A Little Cultural Comparison
Ok so, there is something that I have been thinking about and I would love to hear some Steemit world input!
Being a relatively new resident of the great down under I get a lot of people asking me about the differences between Australian and Canadian culture. The discussion inevitably leads to the Australian self diagnosed "Tall Poppy Syndrome". Which Wikipedia describes as "an aversion to the success of one's peers." This syndrome is often credited as the reason for the chronic understatement which seems to be the Australian brand.
Now being that this is not my first cultural cross-over I realize that because culture is created by the people who are a part of it nothing is ever as cut and dried as a Wikipedia definition. So that being said...I have a theory.
My theory is that many Australian's have an aversion to conflict. I know that sounds a bit backwards, because knocking each other seems like it could cause conflict. But when I have observed interactions of ‘cutting some one down to size’ it is often followed by humour and avoidance of more difficult discussion. I think that the Australian culture actually uses both this negative humour as well as the above self diagnosis to avoid genuine conflict. It is a lot more comfortable to laugh things off.
So here is the question: Why is “tall poppy syndrome” and what motivates it?
Now I am not so concerned about this cultural trait being classified as right or wrong. I am more interested in what you think the motivations and realities of it are.
Let me know what you think! Are you Aussie True Blue or does your experience hold similarities from a different cultural context.
Chime in!
The expression "tall poppy syndrome" is more to do with staying humble, as @mattclarke suggested below.
"Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got
I'm still, I'm still Jenny from the block
Used to have a little, now I have a lot
No matter where I go, I know where I came from (from the Bronx!)"
We have an expression:
"Pull your head in" and the mental image is one of a turtle doing just that. We don't have a problem with people being successful, just don't showboat about it. Or look down your nose at other people on your way up.
The biggest offender of this little rule was a tennis player by the name of Leyton Hewitt.
I have heard quite a bit about Australia's low power distance within organizational structures. So that is what I think of when you mention staying humble. Maybe expressed as keeping a level playing field. Am i understanding you right? Why do you think Australian culture has developed in this way as opposed to the high power distance in other western cultures?
There's a strong sense of fairness here that is culturally reinforced.
There's nothing that can't be talked over, over a beverage or two either.
It could be the fact that our voting is mandatory, and if we have to vote then the people we vote in better be good at what they do.
It could be the heat during the summer months, or it could be the influence of the indigenous Aborigines (everything is shared equally and for the good of all).
I hadn't heard the expression "low power distance" but a Google search
found a scale of countries here: http://www.clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/power-distance-index/
We aren't too far below the USA in that scale.
We also are quite open about our hourly rate, whereas I find that people the USA think it's a bad idea to compare them. People at the same level should be paid the same amount, etc.
I can definitely see the voting system having quite an effect on what Australian's expect from their politicians and the sense of ownership that is held as a result. Even though I'm not allowed to vote yet, I find I am far more invested in political happenings here than I was in Canada where the average voting percentage is around 60%.
Thank you for that link. It lead me down a lovely rabbit trail of learning. I stumbled across this site in the process: http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp
It has a bit more thorough research (the above research was done entirely within one company and with group surveys) and reflects the changing aspect of values over time. There is such a large range world wide that I think some of the hardest differences to deal with are the ones that look like they should be small.
When I lived in the states for a bit, it was apparent to me that the successful sector of society attempted to self-ostracise.
Meanwhile the "peasantry" looked at acts such as NBA players buying tons of gifts for under privileged children at Christmas as 'heroic' and 'generous', failing to view it with the cyncism of it being "just a tax deduction", and a measly percentage of their wealth.
(Less than say a $20 donation made by someone on an average salary or wage)
I feel as though Australians see the world with a bit more cynicism than most, but fail to articulate it as well as they could.
A little dose of realism or a hefty grain of salt. What do you think it is about Australia that has developed this perspective? Do you think it is a benefit to the country?
It's difficult, I guess, since it's the only culture in which I've been organically immersed.
US culture is, I'm sure, different in many respects from what I've seen on Friends, for example.
I don't know that tall poppy syndrome is so much about the success of peers.
If you move up in the world but remember where you came from, then nobody has much of a problem with it; but if you start peering down your nose at others ten minutes after you've had a sniff of a win, you're going to lose friends, fast.
