We should keep this in mind in order to avoid misjudging someone’s character or behaviour. So, what cultural differences can we expect? The management-issues.com website suggests the following.
What to expect from affective cultures
- Expressive communication and open sharing of feelings
- Use of a wider range of facial expressions and physical gestures
- Raised voice when excited, animated arguments and emotional debate
- More enthusiastic and spontaneous behaviour
- Emotions playing a role in decision making
- A tendency towards emotional, exaggerated statements simply to make a point
The following cultures may be considered affective: African American, Italian, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Spanish, working class or marketing.
What to expect from neutral cultures
- Preference of non-emotional communication
- Control of emotions; reason is more important than feelings when making decisions
- Sometimes disguising one's true thoughts and feelings
- Being and staying in control is admired (which occasionally leads to unexpected outbursts)
- Speaking in a rather monotonic manner, no emotional tone
- People are expected to stick to specific, predetermined topics
The following cultures can be considered neutral: Chinese, Ethiopian, German, Japanese, Native American, upper class, engineering.
Understand others better
Sometimes people evaluate the behaviour of others according to certain rules, e.g. that it is desirable never to interrupt someone who is speaking. In neutral cultures, interruptions are rude. Particularly in Asian cultures, silence is welcomed as a sign of respect and opportunity for reflection for both parties. On the other hand, in affective cultures silence is awkward and may even be used as a form of punishment.
-jk-