Concept of the method

1. SOCIAL IDENTITY

Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to, were an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.

We divided the world into “them” and “us” based through a process of social categorisation (i.e. we put people into social groups). Social identity theory states that the in-group will discriminate against the out-group to improve their self-image.

https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Motivation_and_emotion/Book/2016/Overcoming_social_stigmas

2. CULTURE AND ELEMENTS OF CULTURE

Culture includes language, knowledge, belief, arts, clothes, food, dance, music, sports, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by individual as a member of society. Culture shared and transmitted from one generation to the next, it is something that organizes life and helps interpret existence. Culture is a learned set of shared interpretations about beliefs, values, norms and social practices, which affect the behaviours of a relatively large group of people.

(Lustig and Koester 1999, Samovar and authors 2007, Cooper and authors 2007, Ting-Toomey and Chung 2005)

Geert Hofstede, an international authority on cross-cultural social psychology, says “every person carries within him or herself patterns of thinking, feelings and potential acting, which were learned throughout their lifetime”.[1] He defines culture as the software of the mind.

Culture includes ideas, behaviours, art, literature, folklore, music customs, habits, dress, food and leisure. Some of them that we can see, belong to the top of the iceberg, while others belong to the invisible part that is under water. An important aspect to culture is the basic assumptions and values that prescribe the thinking and the motivation behind every interaction.

When we know our own culture and the impact that it has to our mode of thinking, we can have more effective communication with others.

Some people have the tendency to compare and judge other cultures using the standards of their cultures and believe that they are superior to others. (Ethnocentrism)

In order to understand other cultures, we need to understand our own and how this differs from others.

3. Geert Hofstede 5 Dimensions of Culture

Professor Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most comprehensive studies on how values in the workplace are influenced by culture.

Geert Hofstede's 'five-dimension' model research done by Professor Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede, Michael Minkov and their research teams, provides a structure in order to understand and describe key differences in values between different cultures and enables individuals from different backgrounds to come to a shared understanding on why and how they differ. [1]

The five dimensions are:Power Distance

1.      Power Distance

2.      Individualism vs collectivism

3.      Uncertainty avoidance

4.      Masculinity vs femininity

5.      Long-term vs short-term orientation (Cultural values and attitudes toward immigrants and, 4 July 2006)

3.1. Power Distance

Power Distance: in this dimension, members who have less power in a society accept and expect that the distribution of power takes place unequally. Culture is characterized by a strong hierarchical structure within organizations. In such societies, managers are respected in and out of the organization and are rarely contradicted in public. “The fundamental issue here is how a society handles inequalities among people.”

• Power Distance: Centralised organisations, more complex hierarchies, large gaps in compensation, authority and respect. Examples of high-power distance culture are: Belgium, France, Malaysia, The Arab World.
• ·Lower Power Distance: Flat organisations. Supervisors and employees are considered almost equals. Examples of low power distance culture are: The Netherlands, the UK, the USA, Germany, Nordic countries.

High-Context Cultures

 Far East (Japan, China), Indian subcontinent

 Arab Countries, Latin America

 Eastern Europe, Latin Europe, UK, Quebec

 English Canada, US

 Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland,

 Low-Context Cultures

A person from a High Context Culture can misperceive the culture - behaviour of people from Low Context Cultures as insensitive, disrespectful, uncaring and extremely careless regarding protocol and etiquette.

Low Context Culture persons can misperceive the culture behaviour of people from High Context Cultures as very sensitive, extremely formal and very strict about details.

3.2. Individualism versus collectivism

Individualism is characterized by frequent use of “I”, decisions are made on the spot by representatives, who ideally achieve things alone and assume personal responsibility. People that belong to this category prefer to be left alone to take care about themselves and their families

Collectivism is frequently characterized by “we”, decisions are usually delegated by the people to the organization, so ideally objectives are achieved in groups and thus people assume joint responsibility. They prefer a very tight society framework in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a specific in-group to take care of them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.

Collectivism

Venezuela, Indonesia

Pakistan, Thailand

West Africa, Chile

Hong Kong, Mexico

Arab Countries, Brazil, Argentina

Japan, India

Spain, South Africa

Switzerland, Germany

Scandinavia, France, Italy, Ireland

New Zealand, Netherlands Canada

 UK, Australia, US,

 Individualism

A person from a collectivistic culture can misperceive the culture behaviour of an individualist as extremely insensitive, insulting and rude. On the other hand, individualistic culture can misperceive the culture-behaviour of collectivists as being irresponsible.

3.3. Uncertainty avoidance

Uncertainty avoidance reflects the degree to which a society feels threatened by ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them by formulating rules and refusing to tolerate deviance. Employees and managers pay attention to precise objectives and clear rules, detailed assignments and schedules set up well in advance.

