Culture (Unit 1)

Anup Maharjan
Intercultural Communication
FHSDH/TM, 2nd Semester, IST College, Gyaneshwor
November, 2021
 1. Culture
Culture derived from Latin cultura, which
means to cultivate.

Many people generally believe that culture

reflected itself in music, literature, painting,
sculpture, theatre, and film.
However, the concept of culture is very difficult,
perhaps even impossible, to define because it is a
theory or abstract name for a very large, complex,
multidimensional phenomenon.

Culture,
represents a system of tangible and intangible
components.

Tangible components of culture represent material

culture and physical elements necessary to support
human life, such as clothing, tools, food, buildings,
paintings, and many other cultural objects and artifacts.
Houses in Rural areas of Nepal
Houses in Italy and USA
Intangible elements of culture represent non-
material culture and refer to values, beliefs,
attitudes, morality, ethics, spirituality,
traditions, and customs.

Herbig and Dunphy (1998) defined culture in

terms of human experiences and their
interpretation. They referred to culture as
‘‘both explicit and implicit rules through
which experience is interpreted’’.
Features of culture:

1. Human environment. Culture has been created by humans; it

is a part of a human-made environment that holds human
groups together.

2. Social heritage and traditions. Culture refers to the history of

a nation, region, or group of people, and its traditions, customs,
art crafts, architecture, music, and painting.

3. Way of life. Culture is a way of life of a group of people or an

entire society; it shows how to live and what standards and
criteria to use to decide what to do in life and how to do things.
4. Behavior: Culture is about human behavior; it
influences human behavior and shows how people
should behave.

5. Rules of social life: Culture represents a set of rules

that gives direction concerning how human beings
should behave in their lives.

These rules need to be followed to maintain harmony

and order in a society.
6. Dress and appearance: Culture dictates how
people should dress. It determines what clothing
people wear for a business or casual meeting, as
well as at home. Cultural customs and traditions
determine the dress code and color, the length of
hair, the jewellery to be worn.

Some cultures accept jeans worn by youth and

elders (e.g., in the United States), others prefer
traditional dress, (e.g., Japanese kimono, Sarong
in Southeast Asia, Daura Suruwal in Nepal,).
7. Food and eating habits: Culture determines how
food is prepared, cooked, presented, and consumed.

For example, in some cultures people eat beef (e.g.,

in the United States), while in others beef is
forbidden (e.g., India, Nepal).

In some cultures people use forks and knifes to eat

(e.g., Europeans), while in others, people use
chopsticks (e.g., Chinese), or their hands (e.g.,
Indians and other Asian). Culture determines table
manners.
8. Sense of self: Culture gives people a sense of identity and self-esteem.
Culture provides meanings and directions, and shows people where they
belong.

9. Relationships: Culture impacts personal relationships, businesses,

corporations, and government.

Culture indicates how people should behave in a group, relate to each

other, and treat others, for example, friends, elders, teachers, supervisors,
minorities, and special needs groups.

In some cultures it is common to send elders to special care facilities

(e.g., the United States). Culture influences attitudes towards genders,
gender roles and responsibilities, marriage, social relationships, and
work.
 10. Values and norms: Culture dictates the
priorities people should attach to certain values;
it indicates what should be the most important
and least important values.

In some cultures individuals are concerned with

work, personal achievements, and material
things (e.g., the United States), whereas in other
cultures people are expected to share, obey, and
be concerned about others (e.g., Asia).
 
11. Beliefs and attitudes: Culture defines people’s beliefs,
views, opinions, perceptions, and attitudes towards
themselves, others, and the world.

Culture determines religious practices, beliefs in life and

death, and the difference between good and bad.

12. Ways of thinking and doing things. Culture is the

socially acquired way of thinking, feeling, and doing
things.

Culture is the means through which human beings

communicate their thoughts and values and fulfill their
needs.
 13. Work and leisure habits: Culture determines attitude towards work,
work habits and practices, accomplishments, assessments, promotions,
incentives, responsibilities, work ethic, loyalty to employer, commitment
to quality of work and service, and ways of making decisions.

In some cultures people ‘‘live to work’’ (e.g., the United States), in

others, people ‘‘work to live’’ (e.g., Australia, France).

Culture also determines attitudes towards leisure, travel habits, frequency

and seasonality of travel, preferred modes of travel and accommodation,
sources of information used, spending patterns, length of stay, and
destination selection.

For example, tourists from the United States and Europe like to travel
independently, whereas tourists from Asia prefer to travel in groups.
 
