Transcript Lecture #3 slides

Lecture 3
Convergence, Culture and
Identity
Macro & Microcultures
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Convergence
A process whereby people come closer together to
get the task finished.
 People need not converge on everything… rather
only on those things that are required to complete
the task.
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“To get the work done” is a very basic human process.
When you are “converging” with some people, you
are also “diverging” with other people whom with
you are not involved with.
 Life is a whole process of “converging” with people
to get a task done, and then “diverging” with them
with the task is completed.
 Then one moves on to “converge” with other
people to get the next task done.
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Convergence & Communication

The role of communication is to facilitate
convergence.
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Communication is also a key tool to facilitate
“divergence.”
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In order to get the task done you have to
communicate.
It is especially important to do a lot of
communicating up front in new jobs, classes,
tasks, relationships, etc.
This kind of communication requires great
sensitivity.
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Culture
The “culture” of the group is made up of
shared perceptions of the members.
 The “right way” to do something is the
“behavioral extension” of a culture.
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There are products to these behaviors.
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What clothing to wear
What food to eat
How to act in a classroom
Shorts, t-shirt, slippers
Plate lunch
Have a notebook, paper and pencil
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Culture

Individual vs. Cultural Perceptions
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(con’t)
Once something is shared it becomes
cultural.
The more broadly shared a perception, the
more of a culture it is.
Conscious awareness of sharing and
identification are a requirement for culture.
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Levels of Culture: “Macroculture”

Culture tends to be “cross-generational.”
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There is a socialization and indoctrination process.
Many values and beliefs are institutionalized
through…
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Cultural transgressions (breaking the rules)
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Churches, Government, Schools, Unions
Dealt with at the ultimate level of severity.
Violations of some beliefs are punishable by death
or by being institutionalized.
Examination at this level is useful if one is
studying anthropology or sociology, but it is not
very useful for looking at things “interculturally.”
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Levels of Culture: “Microculture”
Better level for examining intercultural relationships
 Rarely institutionalized
 Tend not to be documented
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Occasionally there is someone’s diary or minutes of a
meeting
Values not transmitted, but rather negotiated as the
situation calls for.
 Tend to last a short time just until the task is
completed
 Importance is rarely understood
 But, this level of culture is one of the most important
to understand if we are interested in understanding
how people from different cultures interact.
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Cultural Identity
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Members of every culture have a sense of
social identification.
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Who they are and why.
One’s cultural identity affects inter-personal
relationships and expectations of individual
activity.
 From a sense of social identity (who we are),
one receives a sense of personal identity
(who I am).
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