Activity Orientation

A "becoming" orientation sees humans as evolving and changing; people with this orientation, including Native Americans and most South Americans, are predisposed to think of ways to change themselves as a means of changing the world.

In the "being" and "becoming" cultures, activity is not necessarily connected to external products or actions; the contemplative monk or the great thinker is most valued. Thus the process of striving toward the goal is sometimes far more important than accomplishing it.

"Doing"

"Doing" is the dominant characteristic of European Americans, who rarely question the assumption that it is important to get things done. Thus, European Americans often ask, "What do you do?" When they first meet someone, a common greeting is "Hi! How are you doing?" and Monday morning conversations between coworkers often center on what each person "did" over the weekend. Similarly, young children are asked what they want to be when they grow up (though what is actually meant is "What do you want to do when you grow up?"), and cultural heroes are those who do things. The "doing" culture is often the striving culture, in which people seek to change and control what is happening to them. The common adage "Where there's a will there's a way" captures the essence of this cultural pattern. When faced with adversity, for example, European Americans encourageone another to fight on, to work hard, and not to give up.

How a person measures success is also related to the activity orientation. In cultures with a "doing" orientation, activity should have a purpose or a goal.

In "doing" cultures, work is seen as a separate activity from play and an end in itself. In the "being" and "becoming" cultures, work is a means to an end, and there is no dear-cut separation between work and play. For these individuals, social life spills over into their work life. When members of a "being" culture work in the environment of a "doing" culture, their behavior is often misinterpreted.

A Latina employee described her conversation with a European American coworker who expressed anger that she spent so much "work" time on the telephone with family and friends. For the Latina, it was important to keep in contact with her friends and family; for the European American, only work was done at work, and one's social and personal relationships were totally separated from the working environment.

In a "doing" culture, employees who spend too much time chatting with their fellow employees may be reprimanded by a supervisor. In the "being" and "becoming" cultures, those in charge fully expect their employees to mix working and socializing.

Along with the activity orientation of "doing" comes a problem-solution orientation. The preferred way of dealing with a difficulty is to see it as a challenge to be met or a problem to be solved. The world is viewed as something that ought to be changed in order to solve problems rather than as something that ought to be accepted as it is, with whatever characteristics it has.

In every culture, these preferences for particular orientations to activities shape the interpersonal communication patternsthat will occur.

In "doing" cultures, interpersonal communication is characterized by concerns about what people do and how they solve problems. There are expectations that people should be involved in activities, that work comes before play, and that people should sacrifice in other parts of their lives in order to meet their work responsibilities.

In "being" cultures, interpersonal communication is characterized by being together rather than by accomplishing specific tasks, and there is generally greater balance between work and play.

Give a definition of “activity orientation”; enumerate some questions that this orientation provides answers, thus giving us an opportunity to understand intercultural differences.