Examples of high uncertainty avoidance countries are Greece, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Korea, Mexico.

Cultures that have a high level of uncertainty avoidance tend to be collective cultures as everyone knows their proper place and role in society.

3.4. Masculinity vs femininity

Masculinity describes the degree to which society focus on assertiveness and achievement. When in contrary, femininity describes the focus of society to quality-of-life issues, such as caring for others, group solidarity and helping the less fortunate are valued. In other words, society still recognizes a gap between male and female values. This dimension is frequently viewed as taboo in highly masculine societies.

• Masculinity: Strong egos – feelings of pride and importance are attributed to status. Money and achievement are important. Examples of masculinity cultures are Slovakia, Japan, Hungary, Austria, Venezuela.
• Femininity: Relationship oriented, more focus on quality of life. Examples of femininity culture are Sweden, Norway, Netherlands and Denmark.

3.5. Long-term vs short-term orientation CDI (Confucian Dynamism Index)

Long-term cultures focus on the distant future and emphasize on the importance of preparing the future like modern education. Also, these cultures emphasize on the importance of saving, persistence and achieving goals that may only come to completion after several generations.

Sort-term orientation societies focus on the past and traditions and they become suspicious of societal change. There is also respect for fulfilling social obligations and a consistent understanding of morality in these societies.

On the other hand, Individualism is supposed to have more positive attitudes toward Immigrants.

Masculinity (or low femininity) at the cultural level may be linked to more negative attitudes towards immigrants and multiculturalism. Hypothetically, uncertainty avoidance will be linked to less positive attitudes toward immigrants and multiculturalism.

“For Hofstede’s cultural typology, high power distance, masculinity, uncertainty Avoidance and Collectivism (low individualism) will be associated with more negative attitudes toward immigrants and multiculturalism” [1]

4. CULTURE SHOCK

Culture shock is a term used to describe the anxiety and feelings that people have when they are in a new environment different from their own (like being in a different country). Anxiety, surprise, disorientation, confusion, etc. are some of the feelings that people experience when they are in different environment.

One of the most difficult problems affecting immigrants is culture shock. It is a deeply personal experience and it affects individuals in many different ways. [1]

Also, studies mention that immigrants, apart from culture shock must also face bereavements, as they might have lost family members while they were travelling to a new country. (Eisenbruch, 1990)[2]

STAGES OF CULTURE SHOCK[3]

• Honeymoon – arrival in the new culture. People feel excited about their new life and everything is interesting. Feel like being a tourist because the person’s basic identity is still rooted ‘back home’. .
• ·Disorientation - what used to be familiar is gone. Newcomers are overwhelmed by the requirements of the new culture, have new stimulus in the new environment. They also have new eating habits.
• ·Mental Isolation / Hostility – Newcomers face difficulties in their daily life in a new culture. Difficulties are practical and emotional in terms of financial and social adjustments, poor language skills, sense of loneliness and nostalgia. Often newcomers feel angry and offended towards the new culture for causing difficulties and they start complaining.
• ·Adjustment / Integration - The first adjustment happens when newcomers obtain language skills and make friends. They start to enjoy new cultural experiences as they respond to new cues and have an increased ability of understanding the new culture. They are now able to see the bad and good points of both cultures.
• Biculturality – “In this stage the newcomer has become absolutely comfortable in both the old and the new culture. There is some controversy about whether anyone can really attain this stage.”

5. BULLYING

“Bullying is when an individual or a group of people with more power, repeatedly and intentionally cause hurt or harm to another person or group of people who feel helpless to respond. Bullying can continue over time, is often hidden from adults, and will probably continue if no action is taken”. [1]

Bullying can be:

·        Physical

This form of bullying is usually visible, therefore easy to recognize.

·        Verbal

Using words, either out loud or in writing, is a common type of bullying because it’s quick, often done impulsively to elicit a response.

·        Sexual

Not everyone thinks of unwanted sexual contact or comments (both in-person or online) as bullying. It can include using demeaning words about someone’s gender or sexuality, spreading rumours of a sexual nature that harm a person’s reputation, unwanted and inappropriate touching or physical contact, sharing personal information about relationships, or posting inappropriate photos/material online.

·        Emotional

Emotional bullying can be subtle and difficult to detect. It’s calculated and manipulative. It can be perpetuated by a single person but is most often executed by a group. Emotional bullying can be extremely damaging and traumatic.

