The document discusses several key cultural differences in how concepts like happiness, emotion, self-identity, and compromise are viewed across different societies. It finds that East Asians are more likely to prefer compromise over agreeing with one side in an argument. Western cultures view the self as independent while Eastern cultures see it as interdependent with others. Different languages and cultures also influence how people perceive and express emotions, with display rules shaping whether people conceal or openly show feelings. The meaning of happiness also varies, with Americans associating it with excitement and Eastern cultures preferring calmness.

1. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

2. CULTURE DEFINITION
• 1. the distinctive customs, values, beliefs, knowledge, art, and
language of a society or a community. These values and concepts
are passed on from generation to generation, and they are the
basis for everyday behaviors and practices.
• 2. the characteristic attitudes and behaviors of a particular group
within society, such as a profession, social class, or age group.

3. • Compared to Westerners, East Asians are much more likely to
prefer compromise. For example, when given a story about an
argument between two people, Westerners tended to agree with
one person or the other. East Asians tended to suggest a
compromise solution between the two.
• Presidential election cycle in the United States. Americans tend
to prefer candidates who take a stand on an issue and support
it strongly, distinguishing themselves from people who have
taken the opposite stand on an issue. Americans tend not to
look highly on those who compromise.

4. • There is a universal groundwork for perception and thought in
all human beings, while language is a filter, enhancer, or
framer of perception and thought.
• People speaking some Australian languages orient themselves
in space better than English-speaking people (they often know
north from south—even in darkness), plausibly because their
languages have absolute spatial deictic. This means that when
referring to a distant object they do not say “that car” or “that
tree over there,” but rather “the car to the north” or “the tree to
the south.” Because they need to know direction in order to
correctly assemble utterances in their language, they are more
accustomed to pay attention to the cardinal points.

5. • What's important to the people speaking whatever language, so
in this sphere they can be better
• Western cultures promote an independent self-construal, where
the self is viewed as a separate, autonomous entity and the
emphasis is on the self’s independence and uniqueness. East
Asian cultures, on the other hand, foster an interdependent
self-construal, with a self that is more relational, harmonious
and interconnected with others.

6. • Researchers have studied the influence of cultural values on
neurocognitive processes by priming participants towards
independent and interdependent construals and then
examining how the brain reacts to various situations
afterwards. Priming can be done, for example, by asking
participants to read stories containing different pronouns (“we”
or “us” for interdependent self-construal and “I” or “me” for
independent self-construal) and asking them to think about
how similar or different they are to others. Findings have
demonstrated various differences in neural activity after
priming for independent or interdependent construals. For
instance, priming has been shown to modulate the response to
other people’s pain, as well as the degree with which

7. • In another study, when participants were primed for
independent construals during a gambling game, they showed
more reward activation for winning money for themselves.
However, when primed for interdependent construals,
participants showed similar reward activation as when they had
won money for a friend.

8. • Culture also appears to influence the way the self is
represented in our brains. In one experiment, Western and
Chinese participants were asked to think about their selves,
their mothers, or a public person. The fMRI data showed that
the same parts of the brain (Medial Prefrontal Cortex) were
activated when both groups thought about themselves.
However, unlike with the Western participants, the MPFC was
also activated among Chinese participants when they thought
of their mothers. These results were interpreted as suggesting
that the Chinese participants (interdependent self-construals)
use the same brain area to represent both the self and their
mothers, while the Western participants use the MPFC
exclusively for self-representation.

9. • Whether due to daily activities or genes, when neurons fire
repeatedly in scripted ways for a prolonged time (essentially
what cultural practices entail), brain pathways can be reinforced
and established – all to enable a more seamless execution of
cultural tasks and to “facilitate a cultural and biological
adaptation” (Kitayama & Park, 2010). Thus, as
some researchers have suggested, our endorsement of
particular cultural values may leave a greater imprint on our
brains than on our behaviors.

