Forms of social behavior of the individual
In order to achieve any goals in life, as well as to implement certain life tasks, a person uses two key forms of social behavior:
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- Natural behavior - aimed at achieving individual goals, as well as behavior that is adequate to the goals set and does not go beyond the norms and capabilities of a person;
- Ritual behavior (so-called “ceremonial”) is individual behavior characterized by unnaturalness. Thanks to this behavior, a society can reproduce if its activities are based on any specific ritual characteristic of a given community.
Classification of human behavior patterns.
Home Favorites Random article Educational New additions Feedback FAQIn the context of the concept of culture, a classification of human behavior patterns is proposed:
Personal characteristics
There is a model of “programming human thinking and behavior”, reflected in Figure 1, showing how much a person’s behavior is determined by his personal characteristics, and how much by his cultural background. Undoubtedly, modern managers working in a cross-cultural environment must take these circumstances into account. This will help you communicate more competently with colleagues, and ultimately increase business efficiency.
Rice. 1. Model of human behavior
This scheme reflects what is inherent in everyone, regardless of nation and culture. On the other hand, it is noted which problems will be individual and which arise from cultural factors.
Models of behavior of people of different nationalities, for example Finns and Italians, are presented in Figures 2. and 3. Finnish culture largely depends on such acquired characteristics as honesty, inner strength, reliability, and on the other hand, pessimism and distrust of words, while Italian culture assumes communication, charm, emotionality and largely archaic laws, often an embellished truth. The interesting fact is that it is the inherited characteristics, common to all people, that are the guiding vector that allows so many differences to connect.
Rice. 2. Finnish behavior pattern
Rice. 3. Model of Italian behavior.
History leaves a very big imprint on the acquired characteristics of peoples - in our opinion, the Russian model is formed largely through historical and religious influence. Cultural affiliation indicates tolerance, honesty, responsiveness, and on the other hand, indiscipline and frivolity.
Rice. 4. Model of Russian behavior
The thinking and behavior of different peoples will never become the same. However, when working in a multinational environment, be it a multinational corporation or a Russian company with staff of different nationalities, a little adaptation to another culture will help to avoid unintentional insults and possible conflicts, while you need to know when to stop and not try to hide your national characteristics.
Value characteristics
When forecasting the development of civilizations, it is advisable to take into account the peculiarities of the behavior of peoples, their values and philosophy of life, which is so deeply seated in people that no economic and political innovations can significantly change it even in hundreds of years.
Richard Lewis calls this approach “cultural determinism.” It is based on an analysis of the history of the development of various civilizations and, above all, human moral values and their manifestations in communicative activities.
In works on intercultural communications, the terms “male values” and “female values” are used, and male values are based on power and material well-being, and female values are based on non-material benefits.
Table 1. Masculine and feminine values
| № | Men's values | Women's values |
| Data | Feelings | |
| Logics | Intuition | |
| Rivalry | Cooperation | |
| Height | Development | |
| Product | Attitude | |
| Bravery | Refinement | |
| Actions | Thought | |
| Result | Solution | |
| Profit | Reputation | |
| Quick solutions | Correct decisions | |
| Speed | Timeliness | |
| Material progress | Social progress | |
| Individual career | Collective comfort |
Cultures in which the traits indicated in the left column predominate are considered to be masculine, while the traits in the right column are characteristic of female cultures.
The end of the last century, with its high-profile scientific discoveries, the pursuit of material wealth, and the exploitation of natural resources, led to a social crisis. This is a crisis of male values characteristic of Western countries and the United States. It is expressed in a rapidly developing feeling of loneliness, alienation from family and society. Its consequences were the breakdown of families, an increase in crime, environmental pollution, negative attitudes towards politicians and big businessmen, and distrust in the government.
Richard Tarnas notes that now is the time for the West to transition from the masculine values that have long been dominant to the feminine values that have been in the shadows for many years.
Elements of these cultural characteristics interact at several levels at once and form a unique network of information contacts.
