Finally you will understand Taiwan culture!

I am fascinated by this Geerd Hofstede stuff. http://geert-hofstede.com/taiwan.html
Now this post looks like a spam posting, but it isn’t one.

Hofstede aligns cultures due to some simple vectors and that really explains a lot. So you can compare Taiwan and, say, Germany.

Masculine or feminine culture?
Germany and most Western countries are masculine cultures, which means being aggressive will get you advantages in daily life. Tough managers are… tough, aggressive, alpha males, have everything under control, their eyes emit laser rays and individuals are everything in such cultures. Do point out the chief programmer’s success when praising the software team, after all he is an example for the others!
Taiwan is a feminine culture, being aggressive is not so good, they cherish rather constructive behavior.

Group or individualistic culture?
That one is easy, blends in with the stuff above. I kind of mixed both terms a bit here.

Low or high on context sensitivity?
Taiwan is a high context culture, so people are supposed to get the meaning of things and what happens out of the social context. You do not mention much (as conflicting
viewpoints) as they should be obvious and mentioning them is even rude. Contracts and laws do not mean much, social relations and context is more important.
Germany is a low context culture, social context is seen as being too fuzzy to be a guideline, so rules and contracts means everything. Conflicts can and should be mentioned directly.

Power distance?
Taiwan has a rather high power distance, that means people are willing to accept that some people have all the candy and all the power and there is not much complaint about it.
Germany has a much lower power distance. That means there are still big brothers with all the candy and power, but law, social norms and orgs try to even that out a bit and people complain frequently about inequality.

After all these years this explained perfectly, why a German marrying a Taiwanese gets lots of quarrels, i.e. when mentioning a conflict at home… :bow:

Now where can I buy Geert Hofstede mugs and T-Shirts?

EDIT: Forgot Risk Tolerance. I.e. Americans have a high risk tolerance, Taiwanese a low one (I think Germany’s was in the middle).

I think his analysis is quite off the mark at times. I’ll go point by point.

[quote]Power distance
This dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – it expresses the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst us.
Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.

Taiwan scores high on this dimension (score of 58) which means that people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. Hierarchy in an organisation is seen as reflecting inherent inequalities, centralization is popular, subordinates expect to be told what to do and the ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat. Challenges to the leadership are not well-received.[/quote]

If anything, I’d expect this score to be much higher.

[quote]Individualism
The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. It has to do with whether people´s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “We”.
In Individualist societies people are supposed to look after themselves and their direct family only. In Collectivist societies people belong to ‘in groups’ that take care of them in exchange for loyalty.

Taiwan, with a score of 17 is a collectivistic society. This is manifest in a close long-term commitment to the “member” group, be that a family, extended family or extended relationships. Loyalty in a collectivist culture is paramount and overrides most other societal rules and regulations. Such a society fosters strong relationships, where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. In collectivistic societies, offence leads to shame and loss of face. Employer/employee relationships are perceived in moral terms (like a family link), hiring and promotion take account of the employee’s in-group. Management is the management of groups.[/quote]

I think this really depends upon the situation. In terms of the family or other people with whom there is a relationship, Taiwanese culture appears quite collectivist to me. In terms of general society, a lot of people don’t seem to give a shit about anyone else. The average Western society is more collectivist in that regard.

[quote]Masculinity / Femininity
A high score (masculine) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner / best in field – a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organisational behaviour.
A low score (feminine) on the dimension means that the dominant values in society are caring for others and quality of life. A feminine society is one where quality of life is the sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. The fundamental issue here is what motivates people, wanting to be the best (masculine) or liking what you do (feminine).

Taiwan scores 45 on this dimension and is thus considered a feminine society. In feminine countries the focus is on “working in order to live”, managers strive for consensus, people value equality, solidarity and quality in their working lives. Conflicts are resolved by compromise and negotiation. Incentives such as free time and flexibility are favoured. Focus is on well-being, status is not shown. An effective manager is a supportive one, and decision making is achieved through involvement.[/quote]

I agree with his first (two) paragraph(s), although the education system is pretty extremely masculine by that definition, at least in certain aspects. Those last two sentences of the last paragraph are flat out wrong.

[quote]Uncertainty avoidance
The dimension Uncertainty Avoidance has to do with the way that a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen? This ambiguity brings with it anxiety and different cultures have learnt to deal with this anxiety in different ways. The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these is reflected in the UAI score.

Taiwan scores 69 on this dimension and thus has a high preference for avoiding uncertainty. Countries exhibiting high uncertainty avoidence maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. In these cultures there is an emotional need for rules (even if the rules never seem to work) time is money, people have an inner urge to be busy and work hard, precision and punctuality are the norm, innovation may be resisted, security is an important element in individual motivation.[/quote]

Broadly, I agree, except with the contention that Taiwanese value precision and punctuality. How long has he been living here? I would argue that there’s something wrong here. One cannot avoid uncertainty without precision and punctuality. I find living in Taiwan to be an extremely uncertain and unpredictable experience in a whole lot of ways.

[quote]Long term orientation
The long term orientation dimension is closely related to the teachings of Confucius and can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for virtue, the extent to which a society shows a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historical short-term point of view.

Taiwan scores 87, making it a long term orientation culture. Societies with a long-term orientation show an ability to adapt traditions to a modern context i.e. pragmatism, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, perseverance in achieving results and an overriding concern for respecting the demands of Virtue. The countries of South East Asia and the Far East are typically found at the long-term end of this dimension.[/quote]

I would not describe Taiwan as having a long term orientation at all. Its demographics, its workplace structures and economy, and its environment (man made and “natural” – if there are such places in Taiwan!) do not point to the long term. With its power distance and its extreme individualism in some areas, I think this place is extremely short term focussed. You want to see short term thinking? Drive a vehicle in Taiwan. This morning, near my house, I saw a woman without a helmet riding a scooter with one hand holding an umbrella with the other while it poured down rain. Maybe having the foresight to burn host money at a temple counts towards having a long term orientation.

