User:21mham/Cultural divide

A Cultural divide is "a boundary in society that separates communities whose social economic structures, opportunities for success, conventions and styles are so different that they have substantially different psychologies." A cultural divide is the virtual barrier caused by cultural differences, that hinder interactions and harmonious exchange between people of different cultures. For example, avoiding eye contact with a superior shows deference and respect in East Asian cultures, but can be interpreted as suspicious behaviour in Western cultures. Studies on cultural divide usually focus on identifying and bridging the cultural divide at different levels of society.

Significance

A cultural divide can have significant impact on international operations of global organizations that require communication between people from different cultures.

Sufficiently large cultural divides may also discourage groups from seeking to understand the other party's point of view, as differences between the groups are seen as immutable. Such gaps may in turn inhibit efforts made to reach a consensus between these groups.

Factors and causes

Internal

Internal causes of Cultural Divide refer to causes based on innate or personal characteristics of an individual, such as a personal way of thinking, an internal mental structure or habit that influences how a person acts.

Gender

The attribution of Gender and its impact on Cultural Divide differs across geographies. Studies based on the United States of America, for example, have examined the cultural impact of political identity on Gender commitments. The classification of blue states and red states highlights the demarcation of Gender roles, whereby red states are more apt to nurture the ideologies of marriage at an early age, heterosexual couples, and restrictions on abortion. There have been uneven societal shifts on these ideologies in the past, but that trend started to moderate in the 1990s, such that the ideologies held in the 20^th century were found to diminish overtime into the 21^st century between blue and red states.

Although ideologies may be shifting in the political arena, some Gender segregation between blue and red states is still existent, especially related to occupational measures. Research has shown that states where those who practice the Evangelical Christian ideology was high, it was correlated with a deterioration in women’s employment within STEM and Non-STEM fields which necessitated post-secondary education. Gender segregation is known to underwrite disparities between the earnings of men and women. The wage disparity identified is even more pronounced in red states than blue states, where the labor participation is more integrated and shows more heterogeneity.

Ideological differences

Rules, norms, and way of thinking are often inculcated from a young age and these help to shape a person's mindset and their thinking style, which will explain how two different cultural groups can view the same thing very differently. For example, Western cultures with their history of Judeo-Christian belief in the individual soul and focus on the pursuit of individual rights tend to adopt an individualistic mindset whereas East Asian cultures with a history of teachings based on Confucianism tend to view the individual as a relation to the larger community and hence develop a more collectivist mindset. Hence, it is more common for people in collectivist cultures to make an external attribution while people in individualistic cultures making an internal attribution. Thus, these differences can cause how people, situations or objects are perceived differently.

Cultural Divide is on an evolutionary spectrum and is impacted by a confluence of factors that mold individuals susceptible to it. An important aspect to the evolution of Cultural Divide is Intergenerational transfer, whereby the ideological differences learned from one’s ancestry can influence the behaviors of future generations. Furthermore, based on cultural values shaped by inherent attributes and social influence, individuals have been known to associate with groups that align with their identity to seek a sense of belonging; depending on the information ingested, whether positive or deleterious, these mediums used to congregate homogenous groups of people have the possibility of producing echo chambers. Moreover, predisposition of certain cultures to negative societal treatment can impact their vantage points on certain ideologies—For example, African Americans have continued to feel marginalized by the criminal justice system and fostered an ideology that the system is too harsh on their community, whereas white-identifying Americans are not as likely to find the criminal justice system in the United States of America as harsh.

Stereotypes

Perceptions about an out-group or of a different culture may tend to be perpetuated and reinforced by the media or long-standing notions of stereotypes. As a result of using schemas to simplify the world as we look at it, we rely on a set of well-established stereotypes available in our own culture to define and view the out-group. As such, the risk of stereotypes is if it is inaccurate and blinds us to certain key understanding of a certain class of people, and as stereotypes tend to persist even with new information, the problem of cultural divide can be perpetuated.

Social identity theory

The social identity theory implies an inherent and inclined favoritism towards people of the same social group as you or people who share similar characteristics, also known as the in-group favoritism. This desire to achieve and maintain a positive self-image motivates people to place their own group in a superior position as compared to the out-group.

