International Communication: Canadian Culture - Coursework Example

Canadian Culture Canadian Culture Introduction The term culture de s the programming or mapping of an individual’s mindin a collective manner which helps an individual’s differentiates between the group of people he/she belongs to and the group of people others belong to. Cultures vary from nation to nation as well as region to region and many theorists have tried to make different categories of cultures which assist in differentiating between different cultures. One prominent theorists of culture was Geert Hofstede who devised a theory of culture which is recognized as Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory and he divided different cultures into different dimensions. This writing will examine the Canadian culture from the parameter of Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory and this writing will highlight upon which cultural dimensions does Canadian culture and their people belong to. Body The first dimension of Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy is the level of interdependence that is experienced by the members of the society and whether the society members give importance to themselves (individualism) of whether the society gives importance to the entire society (collectivism) while making decisions that impact them and other members of the society. We, as members of the Canadian society are quite collective in nature or collectivism is practiced in our nation and this is quite evident through the collective events that are celebrated by us each year. These events include the Canada Day on which all members of our society regardless of which race or religion they follow, they participate in the celebration of this event (Frew, 2011). The second dimension that differentiates one culture from another is the uncertainty avoidance level of the members of that particular community. The dimension of uncertainty avoidance is about how the members of a society plan or face the fear or anxiety caused due to the unknown future. We, people of Canada score low on uncertainty avoidance as we are quite ready to accept uncertain situations and this can be realized from the fact that we spent over a total of eighteen billion on online shopping during the period of 2012 and shopping goods and services online and performing online shopping activities is quite uncertain in nature as we are not in physical contact with a good or service until we have purchased it (www.cbc.ca, 2013). The third dimension through which Hofstede differentiated between cultures was power distance which refers to the distribution of power amongst the people residing in a particular region. In our society, power has been distributed to the lower levels of the society. This means that people or citizens of the Canadian society decide what is wrong and what is right and the government thus follows the decision of the society. For example, abortion is highly accepted by the members of our society and due to this no laws restricting abortion are in place (Kennedy, 2012). The fourth dimension of Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy is masculinity exhibited by the culture of a particular nation. Those nations that are more masculine in nature comprise of society where competition as well as success is promoted and success in such nations can only be gained by one portion of the society and not the entire society. For example: in our country, we first stood united in order to achieve legal status for same sex marriage and more than 50% of my nations population accepts the legalization of same sex marriage. According to Butler, majority of the population of my nation is in favor of legalization of same sex marriage (Butler, 2007, p.152). This shows that we the citizens of Canada work for the collective gain of all individuals living in Canada and that is why we supported same sex marriage. The fifth dimension of Hofstede’s cultural theory is time orientation which refers to how members of a particular culture plan. Certain cultures are more long-term and future oriented, while other cultures are more inclined towards short term gains and value the past. My society can be termed as a society which is moderately future oriented and this can be realized from the facts the in our nation immense importance is given to university level education in order to attain long-term goals of better paying jobs and better life style. Statistics Canada states the number of adults who have attained university or college level education. Statistics Canada states that 50% of the adult population during the 2009 had university level education which exhibits that this 50% of the adult population aim at achieving better jobs in future and that is why they opted for tertiary level education (www.statcan.gc.ca, 2014). The sixth dimension is indulgence which refers to the level of socialization children of a culture are allowed to experience by their parents. Societies that allow their children to freely socialize are those who promote indulgence while those that do not allow promote restraint. Our parents have levied fewer restrictions on us in regards to socializing over the internet which means that on the scale of indulgence they impose fewer to moderate restrictions on children’s’ socialization (mediasmarts.ca, 2014). The last dimension is Monumentalism vs. Self-Effacement which refers to whether the society prefer individuals who work for their own gains or whether the society gives importance to those individuals who are people oriented (Minkov, 2011). We, the people of Canada share both concerns as well as happiness with each other and that is why the people of Canada supports both same-sex marriage as well as abortion as they want people affected by these issues to remain happy. Conclusion This writing focused on analyzing the Canadian culture from the view point of Hofstede’s cultural taxonomy theory and the my society was found to be a collectivist society and the power distance in the society is quite low since deciding power is in the hand of the citizens. We, the members of Canadian society are moderately masculine, as we are quite ready to face unexpected situations and we are even involved in the act of planning for the future, while we have imposed fewer restrictions on our children’s socialization and we give ample amount of importance to the benefit of the entire society, rather than awarding individuals for their individual victories. References Butler, P. M. (2007). Polling and public opinion: A Canadian perspective. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Canadians spent $18.9B online in 2012, StatsCan says. (2013, October 28). CBCnews. Retrieved February 11, 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canadians-spent-18-9b-online-in-2012-statscan-says-1.2254150 Education Indicators in Canada: Fact Sheets. (n.d.). Education Indicators in Canada: Fact Sheets. Retrieved February 12, 2014, from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-599-x/81-599-x2012008-eng.htm Frew, E., Frew, E., & White, L. (2011). Tourism and national identities. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Kennedy, M. (2012, July 4). New poll shows most Canadians support abortion - with some restrictions. National Post News New poll shows most Canadians support abortion with somerestrictions Comments. Retrieved February 19, 2014, from http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/07/04/new-poll-shows-most-canadians-support-abortion-with-some-restrictions/ Life online for young Canadians is more connected, more mobile, and more social. (2014, January 22). MediaSmarts. Retrieved February 13, 2014, from http://mediasmarts.ca/press-centre/life-online-young-canadians-more-connected-more-mobile-and-more-social Minkov, M., & Hofstede, G. H. (2011). Cultural differences in a globalizing world. Bingley, UK: Emerald. Read More