A Cultural Bridge Toward Deeper Understanding
By Thomas F O'Neill
I am now teaching an online University class on Cultural
Diversity, and my students are from various Asian countries. Some of them, but
not all, have taken an interest in the clash between Republicans and Democrats,
which is culturally evident in the U.S., along with the war between
conservatism and liberalism. Other nations around the globe view this dichotomy
as a cultural phenomenon in America.
Being a liberal, conservative, or moderate reveals how we as
individuals identify ourselves in society. In today's political arena,
Democrats and Republicans also view their party affiliation in a fundamentally
different way, too. My students like to bring up these ideological differences
in my classes because it is not something they experience in Asia.
On a global scale, I like to explain to my students how
Westerners and Asians see themselves in a fundamentally different way, too. I
always understood that we Americans view ourselves as being individualistic,
independent, and analytical; it’s due to our cultural history. The Asian
cultures take a more holistic view of life, emphasizing interdependence, which
I find intriguing.
When I was teaching in China, I conducted a word game each
year for my Cultural Diversity students, in which they paired off to reveal
their cultural views and their relationship with society.
For instance, if the words are train, bus, and tracks, an
American with an individualistic mindset would pair train and bus since they
belong to the same category (modes of transportation). In contrast, a Chinese
person with a culturally holistic mindset is more likely to pair train with
tracks since they share a functional relationship.
China’s history has shaped its cultural perceptions, and for
thousands of years, working the land has fostered its interdependence with
nature. People of Asia have a higher percentage of farmland devoted to rice
paddies, and they think more holistically than your average American.
If you were to ask a Chinese person to draw a diagram of
their social network, they would draw a circle emphasizing their friends and
acquaintances. In contrast, most Americans would emphasize themselves over
others due to our cultural perceptions and assumptions.
Unconsciously, Americans stress the importance of the self,
and westerners will self-inflate their importance more so than those from Asian
cultures. For the most part, people born in Asia won’t inflate their
self-worth, but on average, people born in Western cultures do.
For thousands of years, growing rice was a labor-intensive
crop in Asian countries, dependent upon a complex infrastructure of dikes and
canals. This influenced or created a culture that recognizes human
interdependence. Most Asians would also view the importance of society over
their individual needs.
In contrast, our American history of the frontiersman,
hunting, fishing, and growing simple crops have shaped our perception of
independence and the rugged- individualistic mindset.
The relationship between people and land helped shape our
cultural assumptions, which are then passed down from generation to generation.
This is certainly true when it comes to the contrast between Western and
Eastern cultures.
Our Western influence, however, is beginning to affect Asia
and its perceptions of the West. It’s mostly due to the popularity of American
films and Western music. I am witnessing, among my students and Chinese
teenagers in general. They want to become like their counterparts in Western
countries.
There are regions, mostly in China's large cities, whose
populations share many basic assumptions with Westerners. Many others, though,
are much closer in the mindset of people in other rice-cultivating countries
such as Japan and Korea.
Cultural differences between the East and West, especially
as China’s influence expands, will only continue to shape our relationship with
the nation. Many foreign exchange students are also bringing Western ideals and
customs back to China, hoping to bridge differences through growing cultural
understanding.
A simpler way to understand our cultural differences is that
Chinese society is all about the group, while Americans celebrate the
individual. The United States is a meritocracy in which individuals can shine,
whereas in China, any success is attributed to the company, family, or team. A
Chinese person will consider how their actions may affect the group rather than
looking out only for themselves.
One thing I noticed when I was living and working in China
was that the hierarchy is important to the Chinese and respect will be shown to
those higher up in the structure. American companies tend to have much flatter
structures, with workers at all levels having access to those at the top. In
China, a worker low down the pay scale would not expect to have direct contact
with their superiors. Everybody knows their place in the structure and abides
by the rules that come with it. The company will reward employees through
profit-sharing when it does well; everyone reaps the benefits.
I found that conversations with my students often make
Westerners feel intruded upon because, in China, conversations can feel
directly personal to Americans. Even though Americans like to place people in
the context of the common ground, small talk about age, income, and marital
status, all of which are favored by the Chinese, can feel intrusive and overly
personal to an American.
Having said this, Chinese visitors to the United States can
find the language and tone used in American workplaces rude and uncomfortable.
Thinking before you speak is important to the Chinese, as is showing respect
for those higher in the hierarchy. Communication style is indirect, and
Americans doing business with Chinese counterparts will need to learn to read
between the lines.
