Jan Kochanowski was a renowned Polish poet of the time. Geert Hofstedes research created a taxonomy for understanding and differentiating cultures. Poles are also used to less personal space in public, and they offer help to one another on trams, busses and in other public locations. However, nuclear families are more common now and so are families with single parents. The next category identified by Hofstede involves the concept of uncertainty avoidance.30 Life is full of uncertainty. With time I actually started to appreciate most of these minutes after meetings and sometimes I dont even take notes any more if I know the lead will send a summary afterwards! Meyer defines them as follows: Low-context: Good communication is precise, simple and clear. South Korea, Canada, England, Saudi Arabia, What statement best describes a high power distance culture?, T/F: Cultures with a strong uncertainty avoidance orientation sense that uncertainty in life is a continuous threat that must be fought. Try to make initial introductions through a local representative rather than on your own. Concerts are held and carols are sung throughout the country on New Years Day. As the cities in Poland grew during the Middle Ages, the food markets of the country flourished and culinary exchange of ideas also grew. 33 The sixth cultural characteristic is called indulgence vs. restraint, which examines issues of happiness and wellbeing. For example, in a high-context culture, you may rely more on subtlety, but it's incumbent upon you to be direct in a low-context culture. There is a great blog of an American living in Poland that I would like to recommend to you as its a very interesting perspective to learn about. During this time, three poets, entitled the Three Bards (Zygmunt Krasiski, Adam Mickiewicz, and Juliusz Sowacki) acted as the spiritual leaders of the nation. They come from people caring for us and the relationships we have together. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. According to a 2013 report from the U.S. Census department (using income data from 2012), here is how income inequality in the U.S. looks: Households in the lowest quintile had incomes of $20,599 or less in 2012. Expect polite formality at initial meetings; warmer interactions take place after relationships and trust have been established. In an individualistic culture, there is a belief that you can do what you want and follow your passions. Decisions come from the top, but only after managers can demonstrate consensus has been reached by their teams. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. When we look at only the two however, it turns out that even though UK and Poland are so close to each other on the scale, you can still feel the difference in the communication style. All Rights Reserved. Is it tiring? These include particular types of body language, a person's social or familial standing, and the tone of voice used when speaking. #expatcoaching #expatlife #livingabroad #expatcoach #workingabroad #lifeabroad #workabroad #careerabroad #internationallife #internationalcareer #globalcareer #globallife #globalleaders #culturalawareness #selfawareness #selfgrowth #personalgrowth #personaldevelopment #culturalcompetence #movingabroad #zyciezagranica #zycienaemigracji #pracazagranica #rozwojosobisty #polacyzagranica, Are you a global leader who has these topics on your mind recently, but not yet sure of the 'how'? High-context cultures will use communication that focuses on underlying context, meaning, and tone in the message, and not just the words themselves. Therefore the landing page is image-heavy. and more. The peasants and workers constitute the majority of the population. Others are who gets educated and what type of education they receive, who gets health care and what type, and what types of occupations do those with power have versus those who do not have power. Meetings generally start on time. Wigilia is a popular Christmas Eve supper consumed in Poland. Particularism One of the earliest researchers in the area of cultural differences and their importance to communication was a researcher by the name of Edward T. Hall. Polish folk dance has a long and rich tradition and is associated with several historical or religious events of the country. The St. Stephan's Day is celebrated the next day. According to Hofstedes most recent data, the five countries with the highest power distances are: Malaysia, Slovakia, Guatemala, Panama, and the Philippines.26 The five countries with the lowest power distances are Austria, Israel, Denmark, New Zealand, and Switzerland (German-speaking part). Professional titles are used. Employees are often looking for direction and may not be comfortable taking personal initiative. Pomeranian Voivodeship - a voivodeship located in the northern part of Poland. According to Hsien Chin Hu, the concept of face stems from two distinct Chinese words, lien and mien-tzu. The concept of face is especially problematic in emotionally vulnerable situations (such as embarrassment, request, or conflict situations) when the situation identities of the communicators are called into question. What is Poland culture? The U.S. is towards the indulgence end of the spectrum and ranks at #15 along with Canada and the Netherlands. In anthropology, high-context and low-context cultures are the ends of a continuum portraying the level of explicit information and the importance of context in a given culture. According to this theory, a high context (HC) culture, such as Japan, is characterized by nonverbal communication and meanings shared implicitly by speaker/listener that are highly dependent on the context. It is mostly connected with the countrys history, a long period of occupation and fighting for own identity. Some interesting findings associated with indulgence include experiencing higher levels of positive emotions and remembering those emotions for more extended periods. Is Poland a high or low context culture? Recruiting is done through executive search firms and through the internet. To show one's disagreement and anger in public is tantamount to admitting loss of control and face, because what is being said is taken personally which may have an influence on interpersonal relationships. Other regions of Poland have their own folk costumes with most involving a display of vibrant colors, embroidery, ornamentation, lace aprons, beaded jewelery, and elaborate headgears. IOR collects cookies to improve your experience on our website. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Which of the following countries is considered a high context culture? #expatcoaching #expatlife #livingabroad #expatcoach #workingabroad #lifeabroad #workabroad #careerabroad #internationallife #internationalcareer #globalcareer #globallife #globalleaders #culturalawareness #selfawareness #selfgrowth #personalgrowth #personaldevelopment #culturalcompetence #movingabroad #zyciezagranica #zycienaemigracji #pracazagranica #rozwojosobisty #polacyzagranica. Traditionally, the Polish households have been large with three generations living under the same roof. High-context: "Good communication is sophisticated, nuanced, and layered. In the past, HR was seen as a channel for instilling the goals of the communist party. A variety of other sports like basketball, hockey, swimming, weightlifting, boxing, etc., are played in the country. Dismissal is governed by the laws of the EU. Witold Lutosawski and Henryk Grecki are two of the most famous Polish classical Modern Composers. When Poles are comfortable with you and you are part of their private circle, communication can be more outspoken, direct and even cynical. They required me to work on myself so that this narrative doesn't get stuck in my head, and that I still continue living my own life, while doing my best to care for the relationships that I wanted to keep in my life. But they pay attention to the volume of their voices and tend to speak quietly in business and in public. Building relationships is an important and required step to achieving social and business goals. They may have the respect of their subordinates who complete tasks for them, but younger employees may not trust them to respond to the demands of modern business. Poland is in the middle on the scale, closer to low-context which doesn't mean it is easer for us to adjust. India, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, low-context approach in business might create additional misunderstandings. High-context cultures typically lack explicitly stated or written regulations. DRIVE is your motivation and level of curiosity for multicultural interactions. Small/large power distance shapes members preferences for horizontal-based facework versus vertical-based facework. From years of research examining both extraversion and neuroticism, we know that extraverted individuals have more successful interpersonal relationships than those who are highly neurotic. To determine power differences within a culture, Hofstede originally was able to examine cultural value survey data that had been collected by IBM. Let us help you make your transition easy! What could you do at that point to help rebuild that persons face? Need for Certainty People generally remove their shoes when entering someones home. "In high-context culture, people tend to personalize their disagreement with others. The first of Geert Hofstedes original dimensions of national cultures was power distance, or the degree to which those people and organizations with less power within a culture accept and expect that power is unequally distributed within their culture. I know these are not malicious comments, we all know that, don't we? Being an American and moving from a lower context culture to a higher context culture, you will experience different emotions and challenges than moving from higher context culture to the lower one. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Individualism-collectivism shapes members preferences for self-oriented facework versus other-oriented facework. In masculine cultures, women are the caretakers of the home, while men are to be healthy and wealthy. Affectionate communication is conceptualized as a persons use of intentional and overt communicative behaviors to convey feelings of closeness, care, and fondness in the form of verbal statements, nonverbal behaviors, and social support.35. With time after the move, some innocent guilt-tripping began too. Low-context cultures are cultures where the emphasis is placed on the words that come out of an individuals mouth. The Polish culture has greatly evolved over the years having been influenced by the geographic location of the country at the confluence of European regions with their distinct cultures. A person's culture shapes their beliefs, as well as the way they express themselves through communication. Emotionally Expressive We also acknowledge previous National Science Foundation support under grant numbers 1246120, 1525057, and 1413739. Customers with long standing are given priority over new customers. Communicators in high-context cultures pay attention to more than the words spoken - they also pay attention to interpersonal relationships, nonverbal expressions, physical settings, and social settings. Differentiate between Edward T. Halls low-context and highcontext cultures. Ultimately, we can define these types of cultures in the following way: A society is called masculine when emotional gender roles are clearly distinct: men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success, whereas women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with quality of life. Messages are expressed and understood at face value. A high-context culture is one in which contextual cues are the primary and dominating method of transmitting communication rules. In the modern times, the folk dances are usually performed by dance companies on special occasions like cultural and religious festivals or four tourism purposes. Use titles and surnames until invited to use first names. Also, my personal preferences come into play, which are closer to the low-context part of the scale. High-context communicators tend to expect to be noticed for their hard work, sacrifice, and achievement, without ever having to verbalize themselves. Another form of respectful greeting is a brief, shallow bow. In the 1970's, anthropologist Edward T. Hall coined the phrases "high-context culture" and "low- context culture.". Although Poland and England are not so far away from each other on the communication scale, I had moments when low-context behaviours were annoying for me. Face is the standing or position a person has in the eyes of others. Pregnancy is kept secret as long as possible to guard against the evil eye. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. What I do remember is that my environment was generally very supportive, I didn't feel like I was leaving with some bad emotions between any of the close family and friends. His interests ultimately culminated in his 1980 publication Cultures Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values where he explained some basic cultural differences.22 Over the years, Geert has fine-tuned his theory of culture, and the most recent update to his theory occurred in 2010.23 In Geerts research examining thousands of workers from around the globe, he has noticed a series of six cultural differences: low vs. high power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, low vs. high uncertainty avoidance, long-term vs. short-term orientation, and indulgence vs. restraint. Countries, where strong preference for low context communication is on average very high in the society, include for example: Israel, Netherlands, US, Germany. Formula One Racing was first introduced to Poland by driver Robert Kubica. Indirect Lien is both a social sanction for enforcing moral standards and an internalized sanction.46 On the other hand, mien-tzu stands for the kind of prestige that is emphasized in this country [America]: a reputation achieved through getting on in life, through success and ostentation.47 However, David Yau-fai Ho argues that face is more complicated than just lien and mien-tzu, so he provided the following definition: Face is the respectability and/or deference which a person can claim for himself from others, by virtue of the relative position he occupies in his social network and the degree to which he is judged to have functioned adequately in that position as well as acceptably in his general conduct; the face extended to a person by others is a function of the degree of congruence between judgments of his total condition in life, including his actions as well as those of people closely associated with him, and the social expectations that others have placed upon him. Learn more about how different cultures rely on high or low levels of context in their communication overall. In essence, in LCC, meaning is expressed through explicit verbal messages, both written and oral. The cultural variability dimensions, in conjunction with individual, relational, and situational factors influence the use of particular facework behaviors in particular cultural scenes. Finally, individuals from indulgent cultures tend to be more extraverted and outgoing as a whole, whereas individuals from restrained cultures tend to be more neurotic. But making decisions may take longer than in some fixed time cultures because of the emphasis on maintaining relationships and building consensus. In high-context communication, a message cannot be understood without a great deal of background information. However, income is just one indicatory of power distance within a culture. Historically pregnant women are expected to observe a number of taboos like not looking at fire, mice and the disabled to avoid harm to the baby. Want to get support in developing these skills and make your intercultural working more of a breeze? People in cultures with high uncertainty avoidance can view this ambiguity and lack of knowledge as threatening, which is one reason why people in these cultures tend to have higher levels of anxiety and neuroticism as a whole. According to Hofstedes data, the U.S. is 16th from the bottom of power distance, so we are in the bottom third with regards to power distance. Other national heroes include: John Paul II, Lech Walesa, Nicolaus Copernicus and Frederic Chopin. Originally, the concept of face is not a Western even though the idea of saving face is pretty common in every day talk today. Heres a 4-minute speech from Erin Meyer on this topic as an extra source: click. Close friends greet each other very affectionately with hugging and kisses on the cheeks. An effigy of Marzanna is drowned in the river to signify the end of the ills of the winter season. What is important to remember when analysing these graphs is that we cant definitely say whether a culture IS a low or high context. The goal is to work hard now, so you can have the payoff later. For understanding culture, Hofstede acknowledges that this distinction ultimately has a lot to do with work goals.28 On the masculine end of the spectrum, individuals tend to be focused on items like earnings, recognition, advancement, and challenge. #expatcoaching #expatlife #livingabroad #expatcoach #workingabroad #lifeabroad #workabroad #careerabroad #internationallife #internationalcareer #globalcareer #globallife #globalleaders #culturalawareness #selfawareness #selfgrowth #personalgrowth #personaldevelopment #culturalcompetence #movingabroad #zyciezagranica #zycienaemigracji #pracazagranica #rozwojosobisty #polacyzagranica, Yasser started out our conversation curious about coaching, but also a bit uncertain, anxious and hopeful about what it could bring. My first thought was not Oh cool, good to have that in writing, but Why did she bother sending that to us? Finally, the researchers examined affection given and received with regards to Hofstedes work. Its a real life example from my first job in London where I was a campus recruiter and was organising an international event for students studying in the UK but wanting to work for our office in other parts of the world. Formality is very important in Poland. In anthropology, high-context culture and low-context culture are ends of a continuum of how explicit the messages exchanged in a culture are and how important the context is in communication.The continuum pictures how people communicate with others through their range of communication abilities: utilizing gestures, relations, body language, verbal messages, or non-verbal messages. Figure 6.3.2 illustrates some of the patterns of context that exist in todays world.21. In terms of two interacting parties, face is the reciprocated compliance, respect, and/or deference that each party expects from, and extends to, the other party.48. High Context Although English is the language of business, it is best to have all contracts and documents translated into Polish. A mix of 'Oh that's so great for you! Admittedly, in Hofstedes research, there does tend to be a difference between females and males on these characteristics (females tend to be more relationally oriented and males more assertive), which is why Hofstede went with the terms masculinity and femininity in the first place. In his 1959 book, The Silent Language, Hall states, culture is communication and communication is culture.19 In the previous chapter, we talked about the importance of nonverbal communication. One of Halls most essential contributions to the field of intercultural communication is the idea of low-context and high-context cultures. Small enterprises have the flexibility to move more quickly. As far as Ting-Toomeys theory goes, she takes this idea one step further to understanding how face and communication ultimately enable successful intercultural conflict management. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. As such, facework should be viewed as a necessary component for understanding any form of interpersonal interaction but is especially important when examining interpersonal interactions that occur between people from differing cultural backgrounds. Poland is also known for its electronic dance music with Vader being the most famous band performing this genre of music. 27) on the transformation of Poland from a country of departure to a country of arrival 30 April 2021 - 16:09; 23.04.2021 - Radio broadcast . A high context culture may look very different to a person who is familiar with a low context communication style. Children are taught to be polite and the Polish society stresses a lot on polite behavior. . Think about a co-cultural group that you belong to. Such a good opportunity!' ACTION is your ability to adapt (and not adapt) when working in multicultural contexts. Heightened emotion is not necessarily a sign that the discussion is going badly. This post is a part of the series where Id like to share some of my cross-cultural experiences and stories. as well as much of Europe. People in all cultures try to maintain and negotiate face in all communication situations. According to Hofstede and his coauthors, Indulgence stands for a tendency to allow relatively free gratification of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life and having fun. Always, and I hate travelling that often and being tired Is it worth it for these relationships? #expatcoaching #expatlife #livingabroad #expatcoach #workingabroad #lifeabroad #workabroad #careerabroad #internationallife #internationalcareer #globalcareer #globallife #globalleaders #culturalawareness #selfawareness #selfgrowth #personalgrowth #personaldevelopment #culturalcompetence #movingabroad #zyciezagranica #zycienaemigracji #pracazagranica #rozwojosobisty #polacyzagranica, Lets laugh at language misunderstandings together! Negotiations with new customers are going to be tougher and longer until a relationship is established. The United States ranked 31 out of 39, with Pakistan being number 39. Poland boasts 17 Nobel prize winners, including four Peace Prizes and five in Literature. Although most people in the country wear modern Western outfits in their daily lives, the traditional attire is worn during cultural festivals, weddings, religious events, harvest celebrations, and other special occasions. This page titled 6.3: Cultural Characteristics and Communication is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jason S. Wrench, Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter & Katherine S. Thweatt (OpenSUNY) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request. A high-context culture relies on implicit communication and nonverbal cues. and also 'Oh wow, noo, you're leaving? Its opposite pole, restraint, reflects a conviction that such gratification needs to be curbed and regulated by strict social norms. 34 The top five on the Indulgence end are Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, and Nigeria, whereas those on the restraint end are Pakistan, Egypt, Latvia, Ukraine, and Albania. There is also an intelligentsia whose population is steadily increasing as is the population of workers. When it came to trait affection given, the United . Poland is bordered by 7 countries and the Baltic Sea. Employees may withhold discussing problems for a long time before finally raising them. Having local representation can contribute to trust and sometimes lead to less strenuous negotiations. Furthermore, there tend to be higher levels of prejudice and higher levels of ideological, political, and religious fundamentalism, which does not allow for any kind of debate. Polish language is also more complex than English, both grammatically and structurally, which has its impact on how we communicate with one another and what we expect in communication. Krzysztof Komeda was a famous Jazz musician from the country who composed several movie soundtracks. It includes language (countries using Anglo-Saxon ones are usually closer to the low-context, Asian countries lean clearly more towards the high-context) and history (high-context cultures tend to have a longer shared history than low-context cultures). I would like to close this article with a recommendation as I feel like it can really be an interesting read for you. Theres also a massive difference in the approach to marriage. Repetition is appreciated if it helps clarify the communication, High-context: Good communication is sophisticated, nuanced, and layered. Poland is definitely a culture of a higher context than UK. It consists of four capabilities - Drive, Knowledge, Strategy and Action, and they can be used in a variety of diverse situations! A society is called feminine when emotional gender roles overlap: both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender, and concerned with quality of life [emphasis in original]. Top 10 Alcohol Consuming Countries In The World, The Biggest Heists and Bank Robberies in American History. Starting in the 1970s, Geert became interested in how people from different cultures approach work. Attendees should wait to be told where to sit. Individual Orientation There was atime when I attended a meeting where a decision has been made on the task split and further steps of the project. Why do you think context is such an important cultural characteristic? This experience just brought my attention to these deep-lying beliefs that are connected to the culture we were raised in. The traditional clothing of the Polish people varies greatly with their location in the country. The Poles place great importance on gentle manners and graceful behavior. The Renaissance period also witnessed the production of great literary works by the Polish authors and poets.