Cultures of Different Contexts and Dimensions

One of the reasons for all the visible and invisible differences among cultures stems from the fact that some cultures are what is known as high context whereas others are totally opposite, that is, they belong to the low-context group. While in the former people generally love to read between the lines and are seen as open, intuitive and family-oriented, those from the latter group are more likely to expect explicit messages, competitiveness, and greater social distance. This chapter focuses on some examples of prominent high- and low-context cultures, along with some of the characteristics commonly attributed to them. There are also a lot of follow-up questions and tasks which allow for comparison and contrast between the two groups. To delve deeper into the issues here, and to shed light on other classifications, the chapter also touches on Hofstede’s cultural model, providing in this way a link between the two phenomena and supporting them in practical ways.