Module 3 Task 21

How, in your opinion, do people from different cultures differ in their everyday social rituals and ways in which they spend time at work? Read the explanation, take notes and then take the quiz to confirm your understanding. 

LEARNING POINT 6: TIME STRUCTURING

According to Transactional Analysis people organise their time in six different forms: withdrawal, rituals, entertainment, work, psychological games, and intimate moments. In this module, we will focus on presenting and discussing two of them in the context of cultural differences. 

RITUALS are connected with an exchange of socially accepted courtesies, actions that are predictable, expected, consistent with the adopted bon ton (good manners, tact, etiquette), knowledge of customs in a given group, and compliance with them. Across cultures, we may expect some differences in, for instance, work-related or education-related rituals. For example, during a business meeting, a person walking in greets others and asks about their health. The exchange is superficial, in the cliché formula. The answers are automatic, not always in line with the facts. E.g., “How are you? “I am fine.” Relating the description of rituals to East European culture reveals interesting contrasts with other regions. Rituals in any culture serve as mechanisms for maintaining social harmony and respecting the formalities expected within a given context. These rituals often involve predictable exchanges of pleasantries and formalities, such as greetings and inquiries about one's health, as mentioned in the example.

WORK is considered a specific action that is goal-oriented. It may be formal work on some company’s premises or informal work that one is doing at home. Work can be individual or in a group, with focus, according to a plan, using some adequate tools, based on specific tasks, with an expected result. It can be physical or intellectual work. A characteristic feature is a high level of commitment, matched with a clear intention: "I know what to do and I know how to do it." This type of time structuring may be seen to be uniform across cultures, yet, as it turns out, various cultures may approach time dedicated to work differently. In a collectivistic culture, people are taught to sacrifice their own interests for the group’s interests. Therefore, if urgent work needs to be done on the weekend, people will usually not decline it. The boundary between work and life is vague. Working off-hours is sometimes even considered “hardworking” and praised. Some Chinese companies, for example, practice the 996-work culture, meaning employees work from 9:00am to 9:00pm, 6 days per week. In Eastern Europe, however, people view their working time as definite, usually 40 hours a week, and there is always a clear-cut boundary between working time and off-work time.

Take the quiz to check your understanding of selected forms of time structuring.