Recognizing Deep Culture’s Influence on Communicative Behavior

Stephen B. Ryan
   (Intercultural Communication)

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."

Albert Einstein

1 Introduction

Communication and transportation technology has greatly advanced intercultural

interaction. With technology, we can now talk face-to-face via internet videophone
simultaneously in real-time with several people anywhere in the world. Airline travel has
made overseas travel an easy choice. Television programs are now available twenty-four
hours a day to anyone around the world with cable, satellite or an internet connection.
Second, world economies are becoming globalized at a relatively fast rate. Often
market successes or failures in one country’ s economy have a spin-off affect on several
others. One country’ s interest rate policies can have far reaching affects beyond its own
borders. International investment funds are now more common linking economies and
affecting decision-making. Today it is not uncommon for an “American” computer to have a
screen made in Korea, a microchip manufactured in Japan, a keyboard produced in Taiwan
and plastic parts made in China.
Finally, immigration has become such a force that is beginning to change entire
cultural landscapes. For example, in the Western American states, South American
immigrants have changed the political and social make-up of local and state governments.
Japan has seen a significant increase in people wanting to live and work here. With more
and more people from different cultures coming into contact with each other, it is now
common place to encounter people with vastly different backgrounds and values than your
own.
The influence of these three factors has influenced intercultural interaction making
the study of Intercultural Communication more important than ever. Ting-Toomey and
Chung (2005:3) offer six reasons for intercultural education and training: Adapting to globa

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l and domestic workforce diversity, improving multicultural health care communication,

engaging in creative problem solving, enhancing intercultural relationship satisfaction,
deepening self-awareness, fostering global and intrapersonal peace. Deepening our own
self-awareness is crucial first step in order to recognize and understand the importance of
culture and the significant impact it has on all aspects of our behavior. To do this, we need to
study culture.
Thus, the overall goal of this paper is to highlight and discuss the importance of
culture and how it can affect our communication in intercultural contexts. We shall discuss
the affect culture can have on communication in cross-cultural contexts using specific
examples from Japanese and English speakers. Two culture models are presented for
understanding and making sense of cross-cultural events. The final purpose of this paper is
to offer a way for readers and intercultural students to think about and explore culture’ s
influence on their communicative behavior.

2 Culture

Culture has a powerful unseen force on communication behavior. Yet it is vastly

underestimated as a significant factor affecting on our perception and communication
behavior. Our culture is part of what makes up our self-identity and unconsciously helps us
interpret events and make decisions without much effort. Culture is not something we are
born with but rather something we have learned. It is passed on to us from our family,
schools, friends, work experiences. Culture has been described as,

“… a learned meaning system that consists of patterns of traditions, beliefs, values,

norms, meanings, and symbols that are passed down from one generation to the next
and are shared by varying degrees by interacting members of a community”
(Ting-Toomey and Chung, 2005:28)

As these authors note, cultural norms are influenced by the traditions, beliefs and values of a
culture (2005:33). A value is something we believe is “right” or “wrong” which along with
traditions and beliefs develop our cultural norms of what we regard to be “good” and “bad”
behavior.

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2.1 Conflicting cultural norms caused by divergent cultural values

“Misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication often begins with a misunderstanding of

ourselves” (Yamada 1997:147)

The first step in successful intercultural communication is recognizing our own

unique cultural norms. To do this, we need either live in a culture outside our own or have
some kind of intercultural training and education. Even if we are aware of the divergent
values, traditions and norms, we may have difficulty in adapting to them in an intercultural
context. For example, the following is an excerpt from a Chinese international student’ s
journal attending my intercultural communication seminar. When asked to give an example
of how she reconciled the individual wants and desires of her own self-identity with the
needs of the group to maintain harmony, she wrote :

I can recall several times in Japan where my heart wanted to go one way, but
realization that if that were to occur, my loyalty to the group would be put into
question, in order to stray from possible ostracism, which is not something to
be grappled with, I utilized my tatemae. Thus, when conflict occurs between
what one feels and what one shows, they (Japanese) must think about how their
actions will affect how they are perceived by the entire group.

She was able to compromise or find a common ground for successful intercultural interaction
by reconciling her own cultural values and with those in Japan. The Japanese term, tatemae
and honne refer to the outer, social self or what is expected of you and the inner, private self
or what you truly want respectively (Gundykunst and Kim 2003:58). These two concepts are
really the key to “good” communication in Japan as this student has demonstrated. American
communication, however, is based on honne for clarity and directness while Japanese
communication is based on tatemae so that social harmony will not be disrupted. These two
cultural concepts often collide and when one side has no interest in compromise, the
intercultural relationship is in danger of breaking down and failing altogether unless our
intercultural awareness is deepened.

