Cultural Differences In Perception Of Emotion And Time Essay Examples

Cultural influences- Emotion in American and Asian cultures

People in American culture and Asian culture express happiness, anger and emotion in different ways as would be expected between the different cultures. However, psychological research tends to be Western in origin and ideas and cross-cultural ideas usually involve applying measures derived from Western cultural traditions to non-Western cultures (Lou L, 2001). This twisting on non-Western cultures to produce psychological equivalence can be dangerous (Lou L, 2001). Some cultures such as Japan exhibit both modern and traditional culture (Manrai LA, 1995). Japan is an example of an affluent country with high development and an ancient culture.
Unlike Western cultures that are dominated by Christianity and Christian values, Asian cultures in general and Chinese culture in particular are not. Chinese culture instead encourages harmony between man, society and nature (Lou L, 2001). Thus, the concept of happiness in Chinese culture emphasizes social interaction in order to achieve Confucian style happiness (Lou L, 2001).
As the world is becoming a larger economic order, cultures seem to be coming together as well. Due to globalization and internationalization of business ventures, the concepts of time in international business settings are changing in order to improve productivity and function smoothly (Brislin RW, 2003). Studies on business communication and negotiation in the context of time have tended to focus on punctuality and meeting duration. However, many other features such as power distance, degrees of hierarchy and the balance between individualism and collectivism may all be important (Macduff I, 2006). Rapid urbanization and related rising affluence have led to westernized tastes and convenience in food preparation in many Asian countries (Manrai LA, 1995).
American and Scandinavian cultures are examples of low- context cultures. In Scandinavian countries, communication occurs through explicit statements in texts and speeches (Wurtz E, 2006). In other cultures such as Japanese and Chinese which are considered to be high context cultures, messages include other communicative cues such as body language and the use of silence (Wurtz E, 2006).

Cultural Influences on the Perception of Time

The handling of time is also very different in different cultures. Clock-time is used in American and Western European cultures but people in other countries such as Asian countries are more relaxed and not overly clock oriented. People in Asian countries tend to enjoy socializing with their co-workers instead of rigidly following clock time (Brislin RW, 2003). The focus in Asian cultures is more on people and relatively insensitive to time (Brislin RW, 2003).
Time perception maybe considered to be “polychronic” or “monochronic”. A “monochronic” perception of time analytically separates and sequences events while a “polychronic” perception does not (Macduff I, 2006). Instead a “polychronic” perception considers multiple events seen as happening at the same time. This time perception differences affect behavior and attitudes (Macduff I, 2006).
Punctuality style is considered to be associated with personality characteristics. For example, tardy individuals tended to score higher on both state and trait anxiety than individuals who were typically on time or early (Richard D, 2012). Thus, there is believed to be an association between nurturance, depression and anxiety and punctuality style (Richard D, 2012). In addition, conflicts may arise when parties have incompatible expectations about the “best use” of time. These unconscious perceptions on the “best use” of time on the conduct of negotiations can affect the outcome of negotiations in an inter-cultural context (Macduff I, 2006).

REFERENCES:

Lou L (2001), “Cultural Values and Happiness: An East-West Dialogue”, The Journal of Social Psychology, Volume 141, Number 4, 477-493
Manrai LA, Manrai AK (1995), “Effects of Cultural-context, Gender and Acculturation on perceptions of Work versus Social/Leisure Time Usage”, Journal of Business Research, Volume 3, 115-138
Brislin RW, Kim ES (2003), “Cultural diversity in People’s Understanding and Uses of Time”, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Volume 52, Number 3, 363-382
Macduff I (2006), “Your Pace or Mine? Culture, Time and Negotiation”, Negotiation Journal, Volume 22, Number 1
Wurtz E, (2006), “Intercultural Communication on Web sites: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Web sites from High context and low context cultures”, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 274-299
Richard D, Slane S (2012), “Punctuality as a Personality Characteristic: Issues of Measurement”, The Journal of Psychology Interdisciplinary and Applied, Volume 24, Number 4, 397-402