A little shocked I realized today that the semester draws to the close. So let’s get on with the cultural categories, since I don’t want to deprive you of the last seven ones.
Today I’d like to discuss the concept of face. How direct are Americans/ Austrians? What if we know that such honesty will lead to arguments? Are we still that honest or do we accept a white lie in this case?
According to the Peace Corps website, Americans tend to be baffling frank with each other. They assume that one should be always straight with people, even if that causes disagreement- at least that will clear the air. Living in an individualist culture, what other people think is not so vital, since everybody can take care of himself/herself. Hence, honesty is the best policy for Americans.
In Austria honesty is officially regarded as being absolutely important. However, in practice it depends on who you are talking to. Sure, Austrians are frank with their friends and family. We tell them what we like and don’t like about them, even if that involves an argument. All the same, we are not always honest, especially when we think the truth would unnecessarily hurt the people we love. In this case we’d resort to a white lie.
And yet, Austrians tend to talk in a very roundabout way with strangers or people they don’t know well. Therefore, one sometimes has to read between the lines to find out what people try to express. For example, if a shopkeeper asks you, “May I help you?” most people think, “No! And now leave me alone and let me shop in peace!” Instead, they say, “Thanks, I’ll just have a look around.” Still, when provoked, Austrians are not that polite anymore. Just listen to an Austrian who tries to get rid of pushy promoters and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
In short, I think Austrians are honest as long as they feel they are not being rude. I just can take a guess here, since the Peace Corps website does not go into it, but Americans are probably similar. I don’t think they absolutely refuse to tell a white lie if that means not hurting someone.
Today I’d like to discuss the concept of face. How direct are Americans/ Austrians? What if we know that such honesty will lead to arguments? Are we still that honest or do we accept a white lie in this case?
According to the Peace Corps website, Americans tend to be baffling frank with each other. They assume that one should be always straight with people, even if that causes disagreement- at least that will clear the air. Living in an individualist culture, what other people think is not so vital, since everybody can take care of himself/herself. Hence, honesty is the best policy for Americans.
In Austria honesty is officially regarded as being absolutely important. However, in practice it depends on who you are talking to. Sure, Austrians are frank with their friends and family. We tell them what we like and don’t like about them, even if that involves an argument. All the same, we are not always honest, especially when we think the truth would unnecessarily hurt the people we love. In this case we’d resort to a white lie.
And yet, Austrians tend to talk in a very roundabout way with strangers or people they don’t know well. Therefore, one sometimes has to read between the lines to find out what people try to express. For example, if a shopkeeper asks you, “May I help you?” most people think, “No! And now leave me alone and let me shop in peace!” Instead, they say, “Thanks, I’ll just have a look around.” Still, when provoked, Austrians are not that polite anymore. Just listen to an Austrian who tries to get rid of pushy promoters and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
In short, I think Austrians are honest as long as they feel they are not being rude. I just can take a guess here, since the Peace Corps website does not go into it, but Americans are probably similar. I don’t think they absolutely refuse to tell a white lie if that means not hurting someone.
2 comments:
Oh, peace corps talks crap in this case! Americans are NOT direct and straight forward at all. They definately kept some of the overly politeness from their ancestors, the Brits - although they are not nearly as bad as the British are. This politeness in many cases makes them not being completely honest. I have a lot of experience with this, believe me. Many American friends said I was being rude for telling them that their clothes colors don't match, or that they were not nice in some certain situation, etc. I don't know about Austrians, but I know that among friends, they are definately more honest and straight forward than the Americans....
I also have the feeling that Peace Corps often talks about the ideal Americans rather than the real Americans.
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