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The Vast Diversity of Cultures
While everyone shares certain basic concepts, people from different cultures see these
concepts from different perspectives andbehave differently as a result. That’s why you
may think that someone is behaving irrationally or even violating certain values you hold
sacred, while — instead — theyare behaving quite responsibly from their own point of
These cultural differences in behavior are rooted in very different core beliefs and
assumptions aboutreality that vary from nation to nation. You even will fi nd major differences
between certain regions and certain cities. Other differences derive from corporatecultures, which are particularly strong in certain countries, such as Japan, while
family culture is especially important in other countries, such as Italy, Spain andChina.
In some countries, individualistic views are more highly valued, such as in Britain,
France, Australia and the U.S. You also need to consider the big culturaldivide based on
gender; men and women really do experience different cultures in each country.
Thought and Language Shape Culture
Outward mannerisms and manners areonly a superfi cial aspect of cultural differences,
and you can readily learn to emulate them wherever you go. To some extent, you can
imitate different speechpatterns. But underlying these contrasts are major differences
in how people think, which are much harder to recognize. People of different cultures
have different notionsabout many basic concepts, such as honor, duty, love, justice and
gratitude. These conceptual differences make cross-cultural communication more diffi
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