14. Time: Culture determines attitude towards time.

In some cultures punctuality and promptness are

expected (e.g., Germany). In others, people do not
bother about time, instead they manage their life by
sunrise and sunset, and by winter, spring, summer,
or fall.

For example, in India or in Latin America, being

late for appointments and not adhering to time
schedules are accepted.
15. Cognitive knowledge: Culture is a system of cognitive
knowledge, classifications, and categories existing in the
minds of people and shaped by the human brain.

16. Mental process and learning: Culture is about how

people organize and process information, how they learn
and adapt to the surrounding environment.

For example, some cultures favor straightforwardness,

logic, and intellectual skills (e.g., Germany), others stress
circular logic, conceptualization, abstract thinking, and
emotional communication (e.g., Japan).
 
17. Information and communication: Culture is
information, and information is communication.

Thus, culture is a communication system. It uses

verbal and non-verbal cues that distinguish one
group from another.

Differences in languages and verbal cues create

different ways of expressing beliefs, values, and
perceptions. Non-verbal cues, such as gestures or
body language, also differ by culture.
For example, in some cultures, interruptions in discussions
are common (e.g., Brazil), in others, they are regarded as
rude (e.g., Japan). So, different cultures have different
communication systems.

In some societies people speak several major languages

(e.g, in Switzerland people speak German, Italian, and
French).

Within one language group there may be various dialects,

slang, jargons, or accents.

People who speak the same language with the same accent
or jargon distinguish themselves from others.
18. Symbols and meanings: Culture is a system of
symbols, meanings, ideas, and emotions that influence
people’s experiences. (e.g., joy, sorrow).

For example, in some cultures patting a child on the head

is unacceptable because the head is considered to be the
center of intellectual power (e.g., Malaysia).

While in other cultures head patting is acceptable.

In Poland, for example, patting a child on the head is
considered to be a caring and protective gesture.
 
 19. Perceptions: Culture is a way of
perceiving the environment.

The similarity in people’s perceptions

indicates the existence of similar cultures and
the sharing and understanding of meanings.
 
20. Differences and similarities between
people: Culture is about differences and
similarities between people.

The differences indicate the existence of

different cultures.

It is important to understand how cultural

differences affect human perceptions of the
world.
1.2 CULTURES BY REGION

Different geographical regions are

characterized by different cultures through the
influence of social contacts, colonization, trade,
travel, migration, religion, and mass media.

For example, African culture, especially sub-

Saharan African culture, has been influenced
by European colonialism and Arab and Islamic
culture, especially in North Africa.
The American culture has been shaped by the
cultures of the people of Africa, Europe, and
Asia, who arrived either through the slave
trade or the as immigration from Europe,
(e.g., Dutch, English, French, German, Irish,
Italian, Portuguese, Scandinavian, or
Spanish), Latin America (e.g., Cuba, Mexico,
and Nicaragua), and more recently Asia (e.g.,
China, Korea, and Vietnam).
The North American culture is known as a
‘‘mixed culture’’ because it has adapted
different cultural elements from different
cultures and races.

Asian cultural traditions were influenced by

Buddhism and Taoism, especially in East
Asia, and the social and moral philosophy of
Confucianism.
 Hinduism and Islam influenced the culture of various
parts of South Asia. The countries of the Pacific Ocean
have been influenced by their indigenous cultures as
well as European culture.

 Forexample, Australian and New Zealand cultures

have been shaped by European settlers and indigenous
Australian and Maori (New Zealand) cultures.

 The Polynesian culture was strongly influenced by

Christianity.
Maori (New Zealand) Indian (USA)
Aboriginals, Australia
 1.3 TYPES AND LEVELS OF CULTURE

The term culture often refers to national

culture. However, nationality alone does not
define culture.
 Types of Culture
1. Universal culture refers to culture of all nationalities and
humans, their ways of life, behavior, values, morals, and
ideas.

2. Civilization culture refers to culture of a particular

civilization, which comprises different nationalities with
similar political systems, economic development, ethnic
roots, and religious values.

3. Ethnic culture refers to culture of an ethnic group of people

who share a language, color, history, religion, descent or
heritage, or some other attribute of common origin.
4. Race culture refers to culture of a specific race,
such as African-American, Asian- American,
Hispanic-American.

5. National culture, refers to culture of a national

group, sometimes called ‘‘country’’ culture.

6. Regional culture refers to the culture of a particular

geographical region, such as the Southeastern
culture of the United States (casual and relaxed) or
the Northeastern culture (formal and busy), each
with different values, priorities, and lifestyles.
7. Generation culture refers to the culture of a
particular generation. For example, generations
of Baby Boomers and Generation XL have
different values, preferences, and needs.

