The Self, The Other, The Intercultural

ABSTRACT

In his book "The Analysis of Subjective Culture," American psychologist Harry Triandis
describes a failed collaboration between an American manager and his Greek colleague
in an American subsidiary in Greece (1972). He records the dialogue in the "Behavior"
column and the communication partner's thoughts, goals, and feelings in the
"Attribution" column, which occurs when one party attributes causal features to the
other's behavior.

The cultural overlap is visible in this diagram. That is, both spouses are stuck between
two different cultural orientation systems that may be observed clearly and are
consequently unable to act in accordance with one of them. The meeting of an
American supervisor and a Greek employee in the context of a supervisor-employee
relationship generates a situation where there is a cultural overlap, which calls for
circumstances and motivation for action, but also limits it.

The following is a situation that is being acted out: The American supervisor was born
and reared in the United States, where he was socialized and schooled. He was picked
for an international assignment since he was a successful specialist in his profession.
His Greek employee was born and raised in Greece, went to school there, and, like his
American boss, has had a great career. As a result, he was hired by an American
subsidiary in Greece. He would not have been assigned to complete the complicated
report in such a short time if he had not been deemed qualified. Neither party appears
to be predisposed in any manner.

KEYWORDS:

1. Intercultural Communication and Orientation

2. Cultural Overlap

3. Cultural Transformation

4. The self and the other

The American boss and the Greek employee are both comfortable with their hierarchical
relationship. Neither of them is combative. They are cordial to one another and willing to
work together to attain a similar objective. There appear to be no linguistic hurdles. Both
are aware of the problem: a report must be drafted and completed by a specific date.

Special Challenges in Intercultural Cooperation

It is cause for concern if it becomes apparent that certain individuals in the familiar
setting are not behaving according to familiar mental scripts. In particularly crucial or
recurring instances, the individual in question tries to figure out why his partners aren't
acting in the way he expects them to. Only when things go wrong, and the usual routine
is disrupted do such abnormalities need closer examination and may be brought up in a
private conversation.

Consequences of Intercultural Cooperation

This is what the German visitor expects. Should the Frenchman, however, arrive
noticeably late and, after a long search-and-find episode, try to cover up for the
embarrassing situation with particularly polite behavior without justifying his mistake,
and to top it off, insist on having a leisurely lunch instead of rushing to the conference
center, then the German visitor is likely to become extremely irritated. For his part, the
German representative is continually plagued by the thought of missing something that
may be important for business. This behavior creates a divergence in expectation,
judgment, decision, and action, which, as a rule, cannot be ascribed to outside
circumstances, but rather to individual divergent behavior, although culturally contingent
differences may also play a role.

When otherness has an impact on one's own culture and when dissimilar others
interact, cultural overlaps emerge. When you yield to otherness yet are naive to other-
culture qualities or peculiarities, you risk sticking your foot in it, in colloquial terms.
Under the right circumstances, one's own culture and the other's culture can both
influence interaction behavior. However, if otherness reigns supreme, the converse is
true.