DISTINGUISHING CULTURE
Since culture has profound impact on all aspects of communication skills, everyone must develop a good understanding of the cultural background and recognize the differences between own culture and the one they are interacting with.
(1) Distinguishing traits of culture
Members of a group would have a lot of similarities in the way they think, speak and do work. A major culture may have several subcultures too. Culture can be identified with geographical areas, professions, hobbies etc. Culture of a management group may be different than that of accountants or lawyers. There may be some common features between football fans and cricket fans. Several distinguishing traits are:
(i) Stability of culture
Whether culture is stable or it is changing rapidly.
(ii) Complexity of culture
Whether it is easy to discern or has several layers that take time to grasp.
(iii) Composition of culture
Whether it has several subcultures as in India or it is homogenous as in USA.
(iv) Acceptance of outsiders
Whether it is closed to outsiders or it accepts outsiders readily.
Everybody needs special training before they become comfortable with a different culture.
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