A country's business culture tends to reflect its overall culture. The “Great Divide” between cultures affects the conduct of business from the very beginning to the end of any commercial relationship.
Richard Gesteland examines a methodology for classifying the cultural variables that cause most problems in international transactions.
Table 2. Classification of territorial units for conducting international transactions
| № | Focused on the deal | Moderately transaction focused | Relationship-focused |
| Northern Europe, Germany | South Africa | Countries of the Arab world | |
| Great Britain | Southern Europe | Africa | |
| North America | Central and Eastern Europe | Latin America | |
| Australia | Chile | Asia | |
| New Zealand | Southern Brazil | ||
| Northern Mexico | |||
| Hong Kong | |||
| Singapore |
This is where the differences in business culture lie. If the focus is on the transaction, then participants think mainly about completing the task, and if the focus is on relationships, then participants are more likely to think about people.
When transaction-focused exporters try to do business with relationship-focused people, conflicts arise.
The variety of cultural differences led researchers to the idea of building clusters - a collection of countries (cultures) with similar properties. One of these classifications was proposed by Ronen and Shenkar. They highlighted:
1. Scandinavian cluster: Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark;
2. German cluster: Germany, Austria, Switzerland;
3. English-language cluster: USA, Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland;
4. Romanesque cluster: France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium;
5. Latin American cluster: Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru;
6. Far Eastern cluster: Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam;
7. Arabic: Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia;
8. Middle Eastern cluster: Türkiye, Greece, Iran.
Some of the countries considered by the authors of the classification (Brazil, Japan, India, Israel) were not included in any cluster.
The cognitive significance of this classification is, of course, however, one should at the same time agree with researchers who point out its inconsistency: for example, from a cultural point of view, placing Turkey and Greece in the same cluster is apparently unlawful. The same can be said about Belgium in the Romanesque cluster, etc. Generally speaking, this clustering should be considered simply as one of the steps of a future rather complex and multidimensional classification.
In Richard Lewis's classification, the entire diversity of world cultures is divided into three categories:
1. Monoactive.
In mono-active companies (Germany, Sweden, Holland, America) it is customary to systematically plan the future, and this is done in the smallest detail and detail. All work is carried out at a strictly fixed time, projects are divided into stages. They love schedules and graphs, strictly adhere to plans, try to rely strictly on facts, prescribe all procedures, each department performs an established range of functions. There is no patronage system; Formality, accuracy and timely execution of instructions are encouraged in the work; professional competence is valued; professional and personal are demarcated.
2. Polyactive.
The lifestyle of multi-active firms (Brazil, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Latin America, cultures of the Islamic world) is somewhat different. Planning is carried out only in general terms; work is done at any time of the day; The schedule is unpredictable, projects may overlap each other. As a rule, the end result is less interesting than the process. Changed circumstances are taken into account and may extend the project execution time. Preference is given to first-hand information, usually verbal. Employees can deal with the affairs of all departments, use connections, and seek patronage. Often relatives work in multi-active companies. Conversations can be observed for hours, notes are rarely taken, personal and professional are usually mixed.
3. Reactive.
Companies with a reactive culture can hardly be called Western. In a more traditional classification, these are firms with the so-called Japanese approach. The specifics of working in them are so pronounced that when accepting an invitation to work in such a company, it is necessary to undergo special training to minimize the consequences of “culture shock,” which in this case can be quite strong.
Table 3. General characteristics of three types of cross-cultural communications.
| № | Monoactive | Polyactive | Jet |
| Systematically plan the future | Plan only in general terms | Check only with general principles | |
| There is only one thing being done at this time | Doing several things at once | React according to the situation | |
| Break projects down into stages | Allow projects to overlap | Consider the big picture | |
| Strictly adhere to the plan | Change plans | Make light adjustments | |
| Emotionless | Emotional | Unobtrusively caring | |
| Arguments rely on logic | Emotional in a dispute | Avoid confrontation | |
| Rarely interrupt | Often interrupted | Don't interrupt | |
| Restrained gestures and facial expressions | Emotional gestures and facial expressions | Subtle gestures and facial expressions |
Russia is a country whose mentality is influenced by both the culture of Asia and the culture of Europe. Using the proposed classification, Russia can be partially classified as a reactive culture.
