Harry C.
Triandis
CULTURE AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
The field of intercultural research received must pay attention to many aspects when
significant cross-fertilization from many aiming to analyze subjective culture.
academic disciplines, such as anthropology,
behavioural science, communication studies, Two chapters of the book serve to explore this
economics, linguistics, political science, psy- in greater detail, offering an integrative
chology, sociology and, lately, neurology, with overview across a wide range of related
researchers starting to investigate how the research. Subsequent chapters analyze
function of our brain is influenced by culture. cultural differences in social behavior, from
Each added welcome social relations and communication to
new insights and per- aggression, helping, dominance and
spectives; alas, inte- conformity. The final chapters of the book
grating these different discuss diversity, intercultural relations, and
perspectives into a intercultural training.
holistic context often
Throughout this work, Triandis emphasizes
proved complex.
concepts that others in the field often overlook.
Harry C. Triandis, a so- For instance, he contrasts loose cultures and
cial psychologist who tight ones, distinguished by their degrees of
is now a professor eme- tolerance for deviation from cultural norms.
ritus at the University This distinction is paramount when evaluating
of Illinois, embraces other interculturalists’ models, such as the
this complexity in his “cultural dimensions” that became popular in
book Culture and Social Behavior. He uses the intercultural training since the 1980s and are
concepts of emics, culture-specific, unique still widely used. Similarly, the author highlights
elements that apply within the system of a the need to understand intergroup relations, as
culture but do not offer much value when opposed to interpersonal ones, in assessing
contrasting different ones, and etics, universal stereotypes and conflict potential.
cultural elements whose study helps in finding
and formulating cross-cultural generalizations. Bottom line, Culture and Social Behavior is a
valuable resource for those looking to acquire
The important point, the author argues, is to a deeper understanding of the value, and of
find convergence between different methods of the caveats, of studying behaviors across
understanding reality. Triandis suggests this cultures.
approach as a foundation for both, understand-
ding and comparing cultures. Even concepts
that translate easily across languages, he
warns, do not have identical meanings, so one
Leadership CrossroadsTM Houston, TX, USA / Berlin, Germany This book review solely represents the opinions and conclusions of its author.
+1 - 469 - 522 - 3389 +49 - 173 - 8 26 27 27 It does not claim to be accurate, complete, or objective.
info@leadershipcrossroads.com www.leadershipcrossroads.com © Leadership CrossroadsTM, 2015
Lothar Katz is the founder of Leadership Crossroads. He has a wealth of experi-
ence in achieving productive cooperation across cultures and driving business
success on a global scale.
A seasoned former executive of Fortune 500 company, Texas Instruments, he
regularly interacted with employees, customers, outsourcing partners, and third
parties in numerous countries around the world, including many parts of Asia.
Mr. Katz is the author of “Negotiating International Business” (2007) and “The
Global Business Culture Guide” (2014).
