Chapter 3: Culture and Identity
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Cultural identity is the emotional significance that we attach our sense of belonging or
affiliation with the larger culture—e.g., the larger Brazilian cultural identity or the larger
Canadian cultural identity. While cultural salience is the strength of that affiliation.
The concept of ________________ focuses on how people identify their individual background
(identities influenced by cultural backgrounds) and then interact/negotiate meanings with
others.
a. ethnicity negotiation
“Familismo” is a concept that deals with the importance of immediate and extended family ties,
which are very important to the Latino community. This is similar to:
In understanding the cultural identity of others, Ting-Toomey explains that one must look at
value content and salience. Salience refers to:
a. The standards or expectations that people hold.
Sam Sheppard was recently promoted to the position of Senior Communication Specialist in a
large pharmaceutical company in the Midwestern United States that had international
subsidiaries in Europe and Asia. His primary function was to oversee cross-functional teams that
maintained close links with team members at various sites around the world in order to ensure
that their communications transmitted consistent and appropriate messages for the
organization.
Teams in each of the global areas were a mixture of people from different cultures. The US
team of communication specialists consisted of two men from the US, one man from Britain,
one Japanese man who was new to the organization, and one British woman. After an
unusually long and difficult project, Sheppard determined that the team needed a break and
organized a company dinner at the completion of the project which, despite all of the setbacks,
actually ended on schedule. It was important as a new director for him to show his sincere
appreciation as well as maintain the morale of the group. Each of the team members was
encouraged to bring along their spouse. The stress of the past few months appeared to
evaporate as team members and guests laughed and conversed freely. Toward the end of the
dinner celebration, Sheppard stood up to make a toast to the group and singled out the team
member from Japan, Mr. Yasuko Futaba, saying that if he hadn’t joined the team at just the
right time to offer his technical expertise, the group would not have succeeded.
Sam thought it a bit awkward when Mr. Futaba simply nodded his head but didn’t smile despite
the cheers and good wishes from the other team members, one of whom gave him a good-
natured slap on the back, claiming that “he saved the day.” Mr. Futaba’s wife seemed
embarrassed and lowered her eyes. With glasses raised high by all of the guests seated at the
table, some glanced nervously at each other until one of the team members broke the silence
by expressing his gratitude to the group. Others joined in, the conversations resumed and the
evening ended well despite this awkward moment. Sam was disappointed with the unexpected
reaction of Mr. Futaba. Why do you think Sam was confused about Yasuko’s reaction?
Dilemma: a situation facing a decision maker who can select only one of either two equally
attractive or two equally unattractive alternatives.