Racist Bullying

Aggressive and offensive behaviour and action against people because of their skin colour, cultural or religious background or ethnic origin, which can include:

• physical, verbal or emotional bullying;
• insulting or degrading comments, name calling, gestures, jeers, insults jokes;
• offensive graffiti;
• humiliating, excluding, ridiculing or threatening behaviour;
• jokes about culture customs, music, different culture’s dressing habits;
• refusal to work with or co-operate with others because they are from a different culture.

In order to avoid any racism behaviour and bullying we all need to know about the meaning of xenophobia, about the diversity that defines people as unique and to think that we are all human regardless of the skin colour, culture or disability. 

6. COLB’S LEARNING STYLES

American educational theorist David A. Kolb believes that “learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”.

The theory presents a cyclical model of learning, consisting of four stages:

Source: Kolb, David A. 1984. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J

Kolb's learning styles have been adapted by two management development specialists, Peter Honey and Alan Mumford. They use a four-way classification that closely resembles that of Kolb but is simplified for use in a practical training situation.

They supported that all people have one of these four styles to learn, and can be Activists, Reflectors, Theorists or Pragmatists:

·        Activists love new experiences. They enjoy the “here and now” and are happy to be dominated by immediate experiences. They are not sceptical. They are open-minded. They tend to be enthusiastic about anything that is new. Their philosophy is: 'I'll try anything at least once in my life'. They tend to act first and think of the consequences afterwards.

They deal with problems by brainstorming.

As soon as the excitement from one activity has faded, they are busy looking for the next one. They love the challenges of new experiences. However, they feel bored with the implementation process.

·        Reflectors like to stand back and think about experiences and observe them from many different perspectives. They collect data, both first-hand and from others and prefer to think about it thoroughly before coming to any conclusion.

The systematic collection and analysis of data about experiences and events is what counts, so they tend to postpone reaching definitive conclusions for as long as possible.  Their philosophy is to be cautious.

They are thoughtful people who like to consider all possibilities and suggestions before making a move. They prefer to take a back seat in meetings and discussions. They enjoy observing other people in action. They listen to others and get the meaning of the discussion before making their own points.

They tend to adopt a low profile and have a slightly distant, tolerant unruffled air about them. When they act, it is part of a wide picture which includes the past as well as the present and others' observations as well as their own.

·        Theorists adapt and put together observations into complex but logically sound theories. They think problems through in a vertical, step by step, logical way. They assimilate different facts into coherent theories. They tend to be perfectionists.

They like to analyse and synthesize. They are eager on basic assumptions, principles, theories, models and systems of thinking. Their philosophy praises rationality and logic. If something is logical, then it’s good.

Questions they frequently ask are: 'Does it make sense?' 'How does this fit with that?' 'What are the basic assumptions?'

They tend to be detached, analytical and dedicated to rational objectivity rather than anything subjective. Their method to solve problems is consistently logical.

This is their concept and they strictly reject anything that doesn't fit with this concept. They prefer to maximize certainty and feel uncomfortable with subjective judgements, lateral thinking and anything superficial.

·        Pragmatists are enthusiastic on trying out ideas, theories and techniques to see if they work in practice. They always search new ideas and take the first opportunity to experiment with applications.

 They want to put in practice any new idea. They like to get on with things and act quickly and confidently on ideas that attract them.

They tend to be impatient with ruminating and open-ended discussions. They are making practical decisions and they solve problems. They respond to problems and opportunities 'as a challenge'. Their philosophy is: There is always a better way' and 'If it works it's good'.

7. TERMS

Xenophobia

Xenophobia means to fear or dislike other races, cultures, ways of life, or basically dislike what is not similar to our mindset and people who do not look similar to our own appearance. Xenophobia literally means ''fear of strangers''. Xenophobia includes straight people being afraid and disapproving of gay people. “Study.com”

Cultural Dimension

Cultural dimensions are mostly psychological dimensions, or cultural values, which can be used to describe a specific culture. These are often used in intercultural communication-/cross-cultural communication-based research. https://www.igi-global.com

Cultural diversity

The term “culturally diverse” is often used interchangeably with the concept of “multiculturalism.” Multiculturalism is defined as: “…a system of beliefs and behaviours that recognizes and respects the presence of all diverse groups in an organization or society, acknowledges and values their socio-cultural differences, and encourages and enables their continued contribution within an inclusive cultural context which empowers all within the organization or society.”

Managing diversity is a key component of effective people management, arguing that it focuses on improving their performance. Their dimensions of diversity include gender, race, culture, age, family/career status, religion, and disability.[1]

Perception

Matthew O. Ward, Georges Grinstein, Daniel Keim in their book Interactive Data Visualization p.58 refers that:

“Perception is the process of recognizing (being aware of), organizing (gathering and storing), and interpreting (binding to knowledge) sensory information.

Perception deals with the human senses that generate signals from the environment through sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.[2]