Culture takes root from a people’s history, memories, conventions, customs and traditions and shapes one’s habits, values, virtues and prejudices. Our culture determines the way we think and behave, the way we perceive and interpret reality and the way we react to others. Asians and Americans have very different cultural traits due to the differences in their history and culture. This, indeed, is a source of misunderstanding and conflict between Asians and Americans which may ruin any intercultural-interpersonal relationships.
For instance, Asians and Americans have conflicting perspectives when they are discussing human rights issues based on their respective cultural backgrounds. In a society, many a times, individual liberty comes at the expense of social order and harmony. Given a choice between the two, many Asians would prefer public order to personal freedom. On the other hand, most Americans would simply choose individual liberty when confronted with the same choice.
The Asians’ choice can only be understood in the context of the history of Asia which has experienced so many tragedies and disasters resulting from war, conflict, revolution and anarchy. For these reasons, many Asians fear social chaos and attach great value to public order and social harmony. On the other hand, the Americans’ choice makes good sense in their cultural background because America was founded by European settlers who had fled persecution and oppression. This was reinforced by subsequent waves of refugees, for example, the Jews, who fled Nazi persecution and the death camps. Given this historical background, it is not surprising that the liberty of individual is paramount.
If both parties are culture insensitive and do not understand each other's history, they would not understand why they make different choices. The Americans would not understand why the Asians do not think and behave in exactly the same way like them and vice versa. Therefore, to overcome ethnocentrism, stereotyping and prejudice, we should develop cultural self-awareness and try to understand each other's histories, cultures and mindsets.
Ignorance breeds misunderstanding. I strongly believed that knowledge can lead to understanding and only with understanding can there be mutual respect and effective intercultural interaction.
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2 comments:
Hi Barry,
You brought up some ways of looking at the cultural differences that I've never thought of before. History is a very strong influence in how a culture perceives things; I do notice Asian cultures placing emphasis on the collective whole rather than the individual. Americans on the other hand do encourage individualism and individual creativity.
This could explain why American students tend to have active and robust discussions in their classes whilst the Asian students are not used to asserting their point of views unless probed. Many are afraid of going against the collective view of others.
Hi Barry, there are indeed differences in the American and Asian cultures. America is built on the belief that all men are created equal, and therefore they highly regard independence and personal freedom. Asia, on the other hand, views the society as the first priority as can be seen in China, largely influenced by Confucian studies.
With China and India rising as the next economical giants, they would have more trading with America, making intercultural communication unavoidable. The reality for everyone is that they must increasingly cope with diverse cross-cultural people in the increasing globalized world. For one to succeed in the new world, people must be willing to understand other cultures and behave in a way that helps to build strong and positive bonds with the local citizens.
ES2007
Jimmy Group 2
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