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2.2 Dynamic culture

Pick up any intercultural textbook and somewhere in the discussion of culture, you
will read that culture is a dynamic phenomenon. If you keep reading further, you will soon
discover that culture is also stable. Herein lies one of the reasons that defining culture is so
problematic. Which one is it? Is culture truly dynamic or is it stable? The answer is that
culture is both. They are not mutually exclusive. Culture is dynamic in the sense that it
changes, evolves, over time as peoples values and norms change. Because we learn much of
our culture from our parents, culture is also dynamic in the sense that it has a powerful,
vigorous affect on our behavior. These adjectives convey the meaning of being dynamic in
the sense that each person uses their own unique personality characteristics to bear on the
larger values of the society in which they live. Culture is dynamic in the sense that
individuals are all unique regardless of their culture. It is also dynamic in the sense that it
continually evolves according to the underpinning values system of the people who created
it. For example, like the US, more people in Japan are having weight problems, dubbed
“metabolic syndrome” , due to the change in eating habits and decreased physical activity.
Japanese society is evolving into a country that now values eating fast food, and prepackaged
bread. So, the underlying value for what is “good” to eat has steadily changed the eating
behavior. This value was not immediate but took time for people to learn from parents and
friends. This is what is meant by culture being “dynamic.” It changes according to the value
system of society as a whole and is not dynamic in the sense that it changes according to
individuality. The study of individual variation lies in the realm of psychology (Stewart and
Bennett 1991:14).

2.3 Stability of culture

Culture is stable in the sense that it takes time for a society’ s norms and values to
change. The definition of culture above states that culture is passed down from generation to
generation. It has a deep structure or “deep culture.” This refers to the norms and values that
have become entrenched in society over generations. Deep culture is important “because of
the institutions of family, church, and state give each individual his or her unique identity”
(Samovar and Porter 2003:10).

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“… the deep structure of a culture resists major alterations. That is, changes in
dress, food, transportation, housing and the like, though appearing to be
important, are simply attached to the existing value system; however, values
associated with such things as ethics and morals, work and leisure, definitions of
freedom, the importance of the past, religious practices, the pace of life and the
attitudes toward gender and age are entrenched so deeply in a culture that they
persist generations after generation.”
(Samovar and Porter 2003:10)

3 Identifying deep culture

Diagram 1 below illustrates the classic cultural “iceberg theory.” This theory has
been revised to include three levels instead of the original two – the surface and below.

Diagram 1

On the surface are daily activities that we can observe easily and physically touch.
In Japan, taking ones shoes off, using chopsticks or bowing are all easily observable behavior

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by anyone regardless of culture they come from. When we travel to foreign countries, the
different customs of people on the street are readily observable.
The next level of culture describes behavior that takes a little more time to
understand. We may be able to immediately recognize a difference but have difficulty in
understanding the meaning. For instance, when I first came to Japan, I observed sumo
wrestlers throwing a white substance into the dojyou or ring. Since the only small white
substance I knew of with any significance to Japanese was white rice, I erroneously assumed
that these wrestlers were throwing rice into the ring. I could not understand why but later
learned that this was indeed salt used as a purifying ritual. Another example of behavior that
takes time to understand would be greetings in Japan. For example, I once was riding the
train back home in Nagoya when by chance I sat across from one of my former students. I
was surprised and my American values unconsciously kicked in when I said smiling, “Oh, hi
Ms. Ito. I’ m surprised to see you again. Where are you going?” Her curt reply was simply,
“chotto.” I was taken aback by this answer which effectively terminated my attempt at
conversation and I never saw her again. What follows is an excerpt from a Japanese student
in my intercultural communication seminar explaining the Japanese use of “chotto.”

“(When) requested to do something impossible by someone, we Japanese often

say “chotto” so as to refuse it. It means, “I have something else to do. So I’ m
sorry, but I can’ t.” However, we dare not say all, since we tend to avoid hurting
anyone.”