Some of my students who traveled to the US as exchange
students brought up the differences in how the elderly are treated there. China
treats its seniors differently from us in the West. Elders are held in greater
respect and treated as such, both in business and socially. Many families live
with several generations under one roof. Even the dead are honored. Americans,
on the other hand, expect their offspring to be independent. The older
generation can live hundreds of miles away from their children, and the
isolation of older adults is a social issue. The American workplace can seem
ageist to older people, too, as youth culture is celebrated. On the opposite
end of the spectrum, though, China has a mandatory retirement age that we
westerners would find discriminatory, not to mention illegal in America.
Many Americans I have worked with over the years in China
have brought up differences in how friendship is understood between American
and Chinese coworkers. Chinese people are inclined to foster deeper friendships
than we Americans are accustomed to. They may see Americans as initially
gregarious but difficult to get to know on a deeper personal level. A friend in
China is someone to whom you feel deeply obligated and for whom you will do
favors when necessary. This translates into business, where the Chinese will
try to forge relationships and connections, known as guanxi. Trust is essential
before doing business. Colleagues tend to socialize together as part of
relationship building, and business entertainment is lavish. Americans, on the
other hand, tend to keep work and personal life separate. I have attended
lavash parties with Chinese people, and they are a way of building trust and
forging deeper relationships.
When I lived in China, I noticed that Chinese urban areas
lacked personal space. Cities in China are densely populated and crowded,
especially when it comes to public transportation. Americans are more
accustomed to physical space and will become territorial if they feel crowded,
snapping at people who push in line and staking out little kingdoms for
themselves, whether it’s their car, desk, or airplane seat. That being said,
many major cities in China are clean, especially when it comes to restaurants.
The streets, subways, and public transportation in general are also much
cleaner than those in many US cities, which China prides itself on. However, as
everyone knows, air and water pollution are huge problems for all inhabitants
on the Chinese mainland.
I, like most people, see the ability to express oneself and
to access information as a basic human right. When I was living in China, I
noticed how heavily censored the media is, especially on the internet. Social
media networks that Americans take for granted, such as Instagram, YouTube, and
Facebook, are not accessible in China, and many Western newspapers are also
blocked there. You must apply for a license to use a VPN Router that gives you
access to everything that the Chinese government has censored. Getting a VPN
was the first thing I did when I arrived there. In Chinese companies,
information is shared on a need-to-know basis, rarely filtering down from the
top, whereas American corporate culture is much more open, with considerable
effort to embrace transparency.
I am completely open and honest with my students when I tell
them that I find Chinese people to be much more polite than Westerners. Unlike
Americans, Chinese people will avoid confrontation wherever possible to save
face. Shouting at someone causes both parties to lose face, and if a reputation
is lost in business, that relationship can be permanently damaged. As such,
Chinese executives will often avoid giving a straight answer to save the other
person embarrassment. Americans, who tend to be very direct and literal, can
find this confusing and frustrating. The worst thing you can do in negotiations
with Chinese colleagues is to go out of your way to prove a point, regardless
of the effect it has on others. But for Americans, the end result is more important
than reputation or even relationships.
One aspect that is most apparent between our two cultures is
that humility is revered in China and people tend to downplay their
achievements. America is almost the exact opposite; in a meritocracy, you need
to make the most of yourself and let people know about your successes. The
Chinese can see this as crass and boastful, while in the United States,
humility can be regarded as a sign of weakness. I found that in the teaching
profession, especially when I was teaching in China, it is best to let others
recognize your abilities while you downplay your accomplishments. Westerners
who boast about their accomplishments rarely succeed in their profession in
China.
The way business is conducted in China can at times lead to
frustration for Westerners. I find that patience can take you quite far,
especially in business dealings. Business in the United States moves at a
different pace from China. Americans prioritize speed and efficiency and tend
to hurry to get things done. Time is money, and people are expected to turn up
on time for meetings and to meet deadlines.
The Chinese, on the other hand, can be slow decision-makers,
preferring to build consensus and foster relationships before plunging into
anything. Deadlines may only be met when the time is right, and the project is
considered complete. Americans can find this attitude toward punctuality
frustrating and time-wasting, while in negotiations, the Chinese will take
advantage of Americans' need for speed, playing a waiting game to secure a
better deal for themselves. Some in the West would consider the Chinese way of
doing business as quite deceptive, but to them, it is business as usual, and it
would be wise to read between the lines before committing yourself
contractually.
I like to tell my online students that I no longer view
China as a developing nation because my experiences teaching there have given
me a unique perspective: China is now a developed country on par with America.
It has the second-largest domestic economy in the world and has overtaken the
US in terms of its immense infrastructure.
I always do my best to help my online University students
understand the importance of gaining a clearer understanding of the American
way of life and the cultural differences between our two nations. China’s
rising power and influence in the world make that understanding a necessity not
just for China but for America’s economic well-being.
Thomas F O'Neill
Email: introspective7@hotmail.com
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posted by Thomas F. O'Neill | 4:09 PM
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