Vive la Différence

2009 ◽  
pp. 2644-2654 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gefen ◽  
Nitza Geri ◽  
Narasimha Paravastu
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Patterns ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

In the ITC cross-cultural literature, we often talk about the differences among peoples and how their respective culture and history may affect their adoption and preference usage patterns of ITC. However, do we really need to look that far to find such cross-cultural differences? Considering language is one of the major defining attributes of culture, this article takes a sociolinguistic approach to argue that there is also a cross-cultural aspect to ITC adoption within the same culture. Sociolinguists have claimed for years that, to a large extent, the communication between men and women, even within the supposedly same culture, has such characteristics because men and women communicate with different underlying social objectives and so their communication patterns are very different. This article examines this sociolinguistic perspective in the context of online courses. A key finding is that although the stage is set to smother cultural and gender differences if participants wish to do so through ITC, gender based cultural patterns still emerge. These differences were actually strong enough to allow us to significantly identify the gender of the student, despite the gender neutral context of the course discussions. Implications for ITC, in general, in view of this Vive la Différence, are discussed.

Vive la Différence

2009 ◽  
pp. 443-454
Author(s):  
David Gefen ◽  
Nitza Geri ◽  
Narasimha Paravastu
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Patterns ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

In the ITC cross-cultural literature, we often talk about the differences among peoples and how their respective culture and history may affect their adoption and preference usage patterns of ITC. However, do we really need to look that far to find such cross-cultural differences? Considering language is one of the major defining attributes of culture, this article takes a sociolinguistic approach to argue that there is also a cross-cultural aspect to ITC adoption within the same culture. Sociolinguists have claimed for years that, to a large extent, the communication between men and women, even within the supposedly same culture, has such characteristics because men and women communicate with different underlying social objectives and so their communication patterns are very different. This article examines this sociolinguistic perspective in the context of online courses. A key finding is that although the stage is set to smother cultural and gender differences if participants wish to do so through ITC, gender based cultural patterns still emerge. These differences were actually strong enough to allow us to significantly identify the gender of the student, despite the gender neutral context of the course discussions. Implications for ITC, in general, in view of this Vive la Différence, are discussed.

Vive la Différence

2009 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gefen ◽  
Nitza Geri ◽  
Narasimha Paravastu
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Threaded Discussions ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Ict Adoption ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

The differences among peoples and how their respective culture and history may affect their adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT), as well as their preferred usage patterns, are often discussed in the literature. But do we really need to look that far to find such cross-cultural differences? Considering language is one of the major defining attributes of culture, this chapter takes a sociolinguistic approach to argue that there is a cross-cultural aspect to ICT adoption also within the same culture. Sociolinguists have claimed for years that to a large extent, communication between men and women, even within the supposedly same culture, has such characteristics due to their different underlying social objectives which affect their communication patterns. This chapter examines this sociolinguistic perspective in the context of online courses, where students are often requested to collaborate with their classmates in online threaded discussions. Although the stage is set in online courses to smother cultural and gender differences if participants wish to do so, a key finding is that gender based cultural patterns still emerge. These differences were strong enough to allow significant identification of the student gender, despite the gender neutral context of the course discussions. Implications for ICT in general in view of this Vive la Différence are discussed.

Cross-cultural differences in temperament in the first year of life: United States of America (US) and Russia

2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 316-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria A. Gartstein ◽  
Helena R. Slobodskaya ◽  
Irina A. Kinsht
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Parent Report ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Perceptual Sensitivity ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
And Gender

Cross-cultural differences in temperament were evaluated for Russian ( N = 90) and US ( N = 90) samples of infants. Significant differences in levels of temperament characteristics, and the structure of temperament, were anticipated. Age and gender differences evaluated for the Russian sample were expected to be consistent with those reported for US infants. The Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised, a recently developed parent-report assessment tool, was utilised with both samples. Differences between these cultures were evaluated for 14 dimensions of temperament: activity level, smiling/laughter, fear, distress to limitations, duration of orienting, soothability, vocal reactivity, high and low intensity pleasure, falling reactivity, affiliation/cuddliness, perceptual sensitivity, sadness, and approach. Significant differences between Russian and US infants emerged for six of the IBQ-R scales. Parents of infants in the US reported higher levels of smiling/laughter, high and low intensity pleasure, perceptual sensitivity, and vocal reactivity, whereas Russian infants’ scores were higher for distress to limitations. Correlation matrix comparison procedure and exploratory factor analysis indicated differences in the structure of temperament for the two cultural groups. Age differences observed for the Russian infants were generally consistent with those reported for a US sample; gender differences did not emerge in this study.

Black South Africans and Canadians on Neuroticism as a Dimension of Personality

1992 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 332-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuntufye S. Mwamwenda
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Black South Africans

This study was done to assess gender and cultural differences on neuroticism as a dimension of personality among both Canadians and Black South Africans. No statistically significant cross-cultural differences were observed. However, statistically significant gender differences emerged among both Canadian and African men and women, with the latter scoring higher on neuroticism than the former.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Strategies of Peer Persuasion of Hebrew-Speaking and Arabic-Speaking Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 355-372
Author(s):  
Rachel Karniol
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Communication Styles ◽  
Language Group ◽  
Participant Gender ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Female Peer ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Main Effects

Abstract The purpose of the current research was to examine strategies of persuasion used by Arabic-speaking and Hebrew-speaking boys and girls to determine the relative contributions of culture and gender in determining communication styles. Children were asked to write a letter to a male or female peer asking for a gender-stereotyped or a gender-neutral gift. Four meta-categories were identified: formality, self-focus, other-focus, and gift-focus. For each meta-category except gift-focus, there were significant main effects and interactions. Language group was significant for formality and other-focus but not for self-focus. Importantly, there were several interactions between participant gender, target gender, and gender-stereotypy of gift, but these did not interact with language group. The results were discussed in the context of children’s socialization to the ethos of musayara and dugri in Arabic-speaking and Hebrew-speaking culture.

