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American Culture
American society is an amalgamation of diverse cultures, and American cultural norms and behaviors reflect a wide range of beliefs. Cultural standards in the United States can be fairly predictable, however. For example, when two friends greet each other, they will shake hands or hug, depending on the closeness of the friendship and the gender of the persons involved. Generally females are more prone to displays of physical affection in public such as hugging or kissing. Also, casual words of greeting such as, "Hi! How are you doing?" are common when friends greet each other. Strangers who meet for the first time will usually shake hands and smile at each other. Younger people use different slang and body language than their older counterparts but the basic rituals are the same.
In a grocery store check out line, sometimes people will avoid making eye contact or speaking to strangers. However, friendliness is not generally discouraged in the United States and in many cases two or more strangers will begin a light conversation. Behavior in this case is highly individualized; there are no true universals in this instance.
When people first enter a restaurant, they will tend to act polite and reserved. However, some people are slightly more aggressive when dealing with hostesses. Again, this is largely due to individual differences in personality. If someone entered a restaurant and immediately started talking loudly, other customers would probably turn to see what the commotion was all about. Staff members would feel uncomfortable because asking the customer to quiet down might anger him or her.
Some American cultural practices are ethnocentric: when people confront social habits different from their own, for instance, they tend to make fun of them. For example, in many European cultures it is customary to kiss others on the cheek several times. In the United States this practice is not common. Similarly, in many cultures it is customary for men to hold hands when walking down the street; in America when men walk hand in hand chances are they are gay. Drawing this conclusion from the body language indicates a certain degree of ethnocentricity.
Culture of Interest: Japan Theoretical foundations of cultural and cross-cultural analysis: Japan and America Japan: Mildly collectivist culture American culture American: An individualistic culture Similarities and differences in Japanese and U.S. culture Potential biases of researcher Appendix I- Hofstede four Dimensional Theory Edward Tylor (1832-1917) defines culture as a collection of customs, laws, morals, knowledge, and symbols displayed by a society and its constituting members. Culture is form of collective expression by groups of people. Since the dawn
The development of the American automobile industry is one of the best examples of this interplay: "Unlike European manufacturers, who concentrated on expensive motorcars for the rich, American entrepreneurs early turned to economical vehicles that could be mass-produced," (Jackson 159). The fact that so many Americans then became capable of purchasing a car both fed the notion of the American dream, and also served to expand American cities and
Kerr's management strategy on campus only emboldened the New Left. In addition to the Free Speech movement, the New Left included other student organizations including Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Congress on Racial Equality (CORE), and the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The former focused on the antiwar efforts to end the Vietnam conflict, placing the students in direct conflict with many of America's most powerful institutions and organizations.
In history, in most of the Indian families, the inheritance of the estates of the family is left to the lineage of males in the family. Though since the year 1956, the law in India has always treated females and males as equals in matters of inheritance where there is no legal will written. Currently, Indians have become wiser and are using legal wills for the inheritance and succession
Sociology Questions Relating to Gender and Culture The media has made significant efforts to demonstrate non-bias with regards to gender in advertising as part of efforts to promote gender equality. While the media may attempt to communicate non-bias messages relating to gender and advertising, there is a considerable amount of information that communicates the exact opposite. The need for communicating a message of non-bias when it comes to gender and advertising
Our country is very young and may be compared with an adolescent who feels he is powerful and at the same time is unsure of himself because he is still a child. Then there are many immigrants from many countries, and on the whole people here do not remain situated in any one location for any great length of time; they move from place to place rather frequently, thereby