GETTING TO KNOW A NEW CULTURE

About Tendency Pairs

Anthropologists have discovered many areas in which people may tend toward one extreme or another. For example, some societies give prominence to the desires of the individual, while others expect the individual to be willing to sacrifice for the sake of the group (whether family or village).

You can clarify these characteristis for yourself by separating the extremes with a dotted line. For example:
WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT, INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP

Individual .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  .  .  . Group

Now put a mark where you fit on the line. Western Civilization is famous for being individualisic, so if you are from the west, your line will probably look like this:

Individual .  .  .|  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  .  .  . Group

Then put a mark for the person you are getting to know, as well as another type of mark for what your impression is so far of the society as a whole. Most people are found somewhere between the two extremes of the pair. A given society will tend toward one or the other extreme, but there also will be people who do not fit in with their own society’s norms. You need to both understand the general trend of the society you are in, and also the specific tendencies of the individual you are getting to know. For practical purposes, you will probably first learn about the general trend of a society from reference books, while you will need to ask an individual person to find out whether his tendancy is similar or not to his society. It helps if you have first thought about where your own society fits on these pairs, and how you as an individual compare to the norms of your society. If the person you are sharing with is different from you, you will need to take on the effort  to accept that person as he is, and to learn to deal with him on his own ground.

Here are some of the other common tendency pairs. You can make a diagram for each, with a dotted line separating the two extremes, and put marks on the line for yourself and those you are getting to know, and your respective cultures.

1. direct/indirect. In Asian cultures, the most important thing is to prevent the other person from losing face. Westerners are more direct. Tn fact, the western approach is called being “in your face.” Where do you think you fit?

2.time oriented/event oriented. In some cultures, an event set for 10 am might not happen until noon. You may feel frustrated, but they feel just fine.

3.material/spiritual. Some cultures in Africa see a spiritual power behind illness or misfortune, such as a spell, or because of something bad done in a past life, or because the ancestors are angry. Westerners see secular reaons for these same symptoms.

4.Rule by eldest/rule by one with administrative skills. In my experience on Taiwan, the leadership of the church was given naturally to those who were most advanced in age. This was hard to understand for the westerners, who felt others were more suitable.

5.Guilt/shame. In western cultures, because of the influence of the Bible, doing something wrong brings a feeling that you have disobeyed God, that you need to say “I’m sorry,” both to God, and to the person you have harmed. In a shame-based culture, doing something wrong means you have brought a bad name to your family. You need to cover-up if possible, and if the problem becomes known, you need to look for ways to bring more honor to your family.

6.democratic/authoritarian. Some people feel most comfortable having a trusted leader tell them what to do. Others feel it is normal for the leader to follow the advice of the group members.

7.cooperative/competitive. In Japan, for example, decisions are made cooperatively and it is not acceptable to stand out from the group. Westerners are more famiiar with rule by majority vote, and assme there will be lack of consensus,

The marks you draw to represent the culture you a studying are tentative and will change as your knowledge of the culture grows. Caution: cultures are a “moving target,” and now especially because of the impact of western secularized culture upon other cultures. (Just by getting off the plane, you are part of that impact, because you bring the good and bad of western culture with you.) These complications underscore the necessity of  “listening to the other person” rather than assuming that you know what they believe. I encourage you to create additional sets of opposites as an ongoing way of understanding your host culture.

For a more detailed explanation, see the book Ministering Cross-Culturally, an incarnational model for Personal Relationships, by Sherwood G. Lingenfelter and Marvin K. Mayers

Life Activity Charts

These charts help you to be systematic in studying a new culture.  They are adapted by the author from lists found in many writings about culture.  They list common activities and ask you to determine what the culture (or person) looks to when the need arises.  This is a way to make concrete our study of the two outer layers of the onion diagram. There are three charts below:
…..Chart 1  What do they look to in major Life Events?
…..Chart 2  What do they look to for Daily Needs?
…..Chart 3 What do they look to for Inner Needs?
To make maximum use of the charts, first fill out a chart for your own culture, and then add notations where you personally may differ from your own culture. Then fill out a chart for the new culture, and add notations where the individual you are working differs from that culture.  Here are the charts:

. Chart 1: Life events

	Marking Birth	Coming of Age	Wedding	Divorce	Education	Selecting Career	Funeral
Personal Spiritual Matter
Family Spiritual Matter
Community Spiritual Matter
Spiritual Practitioner (shaman, priest)
Draw on Another Religion
Personal Secular Matter
Family Matter, Secular
Government Matter
Professonal Secular person (doctor, lawyer)
Commercial (like funeral home)

Chart 2: life needs

	Escape violence	Find food	Find Shelter	Finding job	Facing illness	Finding spouse	Educating kids
Personal Spiritual Matter
Family Spiritual Matter
Community Spiritual Matter
Spiritual Practitioner (shaman, priest)
Draw on Another Religion
Personal Secular Matter
Family Matter, Secular
Government Matter
Professonal Secular person (doctor, lawyer)
Commercial (like funeral home)

Chart 3: Inner needs

	Face fears	find love, acceptance	find identity, self-worth	Finding meaning	find hope	finding truth	Selecting values	Face evil, suffering
Personal Spiritual Matter
Family Spiritual Matter
Community Spiritual Matter
Spiritual Practitioner (shaman, priest)
Draw on Another Religion
Personal Secular Matter
Family Matter, Secular
Government Matter
Professonal Secular person (doctor, lawyer)
Commercial (like funeral home)

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