Brash, unashamed self promotion rubs us up the wrong way.
When we first arrived in Australia our neighbour and landlady was welcoming and friendly. At the time she had a job as a kitchen hand and often talked about how people had looked down one her all her life, but she had found herself a hubby who had worked his way up to supervisor/manager in the building trade and they were on the first step to building their property portfolio.
About a year in she was working towards getting into the police force. She trained, lost lots of weight and eventually made it. The closer she got to her goal, the more distant and aloof she became with us. Towards the end of our tenancy we only really spoke to her husband as she wouldn't have anything to do with us.
I was amazed at the social divide between the haves and haves nots here in comparison to Britain. Now you've put it that way I can see why that divide appears. You rarely see the peering down the nose attitude where I come from and when you do it's laughed about, much in the way that Hyacinth Bucket is laughed about in "Keeping up Appearances". I guess it's rare enough to be humoured.
Good people make terrible cops. Maybe they were training that contempt into her.
There's a lot to unpack there. I have no direct experience of the UK, but perhaps it revolves around the concept of aristocracy.
Over there you can be incredibly wealthy but still a commoner, in many respects less important than a penniless Duke.
Hyacinth wasn't trying to appear wealthy, she was trying to appear well connected. That really makes no sense to us. Still very funny though :)
You could be onto something with the aristocracy. Hyacinth, like many middle class people, was trying to imitate aristocracy, which is wealth, but you're quite right, it's more than just wealth it's elitism. That's where the old money/new money clash comes in. New money doesn't have the family connections or the knowledge and traditions that come with the aristocracy.
The aristocracy don't attempt to separate themselves from the commoners. They will happily sit in the country pub chatting to the locals where the upper middle class think they're too good for that. New money often tries too hard and separates itself from the commoners while aristocracy is confident in their place. They keep the respect of the people because of that. You can imagine it going back to the time when they were the masters of the land and productive people on their land made them wealthy, so a good Lord was usually one that was good to his people too.
The actor, Robert Lyndsay, is from the town I was born and raised. He didn't leave when he gained fame and wealth. Ron Haslam lived around the corner from where Shaun lived. They were small town people and didn't get harassed for their fame by the locals and they didn't treat them any differently.
I know the feeling of watching a show from the US and wincing as the characters allow successes to go to their head. It is actually on of the things that is pretty distinctive between US and Canadian culture. As mentioned I mentioned in my comment to @shaidon there is a very different view on power distance between the US and Australia. Where Americans would refer to their President as 'Mr. President Sir' Aussies would call the Prime Minister Malcolm or even a nickname. How do you see it function within the work and responsibility context here in Australia?
But then Aussies did nothing when Howard banned semi-autos in 96.
Imagine the response if Trump did the same?
His head on a pike would decorate the smouldering ruins of the White House.
It's like Americans have more respect for the Office; while Australians show affection or contempt for the individual who holds the office.
This might stem from the idea that our Head of state is actually the Queen, and the PM is more of a high ranking public servant.
This is true! But there is also the fact that the US established their country (war of independence) and and to a great degree their identity (the civil war) through armed conflict. So the root connection to firearms has a different flavour. I can see what you mean with the individual being held to account. If Australian's are unhappy with the individual in leadership there can be a pretty quick change. Where in the US there is much more hesitation to toss a party leader when things look rough.
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I've never heard of it, but reading through the responses it does explain a few differences I noticed between here and the UK.
Reading through your response above I can see how the differences in the way that we entered Australia would effect how we experience the culture. Where I came in to an almost socially preset environment, where most of the people I met we predisposed to accept me on the basis of their relationships with my husband and in-laws, you would have had a very different experience. I would love to hear more about what it was like for you moving here. In my conversation with @shaidon I stumbled across this website: http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSOnline.jsp . It shows the same survey information from different countries over a time period. You can even see the results from specific questions. I'm not sure if the number of people they surveyed is adequate to call it representative, but I did find it very interesting.
That's a good point. It's also a good example of why statistics are often inaccurate. Too many variables. The thing we have in common is that we are both migrants; other than that we have completely different backgrounds and our circumstances on entering the country are completely different.
But have you found your experiences, once here, to be similar in the way you perceived Australians and our culture / ways of doing things?
Not really. You have to remember that most of us learnt about Australia via Crocodile Dundee! Lol!