8. Industry culture refers to the culture of a

specific industry. Industries such as tourism,
banking, construction, retailing, or
pharmaceuticals have their own specific cultures
because they share different worldviews on how
to organize and manage a business.
9. Professional culture refers to the culture
of a specific profession.

Distinct occupational and professional

groups (e.g., doctors, lawyers, engineers)
have their unique cultures because they
differ in their task requirements, beliefs,
and values, have distinct codes of conduct,
and even have unique dress codes.
10. Organizational/corporate culture refers to the
culture of a specific organization. Organizations and
corporations have different cultures because they are
influenced by the different nature of the industry,
business, products, and services.

11. Functional culture refers to the culture of a specific

department within an organization. Different
departments and sections in organizations (e.g.,
finance, production, marketing, research and
development) are characterized by distinct cultures:
they have different functions to perform, time frames
for achieving objectives, and customers to serve.
12. Family culture refers to the family’s structure and
cohesion, the nature of the relationships between its
members, roles and responsibilities of wives and
husbands, as well as orientation towards religion,
politics, or economy.

13. Individual culture refers to an individual’s value

system, beliefs, ideas, expectations, actions,
attitudes, and intentions, all of which are often
influenced by demographic characteristics (e.g.,
gender, age, income, years of formal education) and
personality (e.g., motivations, knowledge, etc.).
 1.4 TYPES OF CULTURES IN TOURISM

In tourism, there are different types of culture:

1. tourist culture,
2. host culture, and
3. tourism culture.

4. The tourist culture refers to the country culture that

tourists bring with them when visiting other countries,
whether for business or for vacations. The tourist culture
influences and contributes to explaining tourist behavior.
However, since tourists behave differently when
they are away from home, the tourist culture
depends on the ‘‘residual culture,’’ which explains
how tourists from different cultures behave (Jafari,
1987). Also, since both ‘‘touristic cultures’’ (the
culture of groups of tourists, backpackers, etc.) and
national cultures influence tourists of different
national cultures, it is important to understand the
extent to which ‘‘touristic cultures’’ are free of
national cultures and are reflected in the behavior
of all tourists regardless of nationality.
2. Host culture is the culture of the host
country with which tourists are in
contact (Jafari, 1987). It is the national
culture of those who provide local
offerings and services to tourists.
3. Tourism culture refers to the outcome of the
behavior of all participants involved in the tourism
process, that is, the behavior of tourists and those
who offer tourism and hospitality products and
services. Tourism culture is a result of mixing
together tourist, host, and residual cultures. It is a
special type of culture created at each destination.
Tourism culture is distinct from everyday culture of
tourists and hosts because tourists and hosts behave
differently from the way in which they behave at
home, without the presence of the other group
(Jafari, 1987).
 1.5 THE PURPOSE OF CULTURE

The purpose of culture is to teach people how to

live, do things, and think. Culture guides people
through life.

Its purpose is to establish ways of behavior,

standards, and criteria of performance, and ways
of dealing with interpersonal and environmental
relations that will reduce uncertainty, increase
predictability, and promote survival and growth
among the members of any society.
 Cultureinfluences human behavior and determines
which behavior is appropriate and socially accepted;
which is helpful and should be rewarded; and which
is unacceptable and harmful, and should therefore be
discouraged.

 Culture tells what is correct, good, true, honest,

valuable, and important.

 Culture teaches significant rules of behavior, rituals,

traditions, customs, and procedures.
It dictates what clothes to wear, what kind
of food to eat, what to say, how to serve
guests, and what to do at a dinner party.

Culture teaches relationships with others,

and how to form and maintain relationships.
It determines relationship patterns and
encourages a specific interaction style.
Cultural rules and norms help to achieve and maintain
harmony in society. Without these rules and regulations,
society would be in chaos.

Culture simplifies everyday life decisions.

 Culture
also makes it possible for human society to
communicate using verbal and non-verbal codes of
communication.

 Culture identifies the uniqueness of the social group, its

values, beliefs, and thoughts.
 1.6 SUBCULTURES
 Large societies often have subcultures, or groups of
people with distinct sets of behaviors and beliefs that
differentiate them from a larger culture of which they
are a part.

A subculture can be distinguished based on its

members’ race, nationality, tribe, religion, geographic
region, ethnicity, social and economic class, age,
gender, occupation, politics, and sexual orientation, or
a combination of these factors.