10. EMOTION EXPRESSION AMONG DIFFERENT
CULTURES
• Americans have been shown to rate the same expressions
of happiness, sadness, and surprise more intensely than
the Japanese. Furthermore, differences have been found in the way
Americans infer internal experiences from external displays of
emotion. When asked to rate faces on how intensely they were
portraying certain emotions and how intensely posers were
actually feeling these emotions, American participants, for
example, gave higher ratings to the external appearance of
emotions. The Japanese participants, on the other hand, assigned
higher ratings to internal experiences of emotions. Therefore,
depending on cultural contexts, internal turmoil might not
necessarily be legible on the face, while an overly excited smile

11. • A classical study from the 1970s that demonstrates cross-
cultural differences in display rules involved American and
Japanese participants watching stressful films under two
conditions—once alone, and once with an experimenter in the
room (Ekman, 1971). Participants from both cultures produced
similar facial expressions when watching the films alone.
However, with the presence of the experimenter, the Japanese
masked their negative emotions through smiles. The
Americans, on the other hand, continued to display their
negative emotions in front of the experimenter. These
differences were explained by differences in display rules in
Japan and in the U.S.; namely, the Japanese tendency to conceal
negative emotions in social settings in order to maintain group
harmony, and the tendency to endorse emotion expression in
individualistic cultures such as that of the U.S.

12. • Cross-cultural variations have also been found in the cues we
look for when interpreting emotions. Research tracking eye
movements to assess where people direct their attention during
face perception. When identifying faces, East Asian participants
focused on the central region of the face around the nose,
giving more importance to the eyes and gaze direction. Western
Caucasian participants, on the other hand, expected signals of
facial expressions of emotion from the eyebrows and the
mouth region.

13. • Attentional biases were also highlighted when participants were
asked to look at faces with conflicting expressions (i.e., sad
eyes with a happy mouth). The results showed that Japanese
participants gave more weight to the emotion portrayed by the
eyes, while American participants were relatively more
influenced by the mouth region. One possible explanation for
these differences is that display rules prescribing high levels of
affect control prompt people to pay closer attention to features
that are more difficult to manipulate and thus carry more
information about true emotional states (i.e., eyes). Whereas, in
cultures with less stricter display rules, people concentrate on
the mouth, as it is the most expressive part of the face.

15. MEANING OF HAPPINESS ACROSS CULTURES
To most Americans, happiness is an unalienable human right and
is commonly associated with positive experiences as well as
personal achievements. When asked to describe features of
happiness, the Japanese, on the other hand, alluded to social
harmony, the transient nature of happiness, along with
its socially disruptive consequences. Cross-cultural studies on
ideal affect have revealed that while Americans associate
happiness with high arousal positive states such as elation,
enthusiasm and excitement, Hong Kong Chinese
define happiness through more low arousal positive states (e.g.,
calm and relaxation).

16. MEANING OF HAPPINESS ACROSS CULTURES
There are also differences in the meaning that the
term happiness holds across cultures. For
instance, researchers have observed that in certain languages,
including Polish, Russian, German, and French, happiness
conjures up states and conditions that are more rare compared
to English. In fact, a meta-analysis of the definition of happiness
among 30 nations revealed that elements of luck and fortune are
at least partially included among 80% of the nations’
understanding of happiness, just as they were in ancient China
and Greece, where happiness was considered a fatalistic concept,
a divine gift that had to do with luck and fortune. (In the US, the
definition of happiness no longer includes the notion of good
luck and fortune, as it once did in the 1800s.)

17. PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS ACROSS CULTURES
• Recent studies have revealed that the conscious pursuit of happiness
is associated with negative consequences on well-being for
Americans, leaving them with feelings
of loneliness and disappointment. On the other hand, the pursuit of
happiness did not predict well-being outcomes among German
participants, and was associated with increased well-being levels in
Russia, Japan and Taiwan. A possible explanation for these cross-
cultural variations has been attributed to differences in self-
construals (independent vs. interdependent), as well as the
culture’s degree of collectivism. Namely, in collectivistic cultures
where relationship harmony predicts SWB, happiness is pursued in
more socially engaging ways, compared to individualistic cultures,
where the focus on the self is stronger and self-esteem is an

18. • There are as many routes to happiness as there are
interpretations of it around
• Dalai Lama suggests compassion;
• David Steindle-Rast encourages gratefulness;
• WB Yeats believed in growth;
• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry recommends creative action;
• for Albert Einstein - happiness is a table, a chair, a bowl of fruit
and a violin).

