Subjective Culture and Cultural Dimensions Study of Cultural Building Blocks

The Iceberg Model of Culture

  • The concept of culture is often visualized as an iceberg to illustrate its complexity and the relative visibility of its components.
  • Primarily in Awareness (Surface Culture): These are the visible and easily identifiable aspects of culture. Examples provided in the model include:
    • Fine arts and literature.
    • Drama.
    • Classical music and popular music.
    • Folk dancing.
    • Games.
    • Cooking styles and dress.
  • Primarily Out of Awareness (Deep Culture): This constitutes the vast majority of cultural elements that reside below the surface of conscious awareness, governing behavior and expectations. These include:
    • Social and Moral Standards: Notions of modesty, conceptions of beauty, definitions of sin, and notions about logic and validity.
    • Family and Social Structure: Ideals governing child-raising, rules of descent, and roles in relation to status by age, sex, class, occupation, and kinship.
    • Philosophy and Religion: Cosmology, relationships to animals, and the nature of friendship.
    • Work and Leadership: Notions of leadership, tempo of work, incentives to work, and patterns of group decision-making.
    • Justice and Social Mobility: Conceptions of justice, approaches to problem-solving, and conceptions of status mobility.
    • Communication Patterns: Conversational patterns in various social contexts, eye behavior, facial expressions, and body language.
    • Temporal and Spatial Conceptions: Ordering of time, conceptions of the past and future, and the arrangement of physical space.
    • Self and Identity: Conceptions of the "self," notions of adolescence, and patterns of visual perception.
    • Social Dynamics: Patterns of superior/subordinate relations, social interaction rate, and preferences for competition or cooperation.
    • Health and Cleanliness: Conceptions of cleanliness, theory of disease, and attitudes toward the dependent.
    • Miscellaneous: Definition of insanity, and much more.

Building Blocks of Culture: Beliefs and Worldview

  • Beliefs: These are defined as assumptions regarding the nature of something. A belief represents a thought about the connection between two or more concepts.
  • Belief Systems: Beliefs are rarely isolated; they are interwoven with other beliefs of varying types to form comprehensive belief systems. Notable examples include:
    • Islam.
    • Buddhism.
    • Animism.
  • World View: This refers to the specific sub-set of beliefs regarding the connections between humans and the larger elements of the universe. It is a set of assumptions or cognitions focusing on:
    • The purpose of human existence.
    • The nature of the deity (or deities).
    • The position of humans in relation to nature and the rest of the cosmos.

Building Blocks of Culture: Values and Attitudes

  • Values: A value is a specific type of belief where an individual or group holds that a certain thing, idea, or activity is important.
    • Values serve as enduring guides for behavior.
    • They are characterized by their influence on human conduct.
  • Attitudes: These describe the way individuals relate to things, actions, or people.
    • Attitudes are primarily emotional reactions.
    • They exist in a reciprocal relationship with other cultural blocks, both being influenced by and influencing beliefs, values, and norms.

Building Blocks of Culture: Rules, Norms, Mores, Taboos, and Laws

  • Rules: These are prescriptions for behavior based on cultural beliefs about which behaviors are appropriate in specific situations.
  • Norms: These are expectations for behavior that carry a moral component.
    • If a person violates a norm, they are perceived by the culture as a "bad" or "immoral" person.
  • Mores: If a norm is exceptionally strong and carries significant negative social consequences for violation, it is classified as a more.
  • Taboos: A taboo is a cultural more that is so powerful that members of the culture do not normally even mention the behavior.
  • Laws: When a government legalizes what individuals can or cannot do regarding specific behaviors, the cultural prescription becomes a law.

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions: Power Distance

  • Definition: Power Distance refers to the degree to which members of a culture value status differences and view them as appropriate.
  • High Power Distance: As the value for power distance increases, people within that culture—including those occupying lower status positions—are more likely to accept that individuals of different social statuses should be treated differently.

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions: Uncertainty Avoidance (UA)

  • Definition: Uncertainty Avoidance pertains to the overall desire for structure and predictability within a culture.
  • High Uncertainty Avoidance:
    • People tend to distrust things or individuals that violate their expectations.
    • There is a prevailing sentiment that "what is strange is seen as bad."
    • Case Study (Greece): Greece is noted as the country where people scored the highest on Uncertainty Avoidance. In this context, it is generally expected that citizens adhere to the Greek Orthodox religion. Consequently, strangers and unusual behaviors are viewed as less welcome.
  • Low Uncertainty Avoidance:
    • Cultures with low avoidance, such as Scandinavian countries, exhibit greater flexibility regarding the violation of expectations.
    • Strangers are more likely to be welcomed, and different perspectives or behaviors might be seen as positive or "good."

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions: Individualism-Collectivism (I/C)

  • Definition: Individualism-Collectivism refers to the nature of the links between an individual and her or his social network.
  • Collectivist Societies:
    • Individuals rely heavily upon social networks, such as the extended family or the workplace, to set their goals.
    • Decision-making is performed with the collective group's interests in mind.
  • Individualistic Cultures:
    • Individuals tend to make decisions based on personal interest and personal advancement.
    • The focus is placed on the nuclear family rather than the extended family unit.