 Each culture consists of several subcultures.

There are different categories of subcultures:

1. Racial subcultures often refer to groups of

people with similar biological characteristics,
mainly the same color and /or physical type.
Different racial categories can be
characterized by different physical features,
such as skin color or shape of the eyes.
2. Nationality subcultures refer to groups of
people who share a common history and usually
a language, but may not always live in the same
area, for example, the Indian national
subcultures of North America and the United
Kingdom.

3. Tribe subcultures refer to groups of people,

smaller than nations, sharing the same customs
and usually the same language, and often
following an ancient way of life, for example, a
wandering tribe of hunters in the Amazon forest.
4. Ethnic subcultures refer to a wide variety of groups of
people who share a language, region of origin, history,
religion, descent or heritage, and phonotypical
characteristics (e.g., skin color, hair color), or other attribute
of common origin, and identify themselves as a distinct
nation or a cultural group.

The examples of the ethnic groups are Anglo- Americans,

Blacks/African-Americans, Middle Easterners, Southeast
Asians, Hispanics, Philippinos, or Jews.

In former Yugoslavia, there were numerous ethnic groups

(e.g., Serbs, Croatians, or Muslims), each with its own
culture, who were forced to live as one nation, after World
War II.
5. Religious subcultures refer to a wide variety of
groups of people who are identified on a basis of
the differences in their religious beliefs and
worship.

6. Economic and social subcultures are identified

on a basis of the differences in the socio-economic
standing of people (differences in income and
wealth). For example, the urban African-American
subculture in the United States has often been
associated with low income, drugs, and
educational deprivation.
7. Geographical and regional subcultures refer to
geographic differences within countries or similarities
between countries.

Regional subcultures refer to subcultures that evolved due to

differences in geography, history, politics, economics,
language, and religion (within and beyond national borders).
Each geographic area or region develops its own culture,
values, and lifestyle.

For example, the Southwest of the United States is known

for its casual lifestyle, outdoor entertainment, and active
sports. The Southwest also appears to be more innovative
when compared to the conservative region of New England.
8. Age-based subcultures are identified on a basis of the
differences in the age. Each age group develops its own
culture.

For example, younger people have different preferences for

clothing, food, music, shelter, cars, and leisure activities than
older people.

Young people prefer to spend heavily on fashionable clothes,

music, and entertainment; elders prefer to spend more on
comfortable clothes, medicine, and insurance.

9. Gender-based subcultures are identified on the basis of the

differences in gender. Each gender develops its own cultural
habits and customs.
As a result of regional, demographic or
socio-economic differences, each
subculture provides its members with a
different set of values and expectations that
tell people how to behave, interact, and
think within these subcultures.
 1.7 CULTURE VERSUS NATIONALITY
Nationality refers to a relationship between a person and
its state of origin, or a membership of a nation by a
person.

Usually, nationality is established at birth by a child’s

place of birth and/or bloodline.

The legal sense of nationality, particularly in the English-

speaking world, may often mean citizenship, although it
does not mean the same thing everywhere in the world.
For example, in the United Kingdom, citizens have
rights to participate in the political life of the state of
which they are citizens (voting or standing for
election). However, nationals need not immediately
have these rights.

One can have the nationality of a country and live

somewhere else. For example, one can have British
nationality and live in France. Nationality also refers
to a large group of people with the same race, origin,
and language.
In today’s world, people of different
nationalities and different cultures live
within the same geographic boundaries
(e.g., Mexican, Russian, Nepalese, Indian,
and Brazilian nationals live in the United
States).
Thus, in order to avoid confusion between the
concepts of culture and nationality, the term
national culture should be used; it is more
precise for describing the particular groups of
people.

Individuals may possess multiple nationalities,

their culture can be different from their
nationality, and many can be bicultural.
For example, one can be a US national who is
Russian but follows a French cultural pattern.
Also, some nationals of the United States,
Australia, and Canada may be conversant in
more than two cultures because they originate
from other cultures. In addition, those
nationals who migrate to a new culture may
possess a nationality different from the culture
to which they migrate.
 1.8 CULTURE VERSUS COUNTRY OF
BIRTH
 Country of birth refers to a country where one was
born. Country of birth can be same as someone’s
national culture but does not have to be the same.

Many people move to a new culture (immigrants)

and experience a process of acculturation and
deculturation, they learn new cultural patterns
and unlearn childhood cultural patterns of the
country in which they were born.
Their national culture can change although a
country of birth is still the same. Also, the
country of birth can be the same as someone’s
country of residence, but does not have to be the
same.

