Culture is a man-made orientation system into which one is socialized. Within the national culture, there are many subcultures that also influence each other. And of course they also shape the individual. To make this easier to imagine, just take a look at the professional or industry culture or imagine what life you would lead if you had chosen a different profession. What impact would it have had on me if I had actually studied forensic psychology?
In every industry and in every profession, values, manners, rules of conduct and views of life are established that have a formative effect over time. National culture, corporate culture or a couple's relationship are just as influential when common rules, moral concepts or even a unique language develop.
The subconscious in national culture
However, while we are still partially aware of our professional culture and are constantly reminded of it through contact with other professions, this is less often the case with national culture. We were socialized in it too early and we share this common orientation system with too many people, so that it eventually became self-evident, even natural, and therefore no longer fully conscious. It is only when you come into closer contact with foreign cultures and your own system of values and orientation is called into question that you become aware of yourself again. But often this does not happen either. The strange behavior of the other person is then simply judged as inadequate and linked to a more or less subliminal expectation that the other person must change and adapt to one's own orientation system. Due to early socialization, whose rules and values make living together in a community possible in the first place, it is assumed that the learned orientation system is correct and good and that deviations from it should be sanctioned in different ways.
Culture has a meaningful relationship to context
However, this does not take into account the fact that a culture always restricts freedoms and that a culture has developed meaningfully from its particular environmental factors, its context. For example, a well-developed, state-organized social system means that relationships are less important than in countries without state support.
Now, in my opinion, this point of knowing the origin and meaning of a culture is of immense importance if you want to cultivate an appreciative relationship with other cultures. Only those who know the history or context of a culture can make a well-founded argument as to why certain values, norms and rules exist and why they make sense. If I then know the origins and meaning not only of my own culture, but also of the other culture, it is easy to see the other culture as meaningful, appreciate it and build a sustainable relationship.
However, if I am not aware of my own culture and do not know its origin and therefore its meaning, it is difficult to deal with a foreign culture in a truly appreciative and tolerant way. In this situation, the different expectations, rules and values are very quickly played out on an emotional level, as there is no access to the factual level. Deep-rooted values that you somehow have, but can't really grasp and certainly can't explain, then feel attacked. And let's be honest, who doesn't know that the worse your own arguments are, the greater your emotions become. True to the motto: I know I'm right, even if I can't explain why!
Recognizing the interactions between culture and context
So if you want to do things differently, you should look at your own history. Search for the origins and meaningfulness of your own orientation system, both nationally and personally. Organizations should not randomly ascribe any desirable values to themselves, but should instead ruthlessly and honestly explore their values, which have emerged in interaction with the framework conditions. This would allow problematic patterns to be identified by the organization itself without having to hire consultants. And once the interactions between culture and context have been identified, it also becomes clear which adjustments need to be made.
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