6:23 AM - Cultural shock in the USA

THE VALUES AMERICANS LIVE BY !!
Before proceeding to the list itself, it is necessary to point out that Americans see all of these values as very positive ones. They are not aware that all 13 of these American values are judged by many of the world’s citizens as negative and undesirable.
1. Personal Control over the Environment
Americans no longer believe in the power of Fate.In the United States people consider it normal and right that Man should control Nature, rather than the other way around. More specifically, people believe every single individual should have control over whatever in the environment might potentially affect him or her. The problems of one’s life are not seen as having resulted from bad luck as much as having come from one’s laziness in pursuing a better life. Furthermore, it is considered normal that anyone should look out for his or her own self-interests first and foremost.Most Americans find it impossible to accept that there are some things which lie beyond the power of humans to achieve. And Americans have literally gone to the moon, because they refused to accept earthly limitations.

2. Change
In the American mind, change is seen as an indisputable good condition. Change is strongly linked to development, improvement, progress, and growth.These first two values—the belief that we can do anything and the belief that any change is good—together with an American belief in the virtue of hard work and the belief that each individual has a responsibility to do the best he or she can do have helped Americans achieve some great accomplishments.

3. Time and Its Control
Time is, for the average American, of utmost importance. To the foreign visitor, Americans seem to be more concerned with getting things accomplished on time (according to a predetermined schedule) than they are with developing deep interpersonal relations. Schedules, for the American, are meant to be planned followed in the smallest detail.It may seem to you that most Americans are completely controlled by the little machines they wear on their wrists, cutting their discussions off abruptly to make it to their next appointment on time.Americans’ language is filled with references to time, giving a clear indication of how much it is valued. Time is something to be “on,” to be “kept,” “filled,” “saved,” “used,” “spent,” “wasted,” “lost,” “gained,” “planned,” “given,” “made the most of,” even “killed.”

4. Equality/Egalitarianism
Equality is, for Americans, one of their most cherished values. This concept is so important for Americans that they have even given it a religious basis. They say all people have been “created equal.

5. Individualism and Privacy
The individualism which has been developed in the Western world since the Renaissance, beginning in the late 15th century, has taken its most exaggerated form in the 20th century United States.Americans think they are more individualistic in their thoughts and actions than, in fact, they are. They resist being thought of as representatives of a homogenous group, whatever the group. They may, and do, join groups—in fact, many groups—but somehow believe they’re just a little different, just a little unique, just a little special, from other members of the same group. And they tend to leave groups as easily as they enter them.Privacy, the ultimate result of individualism is perhaps even more difficult for the foreigner to comprehend. The word “privacy” does not even exist in many languages. If it does, it is likely to have a strongly negative connotation, suggesting loneliness or isolation from the group. In the United States, privacy is not only seen as a very positive condition, but it is also viewed as a requirement which all humans would find equally necessary, desirable, and satisfying!”

6. Self-Help Concept
In the United States, a person can take credit only for what he or she has accomplished by himself or herself. Americans get no credit whatsoever for having been born into a rich familyTake a look in an English-language dictionary at the composite words that have the word “self” as a prefix. In the average desk dictionary, there will be more than 100 such words, works like self-confidence, self-conscious, self-contented, self-control, self-criticism, self-deception, self-defeating, self-denial, self-discipline, self-esteem, self-sacrifice—the list goes on and on. The equivalent of these words cannot be found in most other languages. This list is perhaps the best indication of how seriously Americans take doing things for oneself. The “self made man or woman” is still very much the ideal in the 20th-century America.

7. Competition and Free Enterprise
Americans believe that competition brings out the best in any individual. They assert that it challenges or forces each person to produce the very best that is humanly possible. Consequently, the foreign visitor will see competition being fostered in the American home and in the American classroom, even on the youngest age levels. Very young children, for instance, are encouraged to answer questions for which their classmates do not know the answers.You may find the competitive value disagreeable, especially if you come from a society which promotes cooperation rather than competition. Americans, valuing competition, have devised an economic system to go with it—free enterprise.

