How to deal with Russians? CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

Our blog is dedicated not only to Russian law, but also to various social aspects, and today we will touch on the topic of Russia and intercultural communication. What is intercultural communication anyway? It is the process of exchanging information and ideas between representatives of different cultures and nationalities. It includes not only verbal and non-verbal ways of interaction, but also an understanding of cultural characteristics, values, traditions and norms of behavior.

You yourself have probably noticed that what may cause surprise or irritation in one nation may be perceived by another nation quite calmly. Or that one nation may pay too much attention to an aspect of life that another nation almost doesn't care about. Here we will talk about Russians in particular - how to interact with them, how to understand their mentality, and compare them with other countries and ethnic groups.

HOFSTEDE'S CULTURAL DIMENSIONS THEORY

Famous sociologist Geert Hofstede identified several key dimensions of culture:

• POWER DISTANCE INDEX
• INDIVIDUALISM VS. COLLECTIVISM
• MASCULINITY VS. FEMININITY
• UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE INDEX
• LONG-TERM VS. SHORT-TERM ORIENTATION

Russia has traditionally been characterized by a high power distance, which manifests itself in respect for authority and hierarchy. Unlike Western countries such as the United States or Scandinavian countries, which value equality and democratic interaction, Russians maintain a strong respect for status and power.

In terms of collectivism, Russia is slightly closer to Eastern European and Asian countries than to individualistic Western countries. This is reflected in the importance of family ties, community values, and collective decisions, including due to the influence of the USSR ideology. Collectivism was especially pronounced in the past, but now there is a tendency towards individualization of society.

Uncertainty avoidance means the degree of perception of unfamiliar situations. Countries with a high value of this indicator try to avoid them, establish clear rules, trust in traditions, and don't always tolerate people with a different life position. And countries with a low value show personal initiative and risk. Russians are uncertainty avoidant, as are people in the United States, Eastern and Central Europe, Latin America, Japan and German-speaking countries.

Masculinity vs. Femininity. Masculinity means that in society, persistence, self-confidence and ambitions are valued. It's typical of the USA, Great Britain, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, Germany and Italy. In feminine cultures, modesty and caring are valued. Such traits characterize the Scandinavian countries, Japan, Holland and France. Russia also belongs to the second group.

The last scale is called «Short and Long-Term Orientation». Cultures with low scores on this scale, such as Japan, South Korea or Israel, tend to maintain centuries-old traditions and norms and treat any changes with great caution, as well as encourage frugality and plan for the future decades ahead. Meanwhile, people in the USA, Canada, Australia, and, of course, Russia believe that truth depends on the situation, so long-term planning isn't very useful. They more easily adapt traditions to changing conditions and don't try to find a universal truth, but at the same time are less inclined to accumulate resources.

EDWARD HALL'S TYPOLOGY OF CULTURES

Hall proposed to divide cultures depending on the nature of their use of space and time into HIGH-CONTEXT and LOW-CONTEXT, as well as cultures with a predominantly MONOCHROME or POLYCHROME use of time.

• In high-context cultures, much information is communicated implicitly, based on shared knowledge, social norms, and nonverbal cues. Moreover, such cultures are characterized by the density of social ties (status and reputation extend to all spheres of life), personal life is not separated from professional life. These include France, Spain, Italy, the Middle East, Japan and Russia. Representatives of the low-context type of culture separate private and public life. Status and reputation do not automatically extend to all spheres of life. Examples: the USA, Canada, Holland, Scandinavian countries, Germany, etc.

• Representatives of monochrome cultures strive to clearly schedule their time and do things sequentially, starting to perform a new task only after completing the previous one. In these cultures, interpersonal relationships are less important than task completion - at least in the business sphere. These are the USA, England, Germany, or Scandinavian countries. Representatives of polychromatic cultures often do many things at once, they do not make clear schedules or, at least, are not very willing to stick to them. Friendly relations are sometimes more important than scheduled deadlines. For example, these are Latin American and Arab countries, as well as Russia.

SCHWARTZ'S CULTURE MODEL

Another scientist, Shalom Schwartz, identifies seven cultural values in three pairs:

• EMBEDDEDNESS VS. AUTONOMY: the first means social order and retaining tradition, and also connection with one's group, for example, family, while the latter, where individuals have the right to choose.

• AUTONOMY is divided into AFFECTIVE and INTELLECTUAL. Affective Autonomy is the search for sensual pleasures, sometimes at the expense of others. Intellectual Autonomy is the independence in ideas and thought.

• MASTERY vs. HARMONY: People in mastery cultures seek success through personal action. The emphasis here is on ambition and struggle. In harmony cultures, rather than achieving goals, individuals are happy to accept their place in the world.

• HIERARCHY vs. EGALITARIANISM. Arranging people into a strict hierarchical system.

As for country scores, they are as follows:
South American cultures tend to score in the middle of the pack on all dimensions. English-speaking countries tend to be Mastery-dominated and, to a greater extent, Hierarchy-dominated. Other countries located in Western Europe tend to favor Egalitarianism and Intellectual Autonomy. Eastern Europe is also classified as egalitarian, but leans slightly more toward Embeddedness than Western Europe, and the Middle East and much of Asia tend toward Embeddedness and Hierarchy.

In Russia, Embeddedness is expressed, including the connection with the family, Hierarchy (which I have already mentioned earlier, although at the moment this figure tends to decrease), has average readings for Harmony and Mastery, a tendency to develop Intellectual Autonomy, but poorly developed Affective Autonomy - Russians are not very accustomed to taking care of themselves and their own pleasure.

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