Socio-Cultural LOA Cultural Dimensions of Behaviour

Lesson objectives 1)To understand what a cultural dimension of behaviour is 2)To examine one cultural dimension of behaviour ‘individualism / collectivism’

Starter – worksheet Complete the cultural differences worksheet. Fill out the left hand column of both sides. ;-)

Cultural differences The differences in emoticons between the UK and Japan are down to Western vs Eastern ways of understanding emotion. In the UK we scan the whole face to determine emotion, where as in Japan the eyes are the central purveyors of emotion. :-)(^_^)

Cultural dimensions Not only do cultural dimensions e.g. East vs West exist, the gestures side of the sheet indicates that there are also subcultural influences within Eastern and Western cultures. E.g. The OK gesture means something very different in both the UK and Germany – both of which are Western cultures.

Cultural values in advertising 1 “She’s got a style all of her own” 2 “You, only better” 3 “A more exhilarating way to provide for your family” 4 “We have a way of bringing people closer together” 5 “Celebrating a half-century of partnership” 6 “How to protect the most personal part of the environment, your skin” 7 “Our family agrees with this selection of home furnishings” 8 “A leader among leaders” 9 “Make your way through the crowd” 10 “Your business success: Harmonising with (company name)” These advertising slogans were taken from Korean and US adverts, there are 5 from each culture, can you identify which is which?

Cultural values in advertising 1 “She’s got a style all of her own”US 2 “You, only better”US 3 “A more exhilarating way to provide for your family”Korea 4 “We have a way of bringing people closer together”Korea 5 “Celebrating a half-century of partnership”Korea 6 “How to protect the most personal part of the environment, your skin” US 7 “Our family agrees with this selection of home furnishings”Korea 8 “A leader among leaders”US 9 “Make your way through the crowd”US 10 “Your business success: Harmonising with (company name)”Korea Answers – how many did you get right?

Individualism / Collectivism The first cultural dimension we will look at is individualism vs collectivism. Those slogans from Korea represent collectivist values, where as those from the US represent a more individualistic orientation. The syllabus indicates you must be able to; Examine the role of two cultural dimensions on behaviour

Hill Handout 6.9 Read through the handout and highlight the key points about Individualism vs Collectivism in relationships.

Plenary - Is romantic love unique to Western Culture? West (Individualistic) Romantic love is perpetuated by Hollywood and other Gatekeepers in society as the ideal. Many movies are based on the idea of falling in love and then getting married. Increasing divorce rates in the West could be attributed to middle aged people loosing the ‘magic’ in marriage and wanting to get this back as the ultimate goal. East (Collectivist) In reverse to Western cultures marriage is seen as a vehicle in order to explore romantic love. The foundations of compatibility and familiarity are used as a basis to build first a good marriage, then later on a romantic love.