60 minutes (10 minutes for lecturette and instruction; 20 minutes for small-group discussions; 30 minutes for large-group debriefing and discussion)
General L–M P, D, M
1. To explore interpretations of behavior from another cultural perspective
2. To discuss the values or beliefs that motivate the behavior
3. To identify behaviors that contribute to stereotypes of U.S. Americans
• What Do Others See? Handout
• Flipchart, pens, and tape
1. Give a brief lecturette on the differences between stereotypes and generalizations (see Appendix E, page 241).
2. Place participants into groups of 4–6 people. Ask the group to read the “What Do Others See?” handout containing observations made by individuals from other cultures about U.S. Americans and then discuss the following questions for each observation:
• Do you believe this to be a common stereotype of U.S. citizens?
• Can you identify a U.S. value that might be motivating the behavior in the observation?
• What value or values might influence the perception of someone from the culture being quoted about U.S. Americans?
• What stereotype(s) might you hold of someone from these other nations based on these statements?
• What specific behaviors might be helpful in encouraging greater cross-cultural understanding?
3. In the large group share the common stereotypes about U.S. citizens, identifying the U.S. American values that might lead to those stereotypes. Discuss any stereotypes identified for the other nations in the small groups and suggest behaviors for improving cross-cultural understanding. Record the stereotypes (for the U.S. and for other nations) on one side of a flipchart and the values on the other side (for each observation) for the entire group to see. Use a second flip-chart to record the behaviors identified for encouraging cross-cultural understanding.
1. What happened? Where was it easiest for your small group to agree on stereotypes, values, or behaviors? Most difficult? Why?
2. How did you feel about the stereotypes (of the U.S. and those of the observers’ countries) that the group identified? How do you feel about your group’s reactions to the statements or stereotypes? How do you feel when you are stereotyped for any reason? When you find yourself stereotyping someone else?
3. What values affected the way you responded to this activity? What values did you hear spoken of or hinted at during the small-group discussion?
4. What did you learn?
5. How can you apply information from this experience to your everyday life?
1. Cultural values influence our interpretation of behavior.
2. The broader a person’s experience with a culture, the more accurate—and less stereotyped—his or her perceptions can be.
3. The behavior of someone from another culture is usually interpreted from the perspective of the interpreter’s home cultural values.
4. Stereotypic statements are sometimes reinforced by the media.
5. Learning about the perceptions of someone from another culture may be helpful in understanding the impact of our actions.
6. Discussion of differences in perceptions can generate a wider variety of choices when we interact cross-culturally.
1. In small groups of 4–6 people, ask participants to develop a list of statements about their perceptions of people in one or more other countries that they have visited, lived in, or had contact with (known people from that country). After they have developed this list, ask them to write down the behaviors that led to those perceptions on one side of a sheet of newsprint, and the values the behaviors could represent on the other side.
2. In the large group, ask each small group to share the behaviors and values they have identified. Look for similarities or differences in perceptions of the same country across groups and discuss what might have led to any differences in perception. Examine the perceptions and decide which are stereotypes and which are valid generalizations.
3. Debrief using the same debriefing questions and conclusions.
Adapted from activities in Developing Intercultural Awareness: A Cross-Cultural Training Handbook by L. Robert Kohls and John M. Knight.
“Americans appear to be rather distant. They are not really as close to other people—even fellow Americans—as Americans overseas portray.… It is like building a wall. Unless you ask an American a question, he will not even look at you. Individualism is very high.”
“The tendency in the U.S. to think that life is only work hits you in the face. Work seems to be the only motivation.”
“I have been offended by how little Americans know about my country. They either think it is completely underdeveloped or that it is a jungle full of wild animals. Even when I find an American who knows something about Indonesia, it is only the negative things that he’s heard about, such as our repressive government or the corruption of our officials.”
“They say children are the same. In my observations I found out a couple of ways where children differ. Children in the United States are very forward in their way of speaking, even to their parents and elders. They show a lack of respect for age. Also, I have observed that children in the U.S. don’t offer their services to their parents willingly. They either have to be told what is to be done or they have to be given some reward or compensation for what they do.”
“I am worried that you have too much democracy in America. There are so many separate voices and so many selfish interests that you cannot accomplish anything for the general good of the country. You are even prevented from controlling your criminal element for fear of denying the criminal his rights. That’s too much freedom for your own good.”
“It is puzzling when Americans apply the word friend to acquaintances from almost every sector of their past or present life, without necessarily implying close ties or inseparable bonds.”
“Before I came to America, I always heard how hardworking Americans are, but compared to my people, they don’t seem to work very hard at all. Why, Americans only work five days a week.”
“I have been most negatively impressed by the patronizing attitude of many Americans with whom I discussed Third-World countries. Some of them were very definite in saying they believed that the people in the Third World were underdeveloped because they were lazy and did not work hard enough.”
“Family life in the United States seems harsh and unfeeling compared to the close ties in our country. Americans do not seem to care for their elderly parents.”
“In a twelfth-grade social studies class, the teacher gave choices of assignment for the next class. I didn’t like the idea of pupils choosing the assignment. I wonder what these pupils will do later in life when there are no choices in the duty assigned to them. They must learn while they are in school how to do well the jobs assigned to them from above.”
“The hardest thing for me to accept and get used to when I first came to your country was how impersonal everything was. Whenever I bought a Coca-Cola or a chocolate bar or a postage stamp I had to buy it from a machine rather than from a living person. You can’t talk to a machine and even when it gives you a candy bar, it cannot establish a satisfying relationship with you. But in your country many people want to spend time by themselves rather than talking to other people in a friendly conversation.”
“Americans seem to be in a perpetual hurry. Just watch the way they walk down the street. They never allow themselves the leisure of enjoying life; there are too many things to do.”
“I was horrified at the ignorance of the high school students about my country—Algeria. They knew nothing at all about it—location, people, language, political condition. What made it even worse was the ignorance of the teacher herself. Her knowledge was very shallow and, in certain instances, quite erroneous.”
“I was surprised, in the United States, to find so many young people were not living with their parents, although they were not married. Also, I was surprised to see so many single people of all ages living alone, eating alone, and walking the streets alone. The U.S. must be the loneliest country in the world.”
“The questions Americans ask me are sometimes very embarrassing, like whether I have ever seen a camera. Most of them consider themselves the most highly civilized people. Why? Because they are accustomed to technical inventions? Consequently, they think that people living in bamboo houses or having different customs from theirs are primitive and backward.”
Adapted from an activity in Developing Intercultural Awareness: A Cross-Cultural Training Handbook by L. Robert Kohls and John M. Knight.