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Selamawit Teshome

Pro. Safiya OBrien

Eng. 101

12/14/2017

The cultural difference between American and Ethiopian

Culture is a set of shared interpretation about beliefs, values, norms and social practices that

affect the behavior of relatively large group of people. The basic foundation of life is knowing

our culture.(Program .42). Once we understand our culture clearly, its easier to differentiate

our culture with others. Knowing this difference prevent the society from cultural shock. The

basic cultural difference between the American and Ethiopians are Individualism-collectivism,

Power distance and high- low context culture.

The first difference is individualism-collectivism. The idea of individualism - collectivism

shapes the society in every direction. It defines the narrative of the political, social and

economic interactions among people. The Ethiopian culture is considered as collectivism,

which means they do all thing as a family. In Ethiopia the word family includes direct family and

extended family. Ethiopians share common good together. For example, if one of the family

member works, and make a good money, other family will depend on him/her. He/She has to

support the family until they become independent. One person takes matters as if his/her

business in any form of life. In general the society acts as a group and care for each other as a

family.

However, in the United States the culture is considered as individualism. Individualism is best

defined as "the idea that the individuals life belongs to him and that he has an inalienable right

to live it as he sees fit, to act on his own judgment, to keep and use the product of his effort, and
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to pursue the values of his choosing." Americans consider themselves to be separate individuals

who are in control of their own lives. They are only expected to look after themselves and their

direct family. One of the areas where we can observe individuals in American culture is through

parents-child relationship. In America when children reach the age of eighteen they are expected

to be independent and start living by themselves (i.e. move out of their parent's home, making

decision by themselves which determines the fate of their lives.). However, in Ethiopia

regardless of their age children still live with their parents especially if they are jobless or if they

don't have enough income to be left alone by themselves. Even if they have enough income, the

society expect them to spend their resources with the family to support each other. In American

culture when the Americans speak they use I instead of we; as opposed to, Ethiopian who

speak by using we.

The second difference is power distance. The dimension deals with the fact all individuals in

societies are not equal. Ethiopians are high power distance that ranked at high 70. High power

distance means, people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which

need no further justification. In Ethiopia there is high power distance which means that parents

have a total control over their children, and husbands may have total control over their wives.

In contrast, United States has low power distance that ranked at low 40. They do not accept

hierarchical order. (I.e. parents have less control over their children, and husbands does not have

control over their wives.) Americans believe all people are created equal, so no one has over

control on another. For example in Tide tv commercial-dad mom we see that the man (dad)

stays home and does house chores while the woman (mom) goes out to do the office work. In

contrast to American culture, in Ethiopia/ repi- wilmar soap and detergent s.c- diva soap

commercial, we see the woman (mom) stay home and does all the house chores, such as taking
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care of the kids, cooking for the household, cleaning, etc. While man (dad) goes out to do the

office work.

The third difference is high-low context culture. A high- low context culture is defined as

High-context cultures are those in which the rules of communication are primarily transmitted

through the use of contextual elements (i.e., body language, a person's status, and tone of voice)

and are not explicitly stated. This is in direct contrast to low-context cultures, in which

information is communicated primarily through language and rules are explicitly spelled out."

In Ethiopia the society is high context culture, very little is expressed through word. People

mostly communicate in way that are implicit and rely heavily nonverbal language, gesture,

silence, facial expression and relationship with the communicator have more meaning.

However, in United States the culture is low context culture. Meanings/ideas are expressed

through language, they speak louder and direct. Verbal message is explicit, context is less

important than words. Communication is seen as a way of exchanging information, idea, and

opinion. Ethiopians generally speak in soft tone, loud voice seen as too aggressive, rude, and not

too humble. On the other hand, Americans consider soft tone as lack of self confidence and low

self-esteem. For example, there is a cultural difference reflected between Ethiopian and

American ways of mourning when loved ones die.

In Ethiopian culture when people pay visit to the family who lost their loved ones, they

normally communicate via gestures instead of words. They sit down not talking or saying much

but facially expressing sorrow. Also on departing they silently and slowly exit the door waving

to the family. This is considered and understood as way of expressing sorrow and feeling the

grief of the family who lost loved ones. In contrary, in American culture people communicate

using words. They express their sorrow using verbal expressions among friends and family.
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In conclusion, the above Ethiopian and American cultural difference is the basic one among

the several differences between the two countries/nations. Knowing the above difference prevent

the society from cultural shock. Most first generation immigrants, where their culture does not fit

well; experiences sadness, loneliness, anger and frustration. This usually comes as they dont

prepare themselves (i.e. emotionally and psychologically) about the cultural differences they will

experience. As a result, people gets stressed out and have anxiety attacks, and their thought

process and behavior would highly affected.

Works Cited

Cultural Shock and Depression in the U.S. Ethiopian Community. Ethiopian Review,

www.ethiopianreview.com/index/35402

Ethiopia | Repi-Wilmar Soap and Detergent S.C. -- Diva Soap. YouTube, YouTube, 29 Aug.

2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3Hsxgr2234.

Individualism vs. Collectivism: Our Future, Our Choice. The Objective Standard,

www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2012-spring/individualism-collectivism/.

Hall, Edward T., et al. Beyond Culture. By Edward T. Hall,

www.goodreads.com/book/show/251347.Beyond_Culture.

Power Distance. Intercultural Communication: a Joint Project between Effat University,

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Hope College, Holland, MI, USA,

hopeinterculturalcomm.weebly.com/power-distance.html.
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Program. Engleberg, THINK Communication, 3rd Edition | Pearson, www.pearson.com/us/higher-

education/program/Engleberg-THINK-Communication-3rd-Edition/PGM334257.html.