Cross-Cultural Communication: An America Case

Cross-Cultural Communication: An America Case Study

America is often perceived as the paradigmatic 'low context' nation: surface meanings are to be taken literally and the phrase 'what you see is what you get' is said with great approval (Hofstede, 2009). The American value of openness is manifested in the great premium placed upon transparency in communication. Of course, Americans do lie. But when they do, this is seen as scandalous and a grave violation of trust. Polychromatic nuances of meaning are seen as untrustworthy in America. Americans value linear directness of thought and speech, even to the point of rudeness. A woman I interviewed, S --, a foreign exchange student from London, remarked how shocked she was when she first came to study in the U.S. Casual acquaintances openly asked her about her family life, politics, even her income in a way that would have been unacceptable in the United Kingdom. "I'm just being honest, I'm curious," they said, as if this excused their directness.

The value of openness in America is also manifest in the world of commerce. In the wake of the 2008 credit crisis, a lack of openness in business dealing was depicted as the origin of the nation's economic woes. In other nations, nepotism, bribery, and using one's political connections to get ahead are accepted ways of life. The ideal of the 'self-made man', who pulls him (or herself) up from nothing, with no family aid or connections, is cherished in America. Unsurprisingly, Americans have founded many participatory theories of management in enterprise, theories that stress that lower-level employees can provide just as much insight as those on the upper rungs of management. This philosophy is anathema to many nations, including Japan.

Although America was actually founded by propertied men, as America was seen as a nation in revolt against the bad old monarchist ways of Europe, the idea of 'class' makes Americans profoundly uncomfortable. Americans often disdain the appearance of hierarchy even in their mannerisms -- it is a common but true stereotype that many American tourists fail to adapt to more formal appearance standards in accordance with European and Asian ways of dressing (oculesics) abroad. They may stand too close in their proximity to strangers and talk too loud (haptics). Although Europeans can be more demonstrative with family members than Americans, with strangers some distance is required. Americans are even criticized for wearing clothing that is too bright and wearing too much cologne to 'telegraph' their particular scent to the world. The perceived value of 'no beating around the bush' and a less covert attitude towards conspicuous consumption has its roots in the greater (but not infinite) degree of social mobility in America.

America's geography has contributed to its value upon rugged individualism. Geographical expansion in American initially seemed limitless, when Americans were faced with the promise of prosperity in the Western territories. The availability of land in West also cemented the American ideal of working hard and the need for rugged, masculine independence. A lack of federal control, a freedom from landlords (unlike Europe, which boasted smaller amounts of land under heredity control) created a high toleration of uncertainty and a value placed upon risking everything for profit. The promise of the West made Americans even more resistant to federal control than in 1776. The architect of the Frontier Thesis Frederick Turner wrote that to understand Americans, one must understand the West: "So long as free land exists, the opportunity for a competency exists, and economic power secures political power. But the democracy born of free land, strong in selfishness and individualism, intolerant of administrative experience and education, and pressing individual liberty beyond its proper bounds, has its dangers as well as its benefits. Individualism in America has allowed a laxity in regard to governmental affairs which has rendered possible the spoils system and all the manifest evils that follow from the lack of a highly developed civic spirit" (Turner 34)