Monday, June 30, 2008
Socially appropriate behaviors (Chpt. 12)
Socially appropriate behaviors are nothing new to us. We do these everyday and it always changes in each setting. These behaviors are mannerly, courteous, and respectful behavior, versus rude, uncivilized, and ill mannered. However, these behaviors are culturally learned rules. What is expected among people and the norm of the culture makes up these appropriate behaviors. Europe has very different behaviors concerning "boundaries" with one another versus the U.S. Americans will shake hands when first meeting, in Italy you greet with giant hugs and kisses. It can be extremely impolite in social situations not to be affectionate when greeting people in Italy, even if it is uncomfortable for us because that is what is socially appropriate in those greetings.
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3 comments:
Hi,
I agree with you that socially appropriate behaviors are culturally learned. I am Taiwanese, and some socially appropriate behaviors in Taiwan are different from those in the United States and in Europe. In Taiwan, we don’t greed people with hugs and kiss either. If you greed people with hugs and kiss in Taiwan, they would most likely feel very uncomfortable and maybe even feel offended. Another example of different socially appropriate behaviors in different cultures would be smiling to strangers. When I first came to the United States, many people who walked by me smiled to me or nodded their heads. At first, I felt very weird and uncomfortable; I thought “why are people smiling to me? Is there something on my face?” This is because most people don’t smile to strangers in Taiwan; it would be weird to smile at people who walk by you. Later I learned that smiling is a socially appropriate behavior here, even to strangers. Without full understanding of the socially appropriate behaviors, it could be very awkward in interpreting others’ behaviors.
-Ruby
I agree with your post. I also believe these behaviors are culturally learned. In my culture, we greet people with a hug and air kiss to the cheek. We do this when we see relatives or when we meet new people for the first time. It is basically a sign of respect and that we are glad to meet that person. I also agree that if we did not do this in any social setting then it would be considered very rude and impolite in my culture.
hello,
I also agree that socially appropriate behaviors is a learned by socialization from birth usually by our parents. As we grow we learn socially appropriate behavior also known as manners they stick with as we grow into adults and apply them to situation that we find applicable. For example, when we go on first date the man always try to be the perfect gentlemen ( trying to make a good first impression to their date) which is a social habit that they learn from some one close to them or somebody.
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