An Overview of Cultural Patterns

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 712.

Members of a culture generally have a preferred set of responses to the world. Imagine that, for each experience, there is a range of possible responses from which a culture selects its preferred response. In this section we draw on the ideas of Edward Stewart, Milton Bennett, John Condon, and Fathi Yousef, which extend the thoughts of Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, in order to describe these alternative responses [10]. In so doing, we will compare and contrast the cultural patterns of different cultural groups and suggest their implications for the process of interpersonal communication. Comparing the patterns of different cultures can sometimes be tricky because a feature of one culture, when compared with another culture, may appear very different than it would when compared with a third culture. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's cultural orientations are especially useful because they describe a broad range of cultural patterns against which a particular culture can be understood.

The five major elements in Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's description of cultural patterns address the manner in which a culture orients itself to activities, social relations, the self, the world, and the passage of time. Note that there are strong linkages among the various elements. As you read the descriptions in the sections that follow, try to recognize the preferred patterns of your culture. Also, focus on your own beliefs, values, norms, and social practices, as they may differ in certain respects from your culture's predominant pattern.