Unlike rules and regulations, following traditions is not obligatory. Traditions can be common to a certain ethnic group, culture or even a family. For example, In India, people touch the feet of their elders to as a gesture of respect and subservience. This is unique to Indian society. Moreover, new traditions can be created over time. Suppose two people start to something annually, over the years, it will become a family tradition, and it can even be transmitted to the future generations.
Rituals are collective activities, sometimes superfluous in reaching desired objectives, but are considered as socially essential. They are therefore carried out most of the times for their own sake ways of greetings, paying respect to others, religious and social ceremonies, etc. The core of a culture is formed by values. They are broad tendencies for preferences of certain state of affairs to others good-evil, right-wrong, natural-unnatural. Many values remain unconscious to those who hold them.
Therefore they often cannot be discussed, nor they can be directly observed by others. Values can only be inferred from the way people act under different circumstances. Symbols, heroes, and rituals are the tangible or visual aspects of the practices of a culture. The true cultural meaning of the practices is intangible; this is revealed only when the practices are interpreted by the insiders. Figure 1. Manifestation of Culture at Different Levels of Depth.
People even within the same culture carry several layers of mental programming within themselves. Different layers of culture exist at the following levels: The national level: Associated with the nation as a whole. The regional level: Associated with ethnic, linguistic, or religious differences that exist within a nation. The gender level: Associated with gender differences female vs. The social class level: Associated with educational opportunities and differences in occupation.
The corporate level: Associated with the particular culture of an organization. Applicable to those who are employed. A variable can be operationalized either by single- or composite-measure techniques. A single-measure technique means the use of one indicator to measure the domain of a concept; the composite-measure technique means the use of several indicators to construct an index for the concept after the domain of the concept has been empirically sampled.
Hofstede has devised a composite-measure technique to measure cultural differences among different societies: Power distance index: The index measures the degree of inequality that exists in a society. Uncertainty avoidance index: The index measures the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain or ambiguous situations.
Individualism index: The index measure the extent to which a society is individualistic. Individualism refers to a loosely knit social framework in a society in which people are supposed to take care of themselves and their immediate families only.
The other end of the spectrum would be collectivism that occurs when there is a tight social framework in which people distinguish between in-groups and out-groups; they expect their in-groups relatives, clans, organizations to look after them in exchange for absolute loyalty. Cultural problems cannot be resolved at the surface. Focusing on the visible features of culture alone will not prevent misunderstandings and conflict.
The less obvious elements of culture create the most difficulty when we interact with others, yet these are typically invisible and subconscious and are often overlooked. National values are shared ideas of what is good, right, and desirable in a society.
National values sit on a continuum between two contrasting approaches to a societal problem. Every nation sits somewhere between the opposing alternatives. Autonomy and independent thought are valued and the interests and goals of the individual prevail over group welfare. Personal attitudes and needs are important determinants of behaviour. Ties between members are loose.
Nuclear families are more common than extended families. Love carries greater weight in marriage decisions and divorce rates are higher. Members of Individualistic cultures are likely to engage in activities alone and social interactions are shorter and less intimate, although they are more frequent. Members are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups. Social interdependence and collective harmony are valued. Relational ties and obligations are important determinants of behaviour; group goals take precedence over individual goals.
Shared living is emphasised. Extended families with uncles, aunts, and grandparents provide protection in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. There are lower divorce rates yet love carries less weight in marriage decisions. Members of Collectivistic cultures are likely to prefer group activities. Social interactions are longer and more intimate.
In high Power Distance societies, hierarchical systems of assigned roles organise behaviour. Power Distance is defined from below rather than above. In high Power Distance cultures, the less powerful members expect and accept inequalities.
Power is perceived to provide social order, relational harmony, and role stability. The social hierarchy needs no further justification. High Power Distance societies are differentiated into classes.
They have stable and scarce power bases for example, land ownership. Upward social mobility is limited. Only a few people have access to resources, knowledge, and skills. Different social groups have differential involvement in governance. In low Power Distance societies, members believe that inequalities should be minimised.
Power is seen as a source of corruption, coercion, and dominance. People recognise one another as moral equals with shared basic human interests. Members care about the welfare of others and cooperate with one another.
The most common and universal custom is that of shaking hands with people when a person is meeting them for the first time. The word tradition comes from a Latin word that means to deliver. This meaning is a clue as to what a tradition means.
It is a custom that is handed over by a generation to the coming generation and one that has been passed down over successive generations. A religious or social custom that has been passed down over generations becomes a tradition. It seems that customs slowly and gradually take the shape of traditions as they continue to be handed down the generations.
There is no clear cut definition of the word custom though tradition is certainly a belief or practice that has been passed over generations.
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