19. HOW DOES THE MEANING OF DEPRESSION VARY
AROUND THE WORLD?
• Buddhism approaches suffering as an essential characteristic of
life. In Eastern European Orthodox Christianity and traditional
Catholic contexts, there are two religious perspectives on
suffering. On one hand, excessive suffering that blocks
your goals is thought to be a sin. Simultaneously, suffering that
allows you to stay engaged in your life is thought to bring you
closer to God. It’s almost like broadcasting your suffering
highlights you as a more complex and virtuous human being in
other people’s eyes. Moreover, in India and Ecuador suffering
can be interpreted as a rift in social networks that requires
mending.

20. ARE THERE GENETIC VULNERABILITIES FOR
DEPRESSION ACROSS CULTURES?
• Genetic vulnerability differs substantially from country to
country. East Asian contexts, for example, show a high
prevalence of genes associated with depression. Yet, despite
these vulnerabilities, they develop fewer cases of the disorder.
One hypothesis is that genetic vulnerabilities have co-evolved
with culture, creating extra protective factors (in this case,
extra interdependence). However, when these people leave
their cultural contexts, they have a higher risk of developing
depression.

21. MARRIAGE AND DIFFERENT CULTURES
• Kaya and colleagues recruited four different types of couples
living in Brisbane:
• Western male with Western female
• Western male with Chinese female
• Chinese male with Western female
• Chinese male with Chinese female

22. MARRIAGE AND DIFFERENT CULTURES
• Overall, Western-Western couples reported the highest level of relationship
satisfaction. Conversely, Chinese-Chinese couples indicated much lower
levels of happiness in their relationship. Couples consisting of a Western
male and a Chinese female reported levels of relationship satisfaction in
between these two types of same-culture marriage.
• While couples consisting of a Western male and Chinese female were
relatively happy, the same couldn’t be said for those in the reverse
situation, who reported the lowest level of relationship satisfaction. The
researchers speculate that differences in cultural attitudes
toward gender roles may lie at the root of this discrepancy. Specifically,
males are more likely than females to favor traditional gender roles, and
Chinese more so than Westerners. Therefore, there’s likely to be less
disagreement on this issue between a Western man and a Chinese woman

23. REFERENCES:
• Bastian, B., Kuppens, P., De Roover, K., & Diener, E. (2014). Is
valuing positive emotion associated with life
satisfaction? Emotion, 14(4), 639-645.
• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002). Flow: The classic work on how to
achieve happiness. Random House.
• Diener, E., & Diener, M. (1995). Cross-cultural correlates of life
satisfaction and self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 68, 653-663.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMwjscSCcf0

24. STRENGTHS OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY (CD)
Cultural diversity does not only include age, demographic profile. But also
includes religion, perception, educational background and personality.
• Creativity
• Problem solving: better decisions through a wider range of perspective and
more thorough critical analyses of issues.
• System flexibility: system becomes less determinant, less standardized, and
therefore more fluid. The increased fluidity creates greater flexibility to react
to environmental changes (reaction faster and less cost).
• Homogeneous groups will reduce productivity and will enhance conflicts

25. SHORTCOMINGS
• Conflict:
-The perception of a beauty
-Dress code
-Untraditional sexual orientation
-Cultural prejudice, if someone makes compliment about a
baby's beauty mother can defend by closing a baby
• Discrimination

26. MANAGING CD
• Thomas & Ely (1998) has identified three approaches for diversity
management at a workplace.
• 1) Discrimination and fairness approach
• 2) Access and legitimacy approach (acceptance of the individual
differences a)
• 3) Learning effectiveness approach (focus on having open discussion
and ensuring that the existing differences among the employees are
valued and respected by other co- employees).

27. MANAGING CD
• Adler (1997) has identified the following three strategies for
management of cultural diversity in an organization.
• 1) Ignoring the cultural differences
• 2) Minimizing the cultural differences
• 3) Managing the cultural differences

28. MANAGING CD
• Priming on interdependent construal (think about how similar or
different they are to others)
• Regular habits (when neurons fire repeatedly in scripted ways for a
prolonged time (essentially what cultural practices entail), brain
pathways )
• Emotion expression in different cultures
• Interpreting emotions
• Values
• elements of luck and fortune

29. • Scheduling and time: time is treated differently around the
world
• Values matching
• Prioritize communication
• Treat each employee as an individual
• Encourage employees to work in diverse groups
• Sensitivity training