1.4.6 - Context of Cultures: High and Low Show
Context of Cultures: High and Low Here is another concept that will help you pull together a lot of the material you have read so far about culture. It is called "high context" and "low context" and was created by the same anthropologist who developed the concepts of polychronic and monochronic time. They complement each other and provide a broad framework for looking at culture. The list below shows the kind of behavior that is generally found in high and low context cultures within five categories: how people relate to each other, how they communicate with each other, how they treat space, how they treat time, and how they learn. One thing to remember is that few cultures, and the people in them, are totally at one end of the spectrum or the other. They usually fall somewhere in between and may have a combination of high and low context characteristics.
The content here is based on the following works by anthropologist Edward T. Hall, all of which were published in New York by Doubleday: The Silent Language (1959), The Hidden Dimension (1969), Beyond Culture (1976), and The Dance of Life (1983). Source: The 1993 Annual: Developing Human Resources. Pfeiffer & Company.
Learning from Cultural Encounters !! To explore where you fit on the low and high context continuum, let's do the following activity...
Your High context score is: Your Low context score is: The difference between your scores is :
Compare your High and Low Context Culture scores. They can provide a pretty clear indication of how you prefer to interact in work and other social settings. All this means is that you are likely to feel more comfortable using one or the other contexts. Neither one is better or worse than the other. Preferring one style does not mean that you can�t interact effectively in many contexts, but just that you might have to make some adjustments if, for example, your style is predominantly high context and you find yourself functioning in a largely low context culture, or vice-versa. It also indicates that overseas adaptation might be easier if you were intending to live in a culture that generally reflected those cultural values. As useful as it is to know what your "natural" style is, it is even more important to understand how your preferred style might differ from others, and what that means when interacting with those who do not share that preference.If you want to know more about the interpretation of your scores...click here. Which of the following are values of cultures with a short term orientation?A short-term orientation fosters virtues related to the past and present—in particular, respect for tradition, preservation of "face," and personal steadiness and stability.
What is an accurate description of cultures with a long term orientation?Long-term orientation cultures tend to be collectivist, which means that people are more likely to think in terms of "we" rather than "I." Examples of long-term orientation cultures include China, Japan, and South Korea.
What are some of the characteristics that societies with achievement orientation value most?Achievement-oriented societies value assertiveness, performance, and success and are results-oriented.
Which of the following countries or cultures is considered most feminine in terms of work culture?Countries that are considered feminine cultures are Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, and Costa Rica. According to Hofstede, "Femininity stands for a society in which social gender roles overlap: Both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life."
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