Culture Explained

In my latest class this week we have been studying cultural differences between countries. It is kind of interesting to look at the differing cultures in different ways. While I have studied Hofstede and his dimensions quite a bit, they never really explained much for me until I started looking at the differences between the States and France.

Some things that we have been noticing during our time here are more evidently explained by Mr. Hofstede.

For example regarding the masculinity index, we have realized that the French and especially the French guys are way more feminine than American guys. Not in a bad way, they just dress better, are more concerned about what they look like and they are much more affectionate with each other.

The French are also much less likely to take risks, as they like structure and avoid uncertainty. We did a double take on this element as we all were like: THE FRENCH LIKE STRUCTURE??? But then we thought about it a little bit and while they don't like schedules as much, they are very set in their ways and systems, so the ranking makes sense.

People here are also much more likely to accept their rank in life, in that the people who have power are recognized as having it, just as the students who have high level degrees are generally accepted as people who will make more money and hold higher positions. It isn't really a question, it just is. While this is certainly challenged in various areas of life, they generally are much more accepting of the hand they've got to work with.

Finally, with regard to individualism, as Americans we want to do things ourselves, but here we do so many team projects and group 3-page papers that is absolutely maddening. I told someone the other day, sometimes I think it breaks down to 2 people of a 5 person group determining the entire group's grades. While we have group projects in the States, here they dominate all classes and activities.