cultural chasms

07/12/2007 06:43:40 AM
Some interesting research from the University of Chicago on cultural differences.

Asia thinks about "we" and America thinks about "I".

"Keysar believes the Chinese students had an easier time understanding the director’s perspective because they come from a more collectivist society than their US counterparts. He speculates, for example, that compared with children in China, youngsters in the US are more likely to feel that it is "all about them".

In another example, he describes how a Texas corporation "aiming to improve productivity, told its employees to look in the mirror and say 'I am beautiful' 100 times before coming to work. In contrast, a Japanese supermarket instructed its employees to begin their day by telling each other 'you are beautiful'."




Posted by Ed Cotton
Tags: supermarket (1) collectivism (1) individuality (1) community (11) beautiful (1) culture (7) usa (1) china (10) asia (1)

Comments
It appears you don't have Flash installed.
Email this article to a friend
Send an email to a friend with a link to this article. Items with an asterisk (*) are required.

Your Name:
*

Your Email:
*

Friend's Name:
*

Friend's Email:
*