Five Dimesnsions of Culture
...the American culture, it is often said that you live and learn from your experiences and problems. After each struggle or obstacle in life, one becomes stronger. For me, I have learned, along with others to look to God to supply me the answers through hard times. Often, this is the American way. In the American culture, I can see all three cultural characteristics: doing, being and becoming. In the “doing” culture” people feel that work is seen as a separate activity from play and an end in itself as stated by Lustig and Koester (2003). Other members of the American culture (in the being and becoming cultures), work is a means to an end and there is no set boundaries dividing work from play. Social Relations Orientation Lustig and Koester (2003) state that many people in America strive for equality and the absence of hierarchy. Furthermore, Lustig and Koester explain that it is very important for Americans to emphasize equality and constancy in their interpersonal relationships, even though other groups have been the targets of biased acts. Today in America there are many groups that still fight for equality. One example would be more women occupying higher-level jobs. Furthermore, women are no longer staying home and being the “homemaker”, but choosing a career and climbing the workforce ladder. In America, ones birth does not determine their social role or their place in culture. Achieving success in America is determined more on the choices and decisions one makes throughout his or her lifetime. People in America are not restricted by the circumstances of their birth. If you make the decision to attend college to be a doctor, you will have a higher status role in society than if you decided not to attend college and be a waitress for the rest of your life. The American culture tends to be a culture of informality. Americans believe that by being informal one is able to have a better bond with another person. Furthermore, by being informal, one in America believes that you are able to communicate more effectively and openly. Growing up in America, my parents embedded me with the belief that it was my responsibility to be a good and thoughtful neighbor, a family caretaker, and responsible employee. I was taught to treat people like I wanted to be treated. Furthermore, I was also taught that if you wanted to succeed, you needed to go the distance. Meaning, nobody else is going to live my life for me. The decisions that I made were the decisions that I had to live with. Self-Orientation In America, people believe that one can change his or her life for the better. Ofte...