Workaholics

Foreign-born employess often observe that Americans spend an inordinate amount of time working and, as a consequence, have little time for leisure or personal relationship. In Americans English, the word “workaholic” describes people who are as addicted to their work as an alcoholic is to liquor. There are conflicting points of view about workaholics. From some points of view, they are seen as valuable members of society because they are extremely productive and embody the values of achievement and efficiency. Increasingly, however, those concerned with problems of mental stress believe that workaholics abuse themselves physically and mentally, and that a workaholic life style is detrimental to personal and family life. Some people are workaholics in their twenties and thirties, but in mid-life may change their priorities. Some, although certainly not all, realize that they do not have to “prove themselves” thourgh their work accomplishments and achievements.

Friendliness Versus Friendship

            Many people around the world characterize Americans as friendly. Americans, especially in comparison to certain other cultural groups, tend to smile and talk easily with others even if they are strangers (in big cities, this is less common). For example, people waiting in lines (i.e., in the post office or in the grocery store) often strike up conversations with each other. They may even disclose personal information in encounters with strangers whom they will never see again. This seems unusual to many foreigners in the United State. From their point of view, how can a person trust a stranger enough to chat freely and reveal personal information? After all, in most of the world, strangers are not to be trusted.

            The following is an account of what an American woman learned about the American woman learned about the American man she was standing behind in a line in a post office. In about eight minutes, he revealed that: (1) he was married and his wife was about to have a baby , (2) he was unhappy with his job as a salesman and was considering a “mid-life” career change (not uncommon in the United State) , (3) he and his wife were trying to figure out if it would be better to work harder or take more time off from work that they could relax more.

            This is perhaps an extreme example (even for many Americans) of how strangers reveal aspects of their lives to each other. To many people around the world, this openness would be considered abnormal and even suspicious. Some would stereotype this man and might say, “well, he’s a salesman, What do you expect ?” while many Americans would find his openness excessive, this type of person is not a rarity.

Facial Expressiveness

            Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For instance, in American culture the smile is typically an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has other functions. A woman’s smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show affection, convey politeness, or disguise true feelings. It also is a source of confusionn across cultures. For examples, many people in Russia consider smiling a strangers in public to be unusual and even suspicious behavior. Yet many Americans smile freely at stranger in public places (although this is loss common in big cities). Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don’t smile enough. In Southeast Asian cultures, a smile is frequently used to cover emotional pain or embarrassment. Vietnamese people may tell the sad story of how they had to leave their country but end the story with a smile.

            Our faces reveal emotions and attitudes, but we should not attempt to “read” people from another culture as we would “read” someone from our own cultures. The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions. Rather, there are cultural restraints on the amount of nonverbal expressiveness permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. More privately and with friends, Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly. Many teachers in the United State have a difficult time knowing whether their Japanese students understand and enjoy their lessons. The American teacher is looking for more facial responsiveness than what the Japanese student is comfortable with in the classroom situation.

            It is difficult to generalize about Americans and facial expresiveness because of individual and ethnic differences in the United state. People from certain ethnic backgrounds in the United State tend to be more facially expressive than others. The key, is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural norms, we may make the mistake of “reading” the other person incorrectly.

American Male-Female Differences in Directness

            It is impossible to say that eveyone in one culture communicates similarly. Older people often communicate according to more traditional norms than younger people, and, as mentioned, there are regional variations in the way people speak and carry on conversations. In addition, there are gender diffeerences in communication styles.

            To generalize (and we do not want to stereotype), American women have traditionally been less direct (i.e., more polite and “soft”) than men in making request, expressing criticism, and offering opinions. However, when talking about emotional issues and feelings, women tend to be more direct than men. In the workplace, women have learned that in order to compete an communicate with men, they have to be more direct when making suggestions, giving criticism, and expressing ideas. In the mid-1980s, “assertiveness training” courses were designed to help women communicate more directly, especially in the business world. In the 1990s, however, there is more recognition of the feminine contribution to work relationships (e.g., nurturing, interpersonal sensitivity, etc.). the emphasis in the workplace is on cultural diversity; women are defined as  a “cultural group.”

Individualism and privacy

Let’s look at a few of these values more closely, one of the guiding principles in american society is the value of individualism, which has a long political and historical basis. This value affects many aspects of vtypically “american” behavior and attitudes, including the attitude toward privacy. Some foreigners do not understand the american “brand” of privacy. As an example, let’s look at what sometimes happens when american bussiness people go to japan. Their japanese counter parts meet them at airport, and often, from the beginning of the trip to the end, they take care of the americans, rarely leaving them alone. After a certain point, many americans feel that they want to be alone and that they need more privacy. It is not uncommon to hear an american say something like “they are really nice and friendly, and they take good care of me, but i just want some time to myself”.

Americans went and value privacy. Privacy, to an american, does not mean isolation or loneliness. However, this is sometimes the way it is interpreted by people of different cultures. Certain language, such as Arabic, Russian, and japanese, do not even have an exact word for privacy. It does not mean that these cultures have no concept of privacy. However, when and how privacy expressed maybe different from when and how the “american” concept is expressed. Americans may feel the need to give people their privacy or to have their own privacy at times when a person from another culture might not feel the need. In some americans homes, parents and children do not enter each other’ rooms without first knocking. This emphasis on privacy exists because individuals feel that their needs must be respected. In contrast, in group-oriented societioes people respect needs of group before considering those of the individual.

Melting pot and Mosaic

Americans’ view of their own diversity have changed over the years. In the early to mid-1900s, some people described America as a “melting pot”. The belief was that ethnic groups adn races would eventually completely assimilate and become one group. This description is not very accurate, however, because ethnic groups have always been different from one another.  Many could not and did not want to melt away their identities. Some people still prefer to see the United State as a Melting Pot , perhaps to minimize the differences and diversity that exist.

            By the 1970s and 1980s, a better analogy was introduced : American’s muticultural society was described as a mosaic which allthe races and ethnic groups could be proudly displayed. Each group was seen as separate and distict, but contributing its own color, shape, and design toward the creation of an attractive mosaic. Hyphenated terms such as “Mexican-American,” “Asian-American,” “African-American” and “Jewish-American” reflect a general acknowledgement that cultural diversity exist, and show that a person can be an American and still maintain another cultural identity.