In actuality, I did not care where she was going but was just trying to make conversation.
My learned American values were telling me that it is uncomfortable and rude to sit in front
of someone you know and not make conversation. It would be difficult to get on an elevator
with strangers in the US and not say anything. Second, I mistakenly assumed the value of
“social equality.” When encountering someone for the first time, this value will often result in
Americans asking generalized personal questions rather than professional ones because of
the value of “social equality” and “alikeness.” Asking what job one has comes off as
high-handed to Americans since we are all equal outside our workplace.
The third and most important level is the one we cannot see at all. It is goes
unrecognized in our daily lives. This is deep culture. It is so assumed into our consciousness
that it is difficult to come up with examples. One example is the passive nature of Japanese

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students. When most native English speakers first begin teaching in Japan, they are
unprepared for the lack of feedback from their Japanese students. Thus, the American deep
culture filter interprets this lack of interaction or feedback as indifference, incomprehension
or dislike. In reality, Japanese students are following their deep cultural norm of respecting
authority and by not openly showing emotion or questioning their teacher. So, there are two
deep cultural values at play against each other in the Japanese EFL classroom. The American
value of social equality exhibited by the norm of open and direct communication and the
Japanese value of social hierarchy which exhibits the norm of silence and hierarchical
communication style. This deep culture difference often causes misunderstandings. In sum,
“because Americans assume hierarchy and closeness are mutually exclusive, they are
confused by the way Japanese language encodes hierarchical relationships” (Yamada
1997:33).
The iceberg model is a useful metaphor for students first trying to understand
intercultural communication. However, like most metaphors, it is an oversimplification. For
instance, it is easy to see if a shop is open or not in Japan if the NOREN(shop curtain) is
hung outside or not. This is easily noticeable and serves as an open and closed sign. Anyone
who has spent some time in Japan knows this. What is interesting is, although it is easily
observable action, the interpretation of it is only clear to those familiar with Japanese culture.
The foreign sojourner will probably not even notice whether the NOREN hung in or outside
and, if they do, will have difficulty making any sense of the meaning or come to the wrong
conclusion altogether. This is because the foreign sojourner has learned a different set of
symbols from which to derive meanings. That is , (s)he will unconsciously be looking for an
“open” or “closed” sign or even shop hours sign but not a short piece of cloth hanging
outside or inside the entryway. The Japanese custom of hanging a NOREN outside shops
follows a central value of Japanese culture: implicit communication. Nothing is written on
the NOREN such as shop hours or “closed.” It is up to the person (listener/reader)
observing the behavior to interpret the correct meaning. Thus, even “surface” cultural
behavior that is readily observable by all can go unnoticed or interpreted differently by
someone from another culture. The verbal equivalent to this would be the ambiguous
Japanese answer of, “muzukashii” or literally “it’s difficult” but often used to mean, “I can’t do
it” to refuse a request without being explicit. Upon arriving to Japan, when I first heard this
request, I understood it literally to mean, “it’ s difficult” and expecting the listener to explain
something like, “it’s difficult, but if we do this or that, I think we can do it” or “it’s too difficult

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because … .” This is the type of response most Americans would expect to hear. Now, many
years later, when I hear this phrase, I know that it means that the listener has heard and
understand my request but does not or cannot do it for some reason and that I should not
press further. Like the NOREN example above, Japanese communication relies on the
listener (me) to interpret correctly the speaker’ s true meaning. A person who can do this in
Japan is considered a good communicator. Conversely, in American culture, it is for the
speaker to confirm that the listener understands what (s)he, the speaker, is saying. This
requires direct and open talk. In sum, the learned deep cultural value of “be explicit” vs “be
implicit” in communication is one of the biggest differences in communication in Japanese
and English.
Finally, deep culture is highly dependent on non-verbal signals to convey meaning.
We learn as children how to convey meaning non-verbally and perceive the correct meaning.
These signals differ significantly across cultures and can easily lead to misunderstandings.
American English communication is based on explicitness and directness where the speaker
assumes all responsibility for making her or himself understood. However, in Japan,
communication is often done non-verbally or ambiguously putting the responsibility on the
listener to interpret correctly. Below is an excerpt from a Japanese intercultural
communication student on how he perceives non-verbal communication at his part-time job.

“I work at a convenience store as my part-time job. If customers buy a lunch box,

I ask them “Shall I heat up it?” . Then I perceive their facial expression. Because
some customers doesn’ t reply clearly. So I can’ t hear them. And I don’ t want to
ask the same thing. And they don’ t like to be asked twice. So, I perceive their
facial expression. If they need to heat up, they bow and smile a little bit. If they
don’ t need to do that, they bend their head a little bit with blank face. My
behavior (either heating up or not) is done by perception to customers. I think
that it (is) culture-based.”

3.1 Moran’ s culture model

Moran’ s model (2001) is useful for analyzing cultural differences between two
organizations as it separates culture into five categories in order to highlight differences (see
Diagram 2).