Well, I think it depends on the group you are defining. Taiwanese care for their in-group, they do not care for what is outside of that group. That is why PUBLIC toilets get neglected and you can hit other people with cars a wee bit without caring too much about it.
Westerners are more individualistic, but care for the meta group (their nation, community and similar large groups) more than Taiwanese do.

EDIT: Meaning we basically agree, but it is still valid to call Taiwan a group culture IMO.

I am not sure how we could apply this social theory to inter-national relationships. In theory, both Latin American and Taiwanese societies have a lot in common, yet, inter-marriages are rather explosive and most have a rather ill-fated end. For instance, marriages between people of the ol country and Taiwan, the success rate stands at 0% and failure comes rather quickly after they move to The Island.

perhaps because both cultures being high context but the context are different, so it’s worse than a high/low context combination.

Taiwan culture is mostly about growing mould on any and all leather clothes and shoes in the winter. Hell, you can even get mould to grow on things you didn’t have the faintest idea that they could possibly be leather, like the collar of an under-washed shirt, or your dog’s collar, or your motorbike handgrips.

To me this was very interesting. I mean ole Confucius has this thing for one China those days and makes up a wanne-be Chinese super culture, about saving face so rather talking in loops and not saying what’s up and so people end up with a high context culture where they do not speak out their minds and have to sniff everything out of the context.

To be aware of the difference to a low context culture where the written word is important and you should speak your mind out and be precise and clear is surely beneficial, although many are aware of this without needing this social science system, that is understood.

Or on one’s skin. Yaaaaaaak

Taiwan culture is definitely different to America culture, Canada culture, England culture, or South Africa culture. Japan culture, on the other hand, is not so dissimilar.

Interestingly, Japan is a masculine group culture according to Hofstede. Would that make them something like a troop combat culture? So it is full of aggressively acting groups. Or a country where aggressive groups have benefits. Interesting. Or does it mean group members have to strive aggressively for the in-group beneft? :ponder:

‘Well, I think it depends on the group you are defining. Taiwanese care for their in-group, they do not care for what is outside of that group. That is why PUBLIC toilets get neglected’

EDIT: Meaning we basically agree, but it is still valid to call Taiwan a group culture IMO.[/quote]

The above shows that the real situation is far more complex than simple generalizations. I happen to think public toilets in Taiwan are looked after very well, I struggle to think of a country with better looked after public amenities in that regard. There is also no fee to use them. This again goes against the ‘anti national spirit’ idea. Also vandalism of public property is extremely rare. I think that are simply some things that Taiwanese care about in a collective sense, and some not, and that behaviours and attitudes can and do change over time.

Taking the idea of public vandalism to heart, we could say that Taiwanese care about their country more than the average Western country!

“we could say that Taiwanese care about their country more than the average Western vandal cares about their country!”

we’re not all Vandals, Goths, or Huns. Just some of us.

‘Well, I think it depends on the group you are defining. Taiwanese care for their in-group, they do not care for what is outside of that group. That is why PUBLIC toilets get neglected’

EDIT: Meaning we basically agree, but it is still valid to call Taiwan a group culture IMO.[/quote]

The above shows that the real situation is far more complex than simple generalizations. I happen to think public toilets in Taiwan are looked after very well, I struggle to think of a country with better looked after public amenities in that regard. There is also no fee to use them. This again goes against the ‘anti national spirit’ idea. Also vandalism of public property is extremely rare. I think that are simply some things that Taiwanese care about in a collective sense, and some not, and that behaviours and attitudes can and do change over time.

Taking the idea of public vandalism to heart, we could say that Taiwanese care about their country more than the average Western country![/quote]

In that regard, definitely. I never liked graffiti, especially tagging, in the West. Whenever I return, I’m really shocked and repulsed by it. What really, really pisses me off is when I see a wall/fence on a residential property and it’s all one colour and then some teenage fuckwit has come along and tagged it.

It’s definitely on upswing here in Taipei though. Quite a lot compared to nothing 10 years ago.

I don’t know. I’ve seen quite a lot of grafitti in Taipei, especially in playgrounds, outdoor basketball courts, and the flood control walls on the river parks.

That’s been going on for at least 10 years, besides it’s better than the bare concrete walls a lot of the time.

They have designated grifitti areas, and I think those flood control wall and other public works are for that.

People in Taiwan generally do not grifitti private properties especially doors, as that can be interpreted as a threat. Gangsters usually pour red paint on someone’s door as a threat for whatever reason, so if you started painting on someone else’s door you might get in trouble for making a threat.

[quote=“Taiwan Luthiers”]They have designated grifitti areas, and I think those flood control wall and other public works are for that.

[/quote]
Really… Do you have a legal source for that? I would love to learn how to tag some walls legally.

[quote=“nonredneck”][quote=“Taiwan Luthiers”]They have designated grifitti areas, and I think those flood control wall and other public works are for that.

[/quote]
Really… Do you have a legal source for that? I would love to learn how to tag some walls legally.[/quote]

You’re a tagger? :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

I said I would like to learn. If it’s legal in places, I’d like to try my hand at it. Some of it looks cool. I’d like to see if I have any artistic skills with aerosol paints.