CROSS-CULTURAL RESPONSE STYLES ON THE KIRTON ADAPTION-INNOVATION INVENTORY

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kunio Shiomi ◽  
Robert Loo
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Response Styles ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Industrialized Nations ◽  
National Response ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Substantial Degree ◽  
Cross National

The Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI) has been a widely-used measure including use in cross-cultural and cross-national studies over the past 20 years. However, researchers have generally neglected the issue of cross-cultural response styles and simply accepted differences in KAI scores as indicators of real cross-cultural differences. The present study examined the KAI scores of Canadian and Japanese samples to identify any cross-national and gender differences in response styles. Overall, the results of analyses at the subscale and itemlevel suggest possible differences in cross-national response styles but not to any substantial degree. It is suggested that cross-cultural and gender differences in response styles may be diminishing, at least, in the industrialized nations. Several recommendations are presented to facilitate future study on this issue with the KAI.

Social Desirability Scores of South African and Canadian Students

1996 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 723-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuntufye S. Mwamwenda
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Desirability ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Child Rearing ◽  
Social Desirability Scale ◽  
African Students ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences

The purpose of this study was to assess the scores of 161 African (97 girls and 64 boys) and 190 Canadian students (107 girls and 83 boys) on Eysenck's social desirability scale which indicates the extent to which one is Likely to describe his personality favourably. Analysis showed South African students scored higher than Canadian students, both boys and girls, but there were no gender differences between African or Canadian boys and girls. Cross-cultural differences may be attributable to cultural and child-rearing practices of South Africans and Canadians.

scholarly journals Difference in Perception of Onset of Old Age in Traditional (Hadza) and Modern (Polish) Societies

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (19) ◽  
pp. 7079
Author(s):  
Tomasz Frąckowiak ◽  
Agata Groyecka-Bernard ◽  
Anna Oleszkiewicz ◽  
Marina Butovskaya ◽  
Agnieszka Żelaźniewicz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Subjective Perception ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Physiological Indicators ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Traditional Societies ◽  
Psychological Perceptions

Despite relatively clear physiological indicators of old age, little is known about cross-cultural differences in psychological perceptions of the transition to old age. Although recent studies suggest consistency between modern countries, the subjective perception of old age onset in traditional societies remains poorly explored. Therefore, we compared the perception of timing of old age between a traditional tribe of hunter-gatherers (the Hadza) and a Polish sample representing a modern, industrialized population. The results indicate that the Hadza perceive old age onset as being significantly earlier than do the Poles. Furthermore, we found between-gender differences in the Polish sample: men set a lower threshold of old age onset than women. The Hadza showed no between-gender difference. Although the samples were matched for age, a larger proportion of Hadza considered themselves old. We discuss these findings from cultural and demographical perspectives.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Adolescents' Perceptions of Their Grandparents

1997 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Hurme
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Contact Frequency ◽  
Polish Study ◽  
The Two Cultures ◽  
New Finding ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Personality Features

Partial results from a larger Finnish-Polish study on the relations between grandchildren, parents, and grandparents are presented here. The results are based on a content analysis of essays written by 731 Finnish and Polish adolescents between eleven and twenty-one. Older children used more abstract descriptions, girls mentioned more personality features and feelings than boys, and grandmothers, especially maternal grandmothers were described in the most positive terms. The central new finding was that there are highly significant cross-cultural differences in the descriptions of grandparents: the Poles describe them in more abstract terms even after controlling for age and gender. Polish adolescents make more mention of their feelings, their personality, and their skills as well as of emotional/intellectual input from them; they use more positive terms than do the Finns, but make less mention of activities and appearance. These differences between the two cultures are mediated by contact frequency, which through its working on the proximal level enables co-construction of the relationship and the transmission of interactional styles.

Are Cross-Gender Conversations in Threaded Discussions Reminiscent of Communicating Across Cultural Boundaries?

2008 ◽  
pp. 3566-3577
Author(s):  
D.avid Gefen ◽  
Nitza Geri ◽  
Narasimha Paravastu
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Threaded Discussions ◽  
Threaded Discussion ◽  
The Core ◽  
Cultural Boundaries ◽  
The Way

At the core of sociolinguistic theory is the recognition that men and women when engaging in an open conversation communicate differently because of their different respective social objectives in communication. Oral conversations are, according to sociolinguists, akin to cross cultural conversations and hence the tendency toward same-gender conversations. Extrapolating to the realm of threaded discussions in online courses, these gender differences, it is hypothesized, should translate into mild gender segregation in the threaded discussions as well as men showing a greater proclivity to dominate the discussion. Data from 233 students in 27 courses support these hypotheses and allow a significant identification of the gender of the student based on whom they reference in the threaded discussion and the way they reference others. Implications on managing threaded discussions are discussed.

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