family, relations, and friends. Thus, there is a tendency to be relational (valuing a relationship even when it is
unprofitable to do so) rather than rational (choosing relts that serve one’s immediate interests). Signs of impatience
lead to apprehension
— 
—  Individualist cultures spend little time on socializing and rapport building and prefer information sharing. The main
thrust is on persuasion (convincing the other party of one’s point of view).

—  Cultural Patterns at Work: Individualism-Collectivism, Low-High Context, Uncertainty Avoidance

How might cultural paAerns influence how
groups communicate?
—  Relationship Between World View, Culture, & Communication (Martin & Nakayama, Chapters 2, 3)
— 
—  A) Culture influences communication (WV directly impacts the way the cultural group

communicates.)
— 
—  As reflected in the Hofstede reading, Chen reading, Daniel & Smitherman reading, & Katriel reading
— 
— 
— 
—  B) Communication influences culture (The way a cultural group communicates helps to build and

sustain that cultural group and its world view.)

— 
—  As reflected in the Katriel & Philipsen reading

— 
— 
—  C) Both a cycle of points A and B
—