02/09/2021 - Week 5: Cultural Miscommunication

As we mentioned in the previous posts, all cultures are different. They can vary on so many distinct aspects, like time, and because of that, some misunderstandings can occur (We will talk about some of these misunderstandings in the next posts). Those misunderstandings are more common when related to concepts of politeness, kindness, and grief.

What is polite in one culture, may be rude and inadequate in another. And this happens because cultures have different values and beliefs, leading to one behave to be judge differently in each culture. Check this video for a better understanding:

In this video, we can take a look at how people from distinct cultures may understand the same situation, and also react to it. Because of their different background, they picture those things in distinct ways, evaluate and lead to also distinct conclusions. This happens because the icebergs of our cultures have an unseen basis, that others cannot understand just by superficial look (they might think they are traveling in safe waters, but they are about to crash in the ice). They have to observe it, ask, and try to understand the hidden bases.

Let’s review the Brazilian mom and Italian teacher interaction on the video, for example (1:08 in the video). By her superficial look, the teacher thought the mom was too restrictive and demanding on her child’s education. But, by a more profound and guided look, the teacher could understand that the mom’s culture is more demanding on reading and writing, and kids start those studies pretty early on school (as a Brazilian, I can confirm this fact). By a study of the cultural “iceberg”, the teacher could understand the demand and better react to those requirements.

But how we avoid miscommunication happening while we communicate? Well, that is not as hard as it seems. If we look ahead and try to understand the cultures of those we interact with, paying attention to possible miscommunications, we can get ourselves out of a lot of problems. Still, we may slip in our communications. Just remember that miscommunications are always possible to happen, and try to understand their sides before judging them. As John Ivers said, they are not trying to frustrate you, they have good intentions, they are just working off of different paradigms.

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02/15/2021 - Week 6: Personal Space Differences

If a stranger gets at you like this: How would you feel? Uncomfortable, right? Why do we all have this bubble around us? And where is ok to get close to someone? These are a few things we will talk about in this post. Personal Space Personal space is the space around us and our things. It is an invisible bubble around us, an air area that separates us from others. This area can be divided into four: Intimate zone - the closer one, for closer friends, love interest, family, and pets only; Friend/Personal zone - for friends and a casual conversation; Social zone - the area for strangers and those around us; Audience zone - the area for the audience you speak at. These areas can enlarge or shrink from culture to culture. Japanese and Latin Americans, for example, may have a smaller personal space than Americans. There are other aspects that may change the personal space around us. People from big cities and metropolis tend to have smaller personal space than those from a

02/09/2021 - Week 6: Differences in Emotional Expressivity

Does everyone express emotions in the same way? Studies had shown that most of our emotions are expressed in the same way, independent of our culture. Even though, the way we allow them to appear in public can and is impacted by your cultural background. What does that mean? It means that some cultures allow more expressivity about how we feel in our speech and interactions in public, while others may “block” it subconsciously. Cultures with a higher expressivity tolerance tend to accept more emotions in their speech and behavior and express more their feelings in public concerning what is presented (remember the Mexican telenovelas?). They may even speak dynamically and use more emphasis and other strategies to express their emotions strongly while they speak. On the other hand, cultures with a low expressivity tolerance do not accept a lot of public showing of emotions, like expressions of disgust and sadness or even holding hands with your loved one. People from these c

02/15/2021 - Week 6: Individualism vs. Collectivism

As we saw in the previous posts, cultures can vary in distinct aspects. Time , expressivity , and others (that we will keep talking about in the next posts). Some of these aspects can be understood by a better understanding of these two cultural orientations: individualism and collectivism. Individualism Cultures with an individualistic perspective tend to see individuals as atoms, each one an important part of the group that has an opinion of their own. Free will and independent choices are expected and demanded by society, as they grow up to be more responsible for themselves. One person as a complete unit. Collectivism On the other hand, group orientated cultures picture the world and interactions in a more holistic view. Everything is connected, and individuals are responsible for the group. Elders and older family/community members are responsible for most of the choices, and everything is done thinking about the group (family, tribe, etc.). People are not separate units,

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