Prejudice to Germans in America, Based on the Real-life Encounter

Prior to my interview with Klimt, I did my own research on Hofstede Insights’ website on the differences between Germany and the United States. I was surprised with how similar we are on many levels, but there were two differences that were predominantly different: individualism and long-term orientation. Individualism is “the degree of interdependence a society maintains among members” (Lustig et al 5. 2. 3). The U. S. scored a 91 while Germany’s is a 67. When I asked Klimt what he loves most about America, he said he loved the freedom and determination that people hold themselves accountable for, and that it wasn’t something he had seen much of in Germany. America was built on the basis of freedom and equality which relates back to the higher score of individualism. While Germans do hold qualities of self-reliance, the U. S was formed on independence which is what makes us stand out to foreigners. Long-term orientation is “how every society maintains links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future” (Lustig et al. 5. 2. 5).

Germany’s score sat at 83 while the U. S. held a score of 26 which leaves them having short-term orientation, an example of this being that Americans tend to fact check a lot, making them less pragmatic. They hold very strong ideas about good and evil, while Germans have a higher ability to adapt to change. This showed to be true in my interview when I asked Klimt what he thinks he’ll take away most from his experience in America. “I take a lot of pride in America after being here for a few years, I plan to come back as often as I can, I can find everything I’m searching for in life here,” he said. I feel that this response showed how much he’s adapted to the American lifestyle and how pragmatic he is. As Hofstede Insights states, pragmatic people “believe that truth depends very much on situation, context and time. ” Klimt’s interview showed how easily he’s adapted to change and America traditions, and having pride in a country that’s not his own. When asked if he gets treated differently or if people were prejudice towards him, Klimt said “not as much as when I first moved here. I couldn’t speak English that well, and it used to be really hard to communicate with people I wasn’t comfortable with yet. Some people I met were very helpful, others would ignore me or tell me they couldn’t understand what I was trying to say, it was very pick and choose. ” The definition of prejudice is “negative attitudes towards other people that are based on faulty and inflexible stereotypes (Lustig et al. 6. 2. 4).

In his situation, I feel that people were prejudice towards his accent. Depending on the person, I feel that certain accents aren’t questioned such as British or Australian because they may be seen as more “prestige” or “superior” than a thick German accent. “I think a huge stereotype about our language is that people from other cultures think it sounds very harsh and frightening,” said Klimt. A stereotype is a “form of generalization about some group of people” (Lustig et al. 6. 2. 3).

There are a lot of stereotypes about Germans such as them always being angry or harsh because of the way they sound when they communicate, when in actuality, they take pride in their pronunciation and clarity in enunciating their words; which is something we aren’t really used to in America (Fluent in 3 Months). Going off the topic of how Klimt had been treated due to his accent, he also contradicted that idea by saying how much he “loves that Americans are so kind and willing to help in any given situation. ” He mentioned this a lot in our conversation, relating it to how different Germans are in regards to helping others in need. Humane orientation is “the degree to which people encourage others to be fair, altruistic, friendly, generous, caring, and kind” (Lustig et al. 5. 4).

Germany’s humane orientation is known to be pretty low on the spectrum, an example of why being that they’re not a culture that is very tolerant of mistakes. They’re a country that is focused more on performance, and less on empathy. Empathy is “the ability of individuals to communicate an awareness of another person’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences” (Lustig et al. 3. 4. 1).

“I’ve noticed that a lot of American’s will help the homeless by giving them money or food, which is something that I’ve never really seen be done at home in Germany,” said Klimt. He’s really thought about and noticed the higher scale of empathy and humane orientation that goes in the United States, and mentioned how that mindset is something he wants to bring back to Germany. There are a lot of differences in the way American’s approach one another compared to the way that Germans do, according to Klimt. “In Germany it is normal and considered respectful to call one by their last name,” he said. He also mentioned how words here such as “friend” have such different meanings than they do in Germany; where a friend would mean a deep and admirable friendship, not just an acquaintance. All of this relates to the idea of values and norms that are present in each culture. Values are what people define as good or bad, or what is important; while norms refer to “rules for appropriate behavior” or “expectations that people have of one another or of themselves” (Lustig et al. 2. 1).

Just as it is a norm in Germany to refer to someone by their last name, it is a norm in the U. S. to call someone by their first name. In terms of values, controversial subjects such as abortion, prostitution, and homosexuality are all more tolerated than they are America and are not seen as political issues (The German Way and More). “America is a lot more complicated than Germany,” said Klimt, “people care so much more about what’s going on around them and aren’t as focused on themselves, which I do admire to an extent. ”The final question I asked Klimt is what was the most memorable thing that living in the United States has given to you. He said what most impacted his life was his new-found love for sports, basketball especially. Klimt explained that they don’t have that much pride surrounding multiple sports in Germany and that it gave him a different sense of belonging and togetherness that he had never experienced before. “It gave me the feeling of pride, and I haven’t experienced that in my hometown before,” said Klimt. I feel that with this, Klimt learned about the value of sports in the U. S. , which is a huge part of American culture. Culture is defined as “a learned set of shared interpretations about beliefs, values, norms, and social practices which affects the behaviors of a relatively large group of people. Sports culture is huge in the United States, mainly around football, basketball, and baseball. Sports have been integrated in all school systems and basically any street you drive on in America, there will be some sort of court, field, or open space to engage in sporting activities which a lot of countries don’t possess. What really stood out to me most in the entirety of our conversation was how much love he has for the Sacramento Kings NBA team. “My host father, Dean, is who got me into basketball and my love for the Kings,” says Klimt. He emphasized how much going to the games and celebrating with his host father’s family gave him a new found appreciation and sense of loyalty to the sport. In-Group Collectivism is “the degree to which people express pride, loyalty, and solidarity with their family or similar group” (Lustig et al. 5. 4. 3).

Even though it may seem odd to refer to a sport as a form of in-group collectivism, I feel that it directly relates to the idea of shared loyalty in a group or family. “I love how the U. S. lifts the sport and pushes young talent to become something big,” said Klimt. The celebration and loyalty to one team is clearly something that Klimt has connected with and felt solidarity to during his time in America, and say’s that the team is something he feels pride and joy in, and that he will continue to represent them wherever he goes after he graduates. When asked about if his world view has changed since coming to America, Klimt said, “very much so, I think I have found that human nature is the same everywhere, and that we are all the same in one way or another”. I felt that this statement from him strongly related to the “Golden Rule” that we discussed in week 4. The “Golden Rule” showcased how different many cultures are, but how there are still many universal truths such as treating others how you want to be treated (week 4 discussion, Aligning Babies with Dimensions of the GLOBAL Taxonomy).