8. Future Orientation
Valuing the future and the improvements Americans are sure the future will bring means that they devalue the past and are, to a large extent, unconscious of the present. Even a happy present goes largely unnoticed because, happy as it may be, Americans have traditionally been hopeful that the future would bring even greater happiness. Almost all energy is directed toward realizing that better future. At best, the present condition is seen as preparatory to a later and great event, which will eventually culminate in something more worthwhile.Since Americans have been taught (in Value 1) to believe that Man, and not Fate, can and should be the one who controls the environment, this has made them very good at planning and executing short-term projects. This ability, in turn, has caused Americans to be invited to all corners of the earth to plan and achieve the miracles which their goal-setting can produce.

9. Action/Work Oriented
“Don’t just stand there,” goes a typical bit of American advice, “do something!” This expression is normally used in a crisis situation, yet, in a sense, it describes most Americans’ entire waking life, where action—any action—is seen superior to inaction.Such a “no nonsense” attitude toward life has created many people who have come to be known as “workaholics,” or people who are addicted to their work, who think constantly about their jobs and who are frustrated if they are kept away from them, even during their evening hours and weekends. The workaholic syndrome, in turn, causes Americans to identify themselves wholly with their professions. The first question one American will ask another American when meeting for the first time is related to his or her work: “What do you do?” “Where do you work?” or “Who (what company) are you with?” And when such a person finally goes on vacation, even the vacation will be carefully planned, very busy and active.
10. Informality
Americans are one of the most informal and casual groups of people in the world, even when compared to their near relative—the Western European.Dress is another area where American informality will be most noticeable, perhaps even shocking. One can go to a symphony performance, for example, in any large American city nowadays and find some people in the audience dressed in blue jeans and tieless, short-sleeved shirts.Informality is also apparent in Americans’ greeting. The more formal “How are you?” has largely been replaced with an informal “Hi.” This is as likely to be used to one’s superior as to one’s best friend.

11. Directness, Openness and Honesty
Americans have always preferred the direct approach. They are likely to be completely honest in delivering their negative evaluations. If you come from a society which uses the indirect manner of conveying bad news or uncomplimentary evaluations, you will be shocked at Americans’ bluntness.Americans consider anything other than the most direct and open approach to be dishonest and insincere and will quickly lose confidence in and distrust for anyone who hints at what is intended rather than saying it outright. Anyone who, in the United States, chooses to use an intermediary to deliver the message will also be considered manipulative and untrustworthy.

12. Practicality and Efficiency
Americans have a reputation for being an extremely realistic, practical and efficient people. The practical consideration is like to be given the highest priority in making any important decision in the United States. Americans pride themselves in not being very philosophical or theoretically oriented. If Americans would even admit to having a philosophy, it would probably be that of pragmatism.Will it make any money? Will it “pay its own way?” What can I gain from this activity? These are the kinds of questions which Americans are likely to ask in their practical pursuit, not such questions as “Is it aesthetically pleasing?” “Will it be enjoyable?” or “Will it advance the cause of knowledge?”

13. Materialism/Acquisitiveness
Foreigners generally consider Americans much more materialistic than Americans are likely to consider themselves. Americans would like to think that their material objects are just the natural benefits which always result from hard work and serious intent—a reward, they think, which all people could enjoy, were they as industrious and hard-working as Americans.But by any standard, Americans are materialistic. This means that they value and collect more material objects than most people would ever dream of owning. It also means they give higher priority to obtaining, maintaining and protecting their material objects than they do in developing and enjoying interpersonal relationships.The modern American typically owns:One or more color television sets + An electric hair dryerAn electronic calculator +A tape recorder and record playerA clothes-washer and dryer + A vacuum cleaner + A power lawn mower for cutting grass + A refrigerator, stove and dishwasher + One or more automobiles + A telephone + Many also own a personal computerSince Americans value newness and innovation, they sell or throw away their possessions frequently and replace them with newer ones. A car may be kept for only two or three years, a house for five or six before trading it in for another one.

| Permanent Link