For example, one can be born in Italy and live in

New Zealand. Thus, someone’s culture differs
from, but cannot be determined by, a country of
birth (‘‘where you were born’’), or country of
residence (‘‘where you live’’).
In conclusion, the concepts of culture,
nationality, country of residence, and
country of birth are different.

Some people might be born and raised in

one country and live in another.
Foreign nationals (born in one country and
raised in another) and those who were born
and raised in one country and lived in
another for extended periods of time may
behave differently than those who were
born and raised, and live, in the same
country all their lives.
 1.9 CULTURAL IDENTITY
Cultural identity is the identity of a group, or individual
and the influence by his or her belonging to the culture.

This is the main concern of everyone of the individual

in a globalized world.

As more people travel, take new jobs, migrate to new

countries, become separated from their ancestry roots,
and become exposed to new socio-economic and
cultural environments, they increasingly search for new
sources of identity, values, morals, and image.
People need to know who they really are,
who they are not, where they belong, and
where they are heading.

People define their identity in terms of their

occupation, education, wealth, social classes,
kinship, place of residence, ideology,
ancestry, language, history, values, customs,
institutions they work for, and even politics.
 They like to use symbols of their cultural identities,
including traditional clothing, music, food, flags, head
coverings, and colors.

 Cultural identity gives strength to those who are lost through

globalization, industrialization, urbanization, and rapid
economic and technological developments.

 Having a strong cultural identity allows people to enhance

their relationships with others and makes their position in
the world stronger.

 Those who do not have a cultural core will lose their culture
and become part of another one.
 1.10 CULTURAL DISTANCE
 Cultural distance (CD) refers to the extent to
which national cultures differ or to which a
cultural gap exists among different cultural
systems.

Large CD can be a source of friction and

potentially disrupt all economic, social, or
political relations between countries.
The CD construct can be applied in international
tourism and defined as the extent to which national
culture of the originating region (tourists) differs from
that of the receiving region (local hosts).

The CD construct has implications for interactions

between tourists from one culture and visiting another
culture.

The larger the CD between international tourists and

hosts, the higher the probability tourists will experience
difficulties in the host culture.
The extent of CD between tourists and host national
cultures may range from very small to extreme.

When national cultures of tourists and hosts are

very similar to one another, the CD between tourists
and hosts is very small; whereas when national
cultures of tourists and hosts are very different from
one another, the CD between tourists and hosts is
very large.
 Depending on the degree of differences between
national cultures, one can distinguish several
categories of CD:

1. When national cultures of tourists and hosts are

the same or similar, the CD between tourists
and hosts is very small or non-existent.

2. When national cultures of tourists and hosts are

different, but the differences are small, the CD
between tourists and hosts is small.
3. When national cultures of tourists and hosts are
different, and the differences are large, the CD
between tourists and hosts is large.

In this case, tourists and hosts have no cultural

commonalities, and experience difficulties in their
interaction.

As the differences in national cultures increase,

tourists and hosts can experience
misunderstanding, friction, anxiety, and often
conflicts.
Finally, CD can be defined as the degree of
difference in national cultures of people; if
CD is large, it will have difference in
people’s perception of each other and lead
to conflict.

CD between national cultures of tourists

and hosts is usually large in the destinations
where the majority of tourists are
foreigners.
Consequently, conflicts between culturally
different tourists and hosts are unavoidable and
may present a major problem to global tourism.

The largest CD was found between Asian and

Western cultures. This means that visitors from
Asia to the West or vice versa have the least
commonalities with each other; their interaction
can be very difficult, and they can get involved
in cultural conflict.
Although some cultural groups may seem
to be similar (e.g., United States
American/English/Canadian), they may also
be culturally dissimilar due to a different
variety and size of ethnic groups found in
these cultures.
 1.11 THE IMPACT OF CULTURAL DISTANCE ON
TRAVEL

 The distance between a tourist and a host national

culture influences intentions to travel and visit
specific destinations.

 Many tourists like to travel to destinations that share

the same cultural background.

 Forexample, Hong Kong nationals frequently travel

to mainland China because of its similar cultural
background and very small, if any, CD.
Saudi tourists prefer to visit Muslim countries.
Visiting culturally similar destinations with low
CD reduces the extent of cultural conflicts and
increases the likelihood of positive experiences.

Cultural differences, rather than similarities, can

also attract tourists to destinations. Culturally
dissimilar destinations provide an attractive travel
environment for the young, adventurous, and
educated market segments.