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Cross-Cultural Psychology
Culture Should Unite Us, Not Divide Us
Cultural diversity isn't just morally right—it also makes us smarter.
Posted June 29, 2023 Reviewed by Devon Frye
Key points
- Culture is a set of systematic expectations to which we respond, either positively or negatively.
- We learn culture by paying attention to the scripts, models, and habits in an organization.
- Cultural differences and ideas of cultural superiority have long been used as a force to divide humanity.
- To reap the benefits of cultural diversity, we must embrace humility, honesty, and vulnerability.
Culture is what makes the world goes around. Culture is the invisible force, the central nerve by which society operates. It is through culture that we negotiate most of our interactions.
Culture, like many complicated and complex topics, is hard to define. However, I define culture as a set of systematic expectations to which we respond, either positively or negatively. For example, family is the first community in which we are initiated, and each family has its own unique culture. In some families, eating meals together is a sacred cultural value to which members of the family could respond to, either positively or negatively, agreeably or disagreeably, directly or indirectly.
Culture has long been used as a force to divide humanity—including, as one example, the culture of racism in the United States, which forced Black people into an inferior position at the country's inception. That culture has evolved, progressed, and changed because culture is not static; it is always changing.
Just like language, culture is a vast entity that each individual has a unique engagement with. Yes, we have cultures at the social level, but we also have culture at the individual level. Each individual has their own unique cultural programs of operating, with themselves and with others. Culture is both invisible and visible, both explicit and implicit, both direct and indirect. Culture is all of those things—and more. It is the elephant in the room that we ignore at our own peril.
Given that culture is important, how do we learn culture? I recently attended an academic conference in which I participated in a seminar by sociologist Brandon Vaidyanathan, whom I asked about how culture is learned. Dr. Vaidyanathan, who is an expert in culture from a sociological perspective and who is the chair of the sociology department at The Catholic University of America, responded: “I think paying very careful attention to the scripts, models, and habits in an organization is a good way to get a sense of norms. But it is a bit like learning a new language; it takes an immense amount of effort and practice before you can speak like a native, for instance.”
Where the question of culture is concerned, there are two main players: insiders and outsiders. Full disclosure: I am an outsider to American culture, especially its professional and academic varieties, some of which remain foreign to me until this day, even after living here for the past seven years. I've found unpacking the insider knowledge to be somewhat challenging; it requires much guesswork, a skill in which I am not particularly adept.
I've always perceived my status as an outsider to American culture to be a deficit, rather than an asset. Dr. Vaidyanathan seemed to sense this attitude in my correspondence, and said: “I think that being an outsider can be an advantage, since it can give you insights into things that people take for granted that might actually be problematic in some way.”
Dr. Vaidyanathan recommended that I read Erin Meyer’s book, The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business, to understand cultural differences and communication problems in international teams. After reading the book, my main takeaway is that culture matters and we ought to approach cultural difference with openness, humility, and humor. Dr. Meyer, who teaches at INSEAD, one of the leading international business schools, documented how human beings are essentially similar yet astonishingly different, especially in their cultural ways of being, doing, and knowing in the world.
Culture As a Unifying Force
I, therefore, propose a new model in which culture is seen as a unifying force. This requires some serious work from insiders.
I am primarily thinking about this through the lens of American culture—a culture that has been always thought as a melting pot. America has long been described as a land of immigrants, so which culture should rule the day? In my time here in the United States, I've observed that some Americans make statements in support of diversity yet practice parochial cultural behaviors. Some appear unwilling to entertain alternative cultural ways of being, doing, and knowing in the world—it's the American way or the highway, in other words. This view is understandable but erroneous.
Embracing alternative cultural models require, first and foremost, humility. Insiders must recognize that their cultural ways are not inherently superior to that of outsiders. Culture, after all, is a human-made social construct. It was not revealed from a sacred place, nor did it emerge from natural sources. It is purely a human-made product, so we should always remember the parochialism of culture.
Once we embrace that culture is human-made, we open ourselves to different pathways of existing in the world. As University of Miami President Julio Frenk put it, “The difference makes us stronger. Diversity is not just the right thing to pursue from an ethical point of view, which it is. It is also the smart thing to do because difference allows difference of perspectives.” We are strongest when we combine the best of our cultures.
In conclusion, culture is a malleable concept that, when left unchecked, may undermine our peaceful coexistence. However, when we intentionally approach cultural differences with humility, honesty, and vulnerability, we become stronger and smarter. We will thrive when we are able to look beyond our narrow cultural purview.
