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Clash!: 8 Cultural Conflicts That Make Us Who We Are
“If you fear that cultural, political, and class differences are tearing America apart, read this important book.� —Jonathan Haidt, Ph.D., author of The Righteous Mind
Who will rule in the twenty-first century: allegedly more disciplined Asians, or allegedly more creative Westerners? Can women rocket up the corporate ladder without knocking off the men? How can poor kids get ahead when schools favor the rich?
What kind of person are you? Are you independent—individual, unique, and in control of your world? Are you interdependent—relational, similar to others, and good at adjusting to situations? Or are you both? In Clash!, leading cultural psychologists Hazel Rose Markus and Alana Conner show us how our cultural backgrounds create and reflect these two basic ways of being a self, which then shapes everything from how we run our governments to how we raise our children. Markus and Conner also demonstrate how clashes between independence and interdependence fuel many of today’s most pressing conflicts, including tensions between East and West, the Global North and Global South, men and women, blacks and whites, conservative and liberal, religious groups, rich and poor, and businesses, governments, and nonprofits.
Rather than lamenting our multicultural worlds, Hazel Rose Markus and Alana Conner reveal how we can leverage our differences to mend the rifts in our workplaces, schools, and relationships, as well as on the global stage.
Provocative, witty, and painstakingly researched, Clash! not only explains who we are, it also envisions who we could become.
Who will rule in the twenty-first century: allegedly more disciplined Asians, or allegedly more creative Westerners? Can women rocket up the corporate ladder without knocking off the men? How can poor kids get ahead when schools favor the rich?
What kind of person are you? Are you independent—individual, unique, and in control of your world? Are you interdependent—relational, similar to others, and good at adjusting to situations? Or are you both? In Clash!, leading cultural psychologists Hazel Rose Markus and Alana Conner show us how our cultural backgrounds create and reflect these two basic ways of being a self, which then shapes everything from how we run our governments to how we raise our children. Markus and Conner also demonstrate how clashes between independence and interdependence fuel many of today’s most pressing conflicts, including tensions between East and West, the Global North and Global South, men and women, blacks and whites, conservative and liberal, religious groups, rich and poor, and businesses, governments, and nonprofits.
Rather than lamenting our multicultural worlds, Hazel Rose Markus and Alana Conner reveal how we can leverage our differences to mend the rifts in our workplaces, schools, and relationships, as well as on the global stage.
Provocative, witty, and painstakingly researched, Clash! not only explains who we are, it also envisions who we could become.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 2, 2013
32 people are currently reading
500 people want to read
About the author
Hazel Rose Markus
15Ìýbooks6ÌýfollowersHazel June Linda Rose Markus is a social psychologist and a pioneer in the field of cultural psychology. She is the Davis-Brack Professor in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University in Stanford, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
May 19, 2014
This book ROCKS!!!!!
I'm 100% blown away. Not only is it a fantastic primer on cultural psychology, but it's also an entertaining and eye opening read
Cultural psychology is the study of how psychological and behavioral tendencies are rooted in and embodied in culture. The main tenet of cultural psychology is that mind and culture are interdependent and mutually reinforcing systems, meaning that people are shaped by their culture and their culture is also shaped by them.
The essential premise of the book is that culture divides between independent and interdependent world views. The authors then lay out 8 cultural axis in which independent and interdependent worlds collide e.g. race: black/white, class: working/middle, gender: male/female, U.S. regional: north/south, religion: Protestant/Catholic, enterprise: for profit/non profit as well as global: east Aisia/Western Europe and global: north/south.
The book goes on to systematically explain how each of the afore mentioned points of conflict can be more effectively engaged to the benefit of all involved.
The central point of the book is that the independent and interdependent world views elicit different "selves"or "I's" that individuals can evoke and cultivate depending on their particular challenges, needs, desires, goals etc. Furthermore, the book asserts that the current demands of multicultural, multi centered society and global economics necessitate that the individual is flexible and skillful in their ability to operate from both independent and interdependent world views.
I know it sounds like a nightmare, but the authors do a remarkable job of presenting their case in very well organized, clear and fun language and examples. They also ground their ideas in very practical advice after each chapter summary.
LOVED IT :)
I'm 100% blown away. Not only is it a fantastic primer on cultural psychology, but it's also an entertaining and eye opening read
Cultural psychology is the study of how psychological and behavioral tendencies are rooted in and embodied in culture. The main tenet of cultural psychology is that mind and culture are interdependent and mutually reinforcing systems, meaning that people are shaped by their culture and their culture is also shaped by them.
The essential premise of the book is that culture divides between independent and interdependent world views. The authors then lay out 8 cultural axis in which independent and interdependent worlds collide e.g. race: black/white, class: working/middle, gender: male/female, U.S. regional: north/south, religion: Protestant/Catholic, enterprise: for profit/non profit as well as global: east Aisia/Western Europe and global: north/south.
The book goes on to systematically explain how each of the afore mentioned points of conflict can be more effectively engaged to the benefit of all involved.
The central point of the book is that the independent and interdependent world views elicit different "selves"or "I's" that individuals can evoke and cultivate depending on their particular challenges, needs, desires, goals etc. Furthermore, the book asserts that the current demands of multicultural, multi centered society and global economics necessitate that the individual is flexible and skillful in their ability to operate