East Meets
West – Value Systems
·
Cultural
value systems have effects on determination of
·
Strengths
vs. weaknesses
·
Most
Western cultures have individualist perspectives
·
Whereas
most Eastern cultures have collectivist viewpoints
·
In
individualist cultures, the focus is on the single person
·
Who
is held above the group- competition and personal
·
Achievement are emphasized in these cultures
·
In
collectivist cultures, the group is valued above the individual
·
Cooperation
is accentuated – Craig and Baucum, 2002
·
Western
cultures value Personal Freedom and Autonomy
·
The
person on her own feet has Strength
·
Eastern
cultures such assertiveness on behalf of self
·
Would
not be seen as an asset
·
Society
here seeks to foster interdependence and
·
Sharing
and duty to the group
·
Value
in the East is placed on staying out of conflict and
·
“Going
with the flow”
The Japanese
story “Momotaro” (Peach Boy, Sakade, 1958)
·
Is
an excellent example of the importance of traits of
·
Interdependence,
ability to avoid conflict and duty to the group
In the
Momotaro story, an old couple whishes for a child, but they are unable to
conceive. One day at the river, a giant peach floats near the woman, opens up
and a boy is inside. The boy Momotaro is taken home, raised and at 15 he
decides that some ogres have done enough evil and goes on to fight them. On the way, Momotaro convinces animals that usually
fight each other to become friends. Momotaro and his animal friends defeat the
ogres by working together.
Hence the
strengths valued in Japanese and other Asian cultures:
1. He sets out for the good of the
group, risking individual harm
2. On the way he stops others from
squabbling, promoting harmony
3. He works with them to achieve his
goal- interdependence and collaboration
4. He brings back a treasure to Share
with the group – sharing
TIME in the
East and the West
·
Orientation
to time is different
·
In
Western cultures we often look to the future
·
Strengths
we value- hope, optimism- reflect future-orientated thinking
·
Eastern
cultures there is greater focus and respect for the past
·
“to
know the road ahead, ask those coming back „is a Chinese proverb
A Chinese
fable, Old Horse Knows the Way:
A group of soldiers travels far away in the
mountains and trying to return home, they get lost. One of them has the solution
-
we can use the wisdom of an old horse
-
Release
the old horses and follow them, and we’ll reach the right road
Eastern cultures
value looking back and the wisdom of their elders
Thinking in
the East and the West
-
The
Chinese believe in constant change, but with things
-
Always
moving back to some prior state
-
Pay
attention to a wide range of events
-
Search
for relationships between things
-
Think
you can’t understand the part without the whole
-
Westerns
live in a simpler, more deterministic world
-
They
focus on salient objects or people instead of
-
Larger
pictures, they think they can control events
-
Because
they know the rules that govern behavior
-
The
circular thinking style is exemplified by the
-
Taoist
figure of Yin and the Yang
-
A
figure which represents the circular, constant
-
Changing
nature of the world as viewed by
-
Eastern
thought –
-
The
dark side represents the feminine and passive
-
And
the light side- the masculine and active
-
Each
part exists because of the other and neither could
-
Exist
alone one state is not far from the other
-
After
hard times, easier times are on the way
-
a
Westerner pursuing happiness draws a straight line to his goal
-
to
an Easterner, this goal of happiness may not make sense
-
if
one achieves happiness, unhappiness was close on its heels
-
an
Easterner has a goal of Balance- if there is unhappiness,
-
happiness
will come out to balance things out
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