The peculiarities of the historical development and geographical location of Russia make it possible to play a unique role as an intellectual bridge between East and West. Currently, the rapprochement of such different cultures as East and West is one of the main trends in the world economy. In particular, Western business models have long been successfully interacting with the mentality of the East. But now the reverse movement is also possible. It is Russia, located on the verge of types of cultures and continents, that occupies a key place in the emerging new cultural and economic order.
When comparing East and West, we compare “feminine” and “male” values. The presence of common features gives reason to assume that the activation of feminine values in the West will inevitably lead to its rapprochement with the East and, as a consequence, to the recognition and application of many models of behavior characteristic of Eastern cultures, including economic ones. And if the West wants to work in this market, it will have to learn to communicate with Eastern people. To do this, you need to know the features of their mentality and their values.
Table 4. World values
| № | Western | Eastern |
| Democracy | Hierarchy | |
| Equality | Inequality | |
| Believe in yourself | Faith in fate | |
| Individualism | Collectivism | |
| Equal rights for men and women | Male dominance | |
| Facts and figures | Relationship | |
| Assertiveness and energy | Calmness and wisdom | |
| Linear time | Cyclic time | |
| Result oriented | Focus on harmony |
Table 5. Communication styles
| № | Western | Eastern |
| Direct communication style | Indirect communication style | |
| Cutting | Diplomatic | |
| Polite | Careful | |
| Verbose | Restrained | |
| Persuasive | Recommendation | |
| Moderate eye contact | Poor eye contact | |
| Unambiguous | Ambiguous | |
| Problem oriented | Focused on accepting the situation as it is | |
| Focus on problems | Focus on agreed issues | |
| Interrupting your interlocutor during a conversation | Listening to your interlocutor |
Peculiarities in communication styles can lead to misunderstandings in communication between representatives of Eastern and Western cultures. The principles of organizing professional activities in the West and in the East also differ in many ways.
The process of rapprochement between the West and the East will undoubtedly benefit Europe, just as at one time the “Americanization” of the eastern countries gave them an impetus for economic development. Eastern states, primarily Japan and South Korea, have long drawn attention to the need to take into account the national characteristics of Western clients and business partners.
Western companies that successfully operate in Europe and the United States have made the mistake many times of trying to automatically transfer their business principles to Eastern markets. Today, the largest transnational companies pay great attention to cross-cultural training of personnel.
Topic 3. Cross-cultural strategies in organizational management
The essence of the concept of “personal social behavior”
Social behavior of an individual is one of the objects of study of sociological science.
Research in this area began to be carried out in the mid-19th century, and, in addition to the concept of “social behavior,” elements such as social action and interaction were included in the same category. Definition 1
Social behavior of an individual - in sociological science, this is a qualitative characteristic of social action and social interaction, which are inextricably linked with each other.
Social behavior characterizes the behavior of an individual in certain conditions, in a particular social situation and environment. Social behavior may be uncharacteristic in different situations. For example, a certain number of deputies take part in the work of the State Duma, that is, they are actively involved in political activities. But their behavior is ambiguous, since some are interested in their activities, while others ignore their activities and responsibilities, staying at work only “for show,” because this is necessary to obtain benefits.
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The behavior of participants in mass events can also be characterized in different ways. For example, some participants demonstratively peacefully follow the column, while others seek to show their deviant behavior, break the rules in order to demonstrate a negative attitude towards the current regime and a desire for change. All of these actions also fall under the category of “social behavior.” In other words, all people are equally participants in a socio-political event, but each participant behaves differently, depending on their interests, needs and worldview.
Note 1
Thus, social behavior acts as a special way for the subject of a socio-political event (actor) to demonstrate his motives, preferences and attitudes, which are aimed at the implementation of social action and interaction.
