Social Relations Orientation

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 1304.

The social relations orientation describes how the people in a culture organize themselves and relate to one another.

This orientation provides answers 10 questions such as the following;

· To what extent are some people in the culture considered better or superior to others?

· Can social superiority be obtained through birth, age, good deeds, or material achievement and success?

· Are formal, ritualized interaction sequences expected?

· In what ways does the culture's language require people to make social distinctions?

· What responsibilities and obligations do people have to their extended families, their neighbors, their employers or employees, and others?

A social relations orientation can range from one that emphasizes differences and social hierarchy to one that strives for equality and the absence of hierarchy.

Many European Americans, for example, emphasize equality and evenness in their interpersonal relationships, even though certain groups have been treated in discriminatory and unequal ways.

Equality as a value and belief is frequently expressed and is called on to justify people's actions. The phrase "We are all human, aren't we?” captures the essence of this cultural tenet. From within this cultural framework, distinctions based on age, gender, role, or occupation are discouraged. Conversely, other cultures, such as the Korean, emphasize status differences between individuals. Mexican American culture, drawing on its cultural roots in traditional Mexican values, also celebrates status differences and formalizes different ways of communicating with people depending on who they are and what their social characteristics happen to be.

One noticeable difference in social relations orientations is in the degree of importance a culture places on formality. In cultures that emphasize formality, people address others by appropriate titles, and highly prescriptive rules govern the interaction. Conversely, in cultures that stress equality, believe that human relationships develop best when those involved can be informal with one another.

Students from other cultures who study in the United States are usually taken aback by the seeming informality that exists between teachers and students. Many professors allow, even ask, students to call them by their first names, and students disagree with and challenge their teachers in front of the class. The quickness with which interpersonal relationships in the United States move to a first-name basis is mystifying to those from cultures where the personal form of address is used only for selected, special individuals. Many U.S. Americans who share aspects of both European American culture and another culture also express difficulty with this aspect of cultural behavior.

In cultures such as those of Japan, Korea, and China, individuals identify with only a few distinct groups, and the ties that bind people to these groups are so strong that group membership may endure for a lifetime. Examples of these relationships include nuclear and extended families, friends, neighbors, work groups, and social organizations.

In contrast, European Americans typically belong to many groups throughout their lifetimes, and although the groups may be very important for a period of time, they are easily discarded when they are no longer needed.

That is, voluntary and informal groups are meant to be important for brief periods of time, often serving a transitory purpose. In addition, it is accepted and even expected that European Americans often change jobs and companies. "Best friends" may only be best friends for brief periods.

Another important way in which social relations orientations can vary is how people define their social roles or their place in a culture.

In some cultures, the family and the position into which a person is born determine a person's place.

At the other extreme are cultures in which all people, regardless of family position, can achieve success and high status.

Among African Americans and European Americans, for instance, there is a widespread belief that social and economic class should not predetermine person's opportunities and choices.

For example, consider the tale of Abraham Lincoln, a poor boy who went from a log cabin to the White House; or the books of Horatio Alger, the nineteenth century author who wrote numerous rags-to-riches stories of success and happiness that were achieved through hard work and perseverance; or the Sylvester Stallone hero in the movie Rocky, who went from journeyman boxer to heavyweight champion of the world; or Working Girl Tess McGill, the Melanie Griffith character who went from her entry-level job in the typing pool to a senior executive; or the saga of washed-up boxer Jim Braddock, played by Russell Crow in the movie Cinderella Man, who became a champion in the 1930s; or the heartwarming and true story of Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happiness, who overcame poverty and hardships to become a successful stockbroker and raise his son.

In each of these examples, there is a common belief that people should not be restricted by the circumstances of their birth.

Cultural patterns can also prescribe appropriate behaviors for men and women. In some cultures, very specific behaviors are expected; other cultures allow more ambiguity in the expected roles of women and men. A culture's social relations orientation affects the style of interpersonal communication that is most preferred.

Cultures may emphasize indirectness, obliqueness, and ambiguity, which is the typical pattern for most Eastern European cultures and Mexican Americans, or they may emphasize directness and confrontation, which is the typical European American pattern.

The European American preference for "putting your cards on the table" and "telling it like it is" presupposes a world in which it is desirable to be explicit, direct, and specific about personal reactions and ideas, even at the expense of social discomfort on the part of the person with whom one is interacting. For European Americans, good interpersonal communication skills include stating directly one's personal needs and reactions to the behaviors of others. Thus, if European Americans hear that others have complained about them, they would probably ask, “Why didn't they tell me directly if they had a problem with something that I have done?”

Contrast this approach to that of Asian cultures such as those in Japan, Korea, Thailand, and China, where saving face and maintaining interpersonal harmony are so highly valued that it would be catastrophic to confront another person directly and verbally express anger. The same values are usually preferred in India and in many Eastern European cultures, where saying "no" might be regarded as offensive.

A U.S. American scholar working in Hungary tells of asking his Hungarian colleague if he could borrow a particular book. Instead of saying "no," the Hungarian repeatedly provided other reasons why he couldn't loan the book at that specific moment: he was using it just now; his mother was sick; he needed the book to complete an essay before his mother died. The Hungarian's strong sense of connectedness to family and friends meant that it would not be polite to say “no” directly.

The tendency to be verbally explicit in face-to-face interactions is related to a preference for direct interaction rather than interaction through intermediaries.

Among European Americans there is a belief that, ideally, people should depend only on themselves to accomplish what needs to be done. Therefore, the notion of using intermediaries to accomplish either personal or professional business goals is not widely accepted.

Although African Americans prefer indirectness and ambiguity in conversations with fellow cultural members, they do not choose to use intermediaries in these conversations.

In many cultures, however, the use of intermediaries is the preferred method of conducting business or passing on information. Marriages are arranged, business deals are made, homes are purchased, and other major negotiations are all conducted through third parties. These third parties soften and interpret the messages of both sides, thereby shielding the parties from direct, and therefore risky and potentially embarrassing, transactions with each other.

Similarly, among many cultures from southern Africa, such as Swaziland, there is a distinct preference for the use of intermediaries to deal with negotiations and conflict situations.

Consider the experience of the director of an English program in Tunisia, a culture that depends on intermediaries. One of the Tunisian teachers had been consistently late to his morning classes. Rather than calling the teacher in and directly explaining the problem, the director asked the teacher's friend about the teacher's health and happiness. The director indicated that the teacher's late arrival for class might have been a sign that something was wrong. The friend then simply indirectly conveyed the director's concern to the late teacher, who was late no more.

A culture's social relations orientation also affects the sense of social reciprocity that is, the underlying sense of obligation and responsibility between people. Some cultures prefer independence and a minimum number of obligations and responsibilities; alternatively, other cultures accept obligations and encourage dependence. The nature of the dependence is often related to the types of status and the degree of formality that exist between the individuals. Cultures that depend on hierarchy and formality to guide their social interactions are also likely to have both a formal means for fulfilling social obligations and dearly defined norms for expressing them.

Define the social relations orientation. What questions does it help to answer? Illustrate the cultural differences in the social relations orientation by some examples.