Polish Culture Vs American Culture

A culture is an idealized pattern of meanings, values, and norms differentially shared by the members of a society, which can be inferred from the non-instinctive behavior of the group and from the symbolic products of their actions, including material a artifacts, language, and social institutions.

Working in an industry with so much legislation has taught me to watch the news. In my five years of regular news watching I don’t once recall hearing Poland’s economy mentioned. Though rarely mentioned Poland certainly deserves a round of applause. They were the only European county to avoid the 2008 recession and were 5th in overall European economic growth last year coming in at 3.5% (Myers, 2016). In comparison the United States came in slightly behind at 3.12% (“US GDP growth rate by year,” n.d.). With their economic success and a variety of internships available Poland is an attractive option for those looking for international employment opportunities. If you are fortunate enough to find yourself in employed in Poland you will notice a significant difference in culture and management styles than that of the United Sates.

Culture is an intermingling mesh of traits that, although unique to each person, brings groups of people together. It is comprised of numerous different aspects that are passed down through generations, including religion, food, clothing, language, music, morals, and greetings. Because of its extensive range, it is easy to see how much culture impacts a person’s life. One’s culture vastly affects how he or she views the world due to ingrained traditions, stereotypes, and values within his or her heritage.

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

Several factors affect the formation of one’s culture, Palispis, E. (2007) quoted Sir Edward Tylor, “Culture… refers to that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of society.” (Palispis, E., 2007) In this context culture is something we acquire from the people we have lived with since we were born, it is not something a person can learn overnight nor can be disposed effortlessly.

We can identify differences between Poles and US from several aspects. Theses aspects are such as merit, ages, seniority, trust, informality, and individualism compared to team work. For instance, when it is about merit, ages, and seniority, there is huge consideration of older people in Poles, minimizing thus younger people in terms of management skills. In addition, compared to Americans, trust is not an easy habit from Poles. The same goes with the communication skills where Poles are seen to be more formal in their communications than Americans using a direct and informal way of communication. It is also noticeable due to their communist systems of prioritizing its own benefits, Poles have individualistic approach compared to Americans. Other aspects of differences between Poles and the U.S are such as the relationships of work and family. Poles makes a clear difference between work and family, perceiving hard work as a threat into their family life. Poles also minimize the importance of experience in the workplace, preferring to be propelled quickly as managers. Therefore, managers from Poles tend to support less positive feedback, but would rather support criticisms and negative feedbacks.

Culture is defined to be the complete range of behavioral patterns that is learned in a particular group. Edward B. Tyler, a renowned anthropologist explains it further in his book Primitive Culture, to be the “complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." It is true, that we are a product of our environment, and that we are taught to embrace our respective cultures. But in recent history, and in today’s society, we have seen any and every type of discrimination not only based on race, but gender, ableness, and religion. How have these issues formed the variety of cultures that are present in the modern day world, how have the negative influences affected these cultures, and are these influences to be solely recognized or celebrated as well? Ultimately and inevitably, cultures, through continued traditions and overcoming hardships, evolve.

Culture is a way of life inevitably intertwined within all civilizations since the beginning of human history. Handed down from one generation to the next, culture remains as a perpetually endless occurrence. Humanity has been involuntarily defining its regions, civilizations, and each its peoples respectively to each of the geographical locations in which the inhabitants were born. Prosperous and thriving throughout the centuries, all ways of life continue to grow and develop as multiple factors, such as climate change, war, natural disasters, politics, and religion come into play. Beliefs, arts, and customs are primary in defining culture, yet many other major cultural characteristics contribute to its definition as well. Literature, philosophy, ceramics, cuisine, and music are just a few more diversifying characteristics found throughout the many cultures of the world. The economy, preferably sustainable and easily maintained, in certain geographical locations also plays an undeniably vital role in how a culture is determined or developed. War, within a country, on its surrounding countries, or on a worldwide scale, can lead to a drastic change in

One prominent aspect of culture is traditions. Both American and traditional Polish culture have the tradition of celebrating birthdays with a party. This relates to me because I have experienced both Polish and American birthday parties. On the surface, the birthdays are different, but digging deeper, the culture is similar to each other. On the surface, American and Polish birthday parties have some similarities but a lot of differences.

The concept of culture is something that defines many aspects of one’s life. From physical objects to different ways of thinking, culture adds significance to human life and makes groups of people distinct from one another. Culture is essentially a group of people who come together with similar interests and points of view. According to the Center for Advanced Language Acquisition of the University of Minnesota, “culture is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization.” From a more sociological perspective, culture is a way in which people come together in order to fulfill their needs. These shared patterns and ideas identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group.” Culture is one of the things that sets the United States apart from the rest of the world. Not that the rest of the world is not cultural, but the circumstance here is different. Many people of different cultural backroads come to this country in search of a better life. As a consequence, the United States has become a place where many cultures merge together like a colossal pot soup.

We also need to know the definition of culture. Culture includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, custom and other habits that are acquired by a person as a member of society (Taylor 1958(1871). Precisely, it’s the people’s way of life. There are certain myths about culture which are often not true. The first myth is that culture is static; this myth is untrue since culture changes over time through the influence of both external and internal forces. The other myth is that culture is the same as tradition. This

Around the year 1648, power in Poland was diminishing as the uprise of the Cossacks was growing in Ukrainian society. As Poland was trying to re-establish their dominance in Europe, this brought to the Russo-Polish War in 1654, also known as the War for Ukraine. The war ended up lasting 13 years, and the result of the war and the many conflicts between the Cossacks was Russia and Poland dividing the lands of Ukraine. Ukraine became a major battleground for many of the surrounding countries, mainly Russia, leading to Russia establishing itself as a large power in Europe, while Ukraine’s autonomy began its decline.

Culture can be defined as “the sum total of the beliefs, rules, techniques, institutions, and artifacts that characterize human populations” or “the collective programming of the mind.

The definition of a culture has changed drastically over the history of people trying to define it. The common theme that resides in most definitions is the notion that a group of people whose knowledge and behaviors are learned and passed down from generation to generation. The question is what determines the development of these behaviors and beliefs of a particular culture. This is a question that has no clear cut answer, despite the extensive research that has been conducted in this field of study. (Defining Culture)

Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1962) identify over 150 scientific definitions of the concept of culture. Indeed, many authors have tried to define culture and this is why there are so many definitions and that a unique one is hard to find. First of all, Kroeber and Kluckholn (1952) assume that culture is a suite of patterns, implicit and explicit, “of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artefacts” (p.47). Later, Hofstede adds that culture is “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another” (Hofstede, 1991, p.51). This definition is the most widely accepted one amongst practitioners. For Winthrop (1991), culture is the distinctive models of thoughts, actions and values that composed members of a society or a social group. In other words,