Tomorrow I head to China for some consulting work. I’m hoping to have the chance to post but I may not. If I don’t, then I’ll resume posting the week of November 2nd. Until then…

One of the most hackneyed Western stereotypes is that “the Chinese are inscrutable.” I’ve never really been clear on what that’s supposed to mean. I think mostly people have meant that it’s hard for a Westerner to know what a Chinese person is thinking, based on what they say. Which makes sense, given the high-context [...]

What does it mean to trust someone? It means at least that: You think the person has your best interests at heart, i.e. has good intentions toward you. You think the person generally says what they believe. You and the person share some set of values and/or objectives that are independent of either of your [...]

American notions of truth and trust are founded on an underlying faith that more information is better, and that information, all things being equal, should be made available. This follows from Americans’ universalist perspective on the world, and also from our “Layer 1″ and “Layer 2″ perspective. Information is treated differently in China. It tends [...]

In an earlier post I wrote about how we humans judge ourselves on our intentions, but judge others on their behaviors. We can’t avoid this: we can only judge based on what we have access to, and we just don’t have access to others’ intentions. When we see unfamiliar behaviors, we have even less than [...]

From the last post we could get the idea that Americans are absolutely devoted to truth, which could make us feel smug compared to the “truth-relative” Chinese. Before we get too certain about that, let’s look at some evidence that points otherwise. Back in 1981, Linda Coleman and Paul Kay, a graduate student and a [...]

There are plenty of circumstances in which Americans consider it okay, even desirable, not to tell the truth. (Take the age-old example of the Nazis coming to your door asking about the Jews you’re hiding in your attic.) Still, on balance, Americans believe in telling the truth. Or, more to the point, Americans think of [...]

So much misunderstanding between China and the U.S. occurs around truth and trust. In their more candid moments, Americans will often share with me that the Chinese are “inscrutable” and “dishonest.” If that’s our starting point, it’s predictable that we will either fail, or be miserable in whatever small successes we can gain. Today we [...]

One way to think of universalism is that it’s just another cultural characteristic; that, just as “specific” is different from “diffuse,” “universalist” is different from “particularist.” That’s all well and good. The problem is that universalism has some mischief hidden inside that can cause serious trouble if we’re not aware of it. Here’s what I [...]

A fourth dimension of culture used by Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner that impacts Westerners in China — especially Americans — is what they call “ascription” versus “achievement”: All societies give certain of their members higher status than others, signaling that unusual attention should be focused upon such people and their activities. While some societies accord status [...]