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Diagram 1

                             (Moran 2001:28)

In this model, culture is broken down further than the iceberg model in section 3 and asks
questions to highlight cultural differences for each category.

1. Communities: What groups participate directly and indirectly?

2. Products: What are the physical settings? Things you can touch and see?
3. Practices: What do people say and do? How do they act and interact ?
4. Persons: Who are the people who participate? What is their relationship?
5. Perspectives: What are the underlying values, beliefs and attitudes?

You can see that the surface culture of the iceberg theory would correspond with numbers
1-4 while the deep structure of culture would be number 5 - perspectives. Below is an
example of the way the model could be used to analyze two organizations with similar
surface cultures.

McDonalds MosBurger

Communities employees, customers, suppliers, employees, customers,

garbage collectors suppliers, garbage collectors

Products Store, tables, booths, chairs, Store, tables, booths, chairs,

counter, menu, waste baskets, counter, menu, waste baskets,
food, wrappings, cups, napkins, food, wrappings, cups, napkins,
bright lighting, restrooms, trays, bright lighting, restrooms,
cash registers, food preparation trays, cash registers, food
machines, freezers, cooking oil etc preparation machines, freezers,
cooking oil etc

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Practices Greeting, smile, formulaic Greeting, smile, formulaic

question/answer (e.g. for here or question/answer (e.g. for here
to go?), ordering at counter, or to go?), ordering at counter,
paying cashier, taking a number, paying cashier, taking a
waiting, carrying food on tray to number, waiting, carrying food
seat, shouting out of waiting on tray to seat, food is always
customers numbers, food is brought to seated customers,
sometimes brought to seated finished customers have their
customers, finished customers throw garbage taken care of if possible,
away their own garbage, customers customers often linger
seldom linger

Persons Employee/customer Employee/customer

Perspectives Cheap, fast and friendly service. Medium priced, friendly service,
emphasize convenience and speed home cooked approach, food take
a little more time because it is
cooked to order, relaxed store
atmosphere

You can see from this simple comparison of two fast food restaurant chains that on the
surface, the two companies are very similar. However, if we look deeper, at the deep culture,
each has a slightly different approach to doing business (italicized). Deep culture
(perspectives) differences result in diverse observable practices and a unique experience for
the customer. If this same model was applied to two multinational corporations, for example
Toyota Motors and Ford Motors, there would undoubtedly be significant deep structure
differences that drive each companies unique way of doing business.

4 Discussion

As countries continue to globalize and we interact with others from different

cultures with different ways of doing business, intercultural education and training has
become more important than ever. Each person views their own way behavior as “normal”
because it follows the norms and accepted ways of interaction of their deep culture. Thus,
our common sense is dictated by what we have learned through the years of an unrecognized
enculturation process of deep culture that cannot be shed be merely becoming more aware.
It was argued that understanding our own deep culture is important because, “by knowing
the deep structure of culture you can better understand how that structure influences
perception and communication” Samovar and Porter 2003:14). To be successful,
intercultural communicators, we also need to be willing to compromise some of our cultural

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norms for the benefit of a greater good: successful and long-lasting intercultural
relationships.

                  References

Gudykunst, W.B. and Kim, Y.Y. 2003. Communicating With Strangers. An Approach to

   Intercultural Communication. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.

Moran, P.R. 2001. Teaching Culture. Perspectives in Practice. Boston, MA: Heinle and

   Heinle.

Samovar, L. A. and Porter, E.R. 2003. Intercultural Communication. A Reader. 10th Ed.

   Belmont, CA: Thomson-Wadsworth

Stewart, E.C. and Bennett, M.J. 1991. American Cultural Patterns. A Cross - Cultural

   Perspective. Yarmouth, MA: Intercultural Press.

Ting-Toomey, S. and Chung, L.C. 2005. Understanding Intercultural Communication. Los

   Angeles, CA: Roxbury Publishing Co.

Yamada, H. 1997. Different Games, Different Rules. Why Americans and Japanese

   Misunderstand Each other. New York: OUP.

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Recognizing Deep Culture’s Influence on Communicative Behavior

Stephen B. Ryan 
 

The goal of this paper is to highlight and discuss the importance of culture and how it can
affect our communication in intercultural contexts. We shall discuss the affect culture can
have on communication in cross-cultural contexts using specific examples from Japanese and
English speakers. Two culture models are presented for understanding and making sense of
these cross-cultural events. The final purpose of this paper is to offer a way for readers and
intercultural students to think about and explore culture’ s influence on their communicative
behavior so that they can establish and maintain successful relationships with someone from
another culture.

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