Suzy Q.

Opposite Worldviews Extra Credit

10/2/2016
Part 1

The first worldview continuum I will focus on is Polychronic vs. Monochronic. This set gives answers to

the question ‘How does time function and how should it be managed?’ A polychronic culture tends to

view time as non-linear. They blend all aspects of their life together (ex. Work and personal life). Some

behaviors that are normal in a polychronic culture are being late to an event or not even setting an exact

time for it and multitasking. A monochronic culture tends to be more focused on one thing at a time.

Unlike a polychronic culture, they do not blend all aspects of their life. To the monochronic culture,

time is something that can be wasted. Some norms in a monochronic culture is being exactly on time or

early and focusing on one thing at a time. I tend to lean more towards a monochronic worldview.

The first time I implemented the opposing worldview (Polychronic) in the last week was when my friend,

Elise was coming over. We had already decided the date but not the time that we were going to hang

out. Note that my friend Elise is Korean and her whole family lives in sync with a monochronic

worldview. In the morning, she texted me, asking what time was a good time to come over, as her mom

was going to give her a ride over. I answered her “Idk, whenever is fine.” She started to get annoyed

and said “Dude, I need a specific time to tell my mom.” I responded with “I don’t care when you come

over, I have all day free.” She was getting even more annoyed so I finally told her a specific time and

that calmed her down.

The second time I used this worldview was with Elise again. When she did come over, she asked what I

wanted to do. I told her that I had some homework to do and she seemed very confused. She asked me

why I would do homework when she came over and I said that I could multitask and talk with her while I

was doing my homework. She was really weirded out and said ‘why did you even invite me over if you
were just going to do homework’? At this point I told her the purpose of me acting very “strange”

because I really didn’t want to upset her anymore.

Acting out this opposing worldview was especially eye-opening to me because I realized how much our

culture and the people I know personally, rely on the monochronic perspective. I was seen as

irresponsible and even rude while interacting with my friend with this worldview. It made me feel

pretty bad while doing it, even though I wasn’t saying these things in a rude tone. This interaction was

pretty hard to do, but it made me realize how much people from a monochronic worldview depend on

details and procedures (unnecessary even) in normal communication.

Part 2

The second worldview continuum I worked with in this assignment was High Context vs. Low Context.

This set addresses the following questions: ‘How important is context in communication acts?’ and ‘How

does context impact the manner and content of communication?’ A high context culture is more likely

to start a conversation with a person they know (background/status) than with a stranger. As the name

implies, context is very important in interpersonal relationships. A high context culture relies on

developing trust and getting to know a person. A low context culture is geared more towards low

context interactions (starting initial conversations with people they are not familiar with, relying on facts

more than instinct and being very direct). I would say that I implement the High Context worldview in

my life more than the low context worldview.

The first interaction for the low context worldview happened when I went to the park. A lady was sitting

on a bench close to me while I went to drink water from the water fountain. After I was done drinking I

engaged her in conversation by saying “Hello, how are you doing today?” She answered and kept the

conversation going by asking me the same question. I answered, and said “have a good rest of your

day”.
The final communication I had with someone while applying the low context worldview was when I was

at school. I had a question for my art teacher and at the end of class I approached her. Instead of

starting off by greeting her, or having a conversation (what I usually do), I directly asked the question I

was wondering about to her. I could sense that it caught her a little by surprise but she answered the

question and continued to have a conversation with me about it.

I did feel uncomfortable while applying the low context worldview in my interactions, but it wasn’t too

hard. Overall, the response was pretty normal. The lady in the park did not even bat an eye at the

random conversation I had with her, and my teacher was not visibly uncomfortable or upset with me for

directing asking a question. Before I conducted this experiment, I thought that the high context

worldview was more prominent in American culture, but now I definitely think American culture is

somewhere in between these two worldviews.