This style compares the culture and communication patterns between the Americans and the Asians. By Americans, it means people with European background; these are people who descended from the European immigrants of which I am part of. On the other hand, Asians are people from countries such as Japan, China, and Korea. I have a friend whose mother is a Korean while the father is a Japanese. He is, therefore, a very important asset to this article because of his diverse cultural background. Asian and American culture differs in numerous ways. Most of the time, people view Asians as the ‘other’ race because of their adherence to their culture. To understand the differences best, Hofstede’s taxonomies will be used. Before delving into the specifics, it is essential to understand the foundation of Hofstede’s taxonomies because it is only then that the differences between the two cultures will be understood more clearly. Hofstede asserts that people usually carry mental programs ( Lustig & Koester, 2018 ). These mental programs are sets of norms that are shaped during childhood and reinforced by the culture within which one is raised up. Hofstede posits that the way these mental programs are expressed differs among different cultures. Hofstede’s taxonomy comprises of six domains, which include: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, long-term versus short-term, and indulgence versus restraint. This article compares the American culture with the Asian culture using the six domains.
Power Distance
As Hofstede states, cultures that have small power distances believe in the importance of minimizing social and class inequalities. On the contrary, cultures with large power distances believe that everyone has his or her rightful place in the social hierarchy. There are significant differences between Americans and Asians in regard to power differences. Asians believe in having large power differences while Americans have smaller power differences. Beginning with the family level, Asian families emphasize the importance of young members respecting their elders (Park & Kim, 2008). Older siblings can even discipline the younger ones in the absence of parents. Most importantly, the parenting style among Asian families is authoritarian. That means that children are supposed to follow the instructions of their parents without questioning. On the contrary, parenting among American families leans towards permissive style. That means that parents do not monitor the behavior of their children closely. Additionally, children can question their parents’ authority. The American parenting style has often been criticized because it is linked with raising children who are rebellious and aggressive.
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With regard to schooling, teachers in Asia act as instructors. Teachers in Asia are perceived to be embodiments of knowledge. Students on the other hand, are the receivers of that knowledge. As such, students are supposed to listen to their instructors and follow the instructions. Students are expected to respect their teachers and adhere to the school rules. In case they breach the school rules, the teachers have the right to punish the students. American schools are the direct opposite of the Asian system. Students in the United States have the freedom of participating in the learning process (Park & Kim, 2008). Despite there being a difference in age, students interact with their teachers like equals. Teachers have to listen to the students unlike in Asia.
The business environment in regard to the Asian and American cultures operates almost the same way as the school system. In Asia, hierarchy is an important aspect. People high up on the hierarchy command respect from the subordinates. Most of the time, senior managers make decisions without consulting the junior employees. The role of the leaders is to make decisions while the subordinates are expected to implement the decisions (Wellein, 2008). On the contrary, in the American culture, leadership in business is mostly democratic. Decision-making is not exclusive to senior managers. Rather, subordinates are also involved. The objective is to encourage the subordinates to make decisions independently. Democratic leadership is best because it encourages people to share ideas on how a business can improve. The authoritarian style of leadership in most Asian businesses instills fear in subordinates who might have better ideas of running the business. As a result, a business may crumple because a subordinate who may have better ideas is blocked from giving advice.
Uncertainty Avoidance
According to Lustig & Koester (2018), Asian countries have higher uncertainty avoidance indices compared to the United States. That implies that people with Asian backgrounds try as much as possible to avoid uncertainties than American citizens. Uncertain events are those that occur unexpectedly or without warning. Perhaps an important question at this juncture is, why does the United States have a lower uncertainty avoidance index? Conventional wisdom posits that people in the United States have an entrepreneurial culture, where they are used to risks. That means that people would try to test new ideas and see whether they work. The decision to test out ideas is not made with the consideration of the implications. Therefore, Americans tend to ignore uncertainties, meaning that they make resolutions by daring. On the contrary, people from Asian cultures would rather try out ideas that have been tested and proven. Decision-making among Asian cultures is done after conclusive evaluation of the consequences. Therefore, the Asians prefer orderliness as opposed to pragmatism. In case uncertainties occur, people will adjust accordingly because they are prepared. The low uncertainty avoidance among the American culture sometimes is detrimental because when people make losses or uncertainties happen, they take a long time to recover. On the contrary, the Asians take a shorter time to recover because they plan for the alternative before making resolutions.
Individualism versus Collectivism
The American culture is highly individualistic. That means that people have loose relationships with each other and are always in pursuit of personal goals. Perhaps the American culture is so because of the notion of “The American Dream”. Everyone desires to live a better life and uses any means available to elevate himself or herself to the highest social status. That means that competition is so high and everybody tries to outdo each other. The pursuit of “The American Dream” makes many people in America to have little time to develop social ties (Park & Kim, 2008). Additionally, once people in America attain the adulthood age, they are expected to move out of their parents’ house and try to establish their own niches. Parents can even go to the extent of suing children who are old enough but have refused to move out. On the contrary, the Asians believe in collectivism. Asians form one of the most cohesive social groups. The Asian culture allows people to know their distant relatives such as cousins, aunts, uncles, and even grandparents. It is common to find Asian family businesses where parents allow their children to participate in the management of their businesses. The Asian collectivism is beneficial at times of distress. Relatives usually come together to help each other emotionally or even economically. On the contrary, the American individualism could be detrimental to children. Teenagers might grow with the pressure of the expectation of the family. The failure to achieve the “American Dream” could be a cause for distress. Since family members are usually far off, young people may develop undesirable consequences such as drug addiction and mental disorders.
Masculinity versus Femininity
According to Chon (2014), the American culture is highly masculine. That means that the roles of women and men are not so distinct. Women are not restricted from performing the supposedly traditional men tasks. For instance, women can enroll into the Army and even apply to study the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects. Job recruitment and hiring is based on merit and not gender orientation. Additionally, women are no longer seen as housewives or people who ought to bear children while men work. In order to achieve the “American Dream” people are assertive, materialistic, and believe in strength. It is common to find people in America doing different jobs in an attempt to live up to the desired standards. On the contrary, Asians still have defined gender roles. Asian women would want to identify with their culture by getting married and taking care of their families. Asians are not driven by materialistic positions alone. Rather, they would want to get satisfaction; emotional and mental wellbeing. Therefore, the Asian culture is feminine. The American masculine culture sometimes has drawbacks especially when people work hard but do not get what they want. They tend to be frustrated, hence, become disturbed emotionally. The Asians try to balance all aspects and as a result tend to be more contended.
Time-Orientation
The phrase “American time” indicates how the American culture is sensitive to time. The American culture works with deadlines, within which measurable output out to be realized. Perhaps it is the reason why most companies hire people on contract terms. If the contract expires and the management realizes that an employee has contributed insignificantly towards the success of the company, he or she is fired and a new person is hired. If someone sets goals and he or she does not achieve within the stipulated time, the goals are likely to be abandoned and others established. On the contrary, the Asians believe in persistence until targets are attained (Chon, 2014). Even when something takes long to accomplish, it is not abandoned until a solution is found. The Asian culture, therefore, emphasizes on hard work and resilience. Martial arts in many Asian cultures is learnt through endurance and does not have a time-frame for completion. However, such traits would mean foregoing other important tasks to focus on one single thing which might take long to succeed.
Indulgence versus Restraint
This is one of the domains that the American and Asian cultures have significant differences. American culture has a high indulgence level, meaning that people spend on expensive things. It is common to find Americans driving big and expensive cars. People usually work hard but use a significant portion of their savings to take their families on holiday or buy drinks in pubs. Most probably, Americans have the perception that they ought to pay themselves back for working so hard. The busy lifestyle makes most Americans to spend time in fancy places to unwind from the stressful work environment. The unwinding off involves a lot of spending. Additionally, in order to be seen living the “American Dream” people adopt a fancy lifestyle. On the contrary, Asians exercise restraint (Park & Kim, 2008). Asians do not delight in fancy things, they would rather have a fulfilling life. Most Asians wear casual clothing delight in having meals with their families. As a result, extravagance is limited. Asians seem to be driven by the passion of saving to ensure that they do not lack basic needs. The American indulgence could have repercussions especially when one becomes unemployed. People might be affected psychologically when they cannot afford the lavish lifestyle they lived previously. Asians would be comfortable living in any social class because they are not used to extravagance.
Conclusively, the Asian culture and communication patterns seem to differ in all aspects of Hofstede’s taxonomy. The American culture seemingly is guided by liberal ideals while the Asian culture is founded on conservative ideals. It is perhaps the reason why Asians are accused of being resistant to new ideas. However, Asians have a unique way of competing in the global sphere while still sticking to their way of life.
References
Chon, A. (2014). Asia and America: How Cultural Differences Create Behavioral.
Lustig, M. & Koester, J. (2018). Chapter 5 Cultural Patterns and Communication: Taxonomies - ppt video online download . Slideplayer.com . Retrieved 8 July 2018, from https://slideplayer.com/slide/10288512/
Park, Y. S., & Kim, B. S. (2008). Asian and European American cultural values and communication styles among Asian American and European American college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology , 14 (1), 47.
Wellein, V. (2008). Cross-Cultural Differences: American, German, Japanese and Chinese Nagotiation styles . diplom. de.