External

Cultural divide can also be caused by external influences that shape the way an individual thinks about people from other cultures. For example, the cultural disconnect and misunderstandings between USA and the Arab countries has been attributed to the spread of superficial information that "serve to promote self-interests and perpetuate reckless acts of individuals, misguided official policies and irresponsible public narratives, all colored by self-righteousness and hypocrisy". An individual's experience of foreign cultures can be largely shaped by the information available to the individual and the cultural divide arises due to the difference between a culture and how it is perceived by people foreign to the culture.

Some examples of external sources that influence views on other cultures include:

Official government policies

This also includes any official source of information by the government such as speeches by government officials. Government attitudes to foreign governments often lead to information released to citizens that influence the way they think about foreign governments and foreign peoples. One extreme example of this propaganda.

Immigration, a critical aperture to economic growth for the global economy, is a topic that has been known to sway and reinforce Cultural divide. For example, in Europe, immigration is a divisive political topic because of the nationalistic culture embodied by citizens of many countries. From the citizen perspective of European countries, it is hard to let outsiders assimilate into their nationalistic culture because of pronounced differences. Immigration to citizens of these countries is seen as a threat to their national community and can perpetuate distrust in government. As a result, depending on political rhetoric around immigration, it can affect the perceptibility of the government by citizens, thus reinforcing Cultural divide.

News and media reports

Media bias can cause misunderstandings and cultural divide by controlling the information and perceptions of other cultures. For example, media bias in the United States can exacerbate the political divide between the liberals and the conservatives.

Digital divide

Access to the internet allows cultures to be exposed to new things, substantiate their beliefs and change from generation to generation. Depending on geographic dispositions, the culture that one associates with may alter their perception of the internet and it’s use case—those that may not be fond of the internet, have been known to limit their use or change their engagement accordingly. Attitudes and beliefs have been studied at length to examine the forms of engagement by internet users, while noting their demographic and geographical attributions and differences. For example, residents of Michigan show more concern about the deleterious effects of technology on society compared to those who inhabit Great Britain. Suffice to say, some cultures may be influenced differently by external factors that create Digital divides across certain geographical factions.

Social pressure

Due to a fundamental need for social companionship and a desire to be accepted and liked by others, people often conform to social norms and adopt the group's beliefs and values. Hence, groups that are already culturally divided will tend to remain that way as the effect of normative social influence is self-perpetuating.

Bridging the cultural divide

When a cultural divide can be bridged, it can be beneficial for all parties. However, when cultures are vastly different, or if people are opposed to such exchange, the cultural divide may prove difficult to cross.

Understanding cultural boundaries

Being aware of cultural boundaries when dealing with others is important to avoid accidentally offending the other party and turning the difference into a divide. Educating both parties in the reasons behind these boundaries would also help foster trust and cooperation between them. This also has a side effect of creating a virtuous cycle, where the improved understanding between both parties grants them an advantage when dealing with members of the opposite culture, encouraging future communication and reducing the impact of a cultural divide.

Cultural intelligence

Developing high cultural intelligence increases one's openness and hardiness when dealing with major differences in culture. Improving one's openness requires both humility when learning from others and inquisitiveness in actively pursuing opportunities to develop one's cultural awareness. Strong hardiness allows one to deal better with stress, cultural shocks and tension when interacting with others in a foreign context.

Cultural competence

Cultural competence refers to the ability to understand and interact effectively with people from different cultures.

Cultural competence requires the following:

• Understanding your own culture.
• Receptiveness to learning about the cultural practices and worldviews of others.
• Openness to cultural differences and an ability to accept and respect them.

Increased interaction

Increasing interaction between two groups of people will help increase mutual understanding and fill in any gaps in knowledge of another group's culture. However, the quality of the interaction and not just mere contact is key to bridging cultural divide too, as supported by the contact hypothesis whereby certain key components (such as a common goal and equal status) are required before such stereotypes and preconceived mindsets which might have already been deeply entrenched can be changed.

Providing further credence to the application of contact hypothesis was a study conducted between U.S and Mexican students. Historically, as the largest migration corridor in the World, the U.S.A and Mexico have had a tumultuous relationship decorated by widescale differences on approaches to the land crossing. This has resulted in citizens of the country having certain prejudices and biases toward one another. To rectify these biases, the study sought to foster contact hypothesis between U.S. and Mexican students to ingratiate in each other's cultures. The results noted that the cultures garnered respect for their differences due to the extended period of time for the exposure.

See also

• Intercultural communication
• Cultural assimilation
• Parallel society
• Cultural conflict
• Dominant culture
• Interculturalism
• Cultural competence
• Enculturation
• Transculturalism