Culture and Status-Related Behavior: Japanese and American Perceptions of Interaction in Asymmetric Dyads

Abstract

In examining the pattern of status-related behavior in the United States and Japan, the authors compared perceptions of verbal and nonverbal behaviors of lower and higher status people in asymmetric dyadic interaction using 105 behavioral scales. A similar gap was found between perceptions of behavior of lower and higher status people in both cultures, suggesting that this status-related behavior follows a fundamental pattern probably common across cultures. Nevertheless, culture appears to affect the magnitude at which status-related behavior is manifested. In Japan, a hierarchical, collectivist, tight, and high-context culture, the authors found perceptions of greater differences in the behavior of lower and higher status people than in the United States, a more egalitarian, individualist, and low-context culture. The sources and implications of this general pattern of status-related behavior and its cross-cultural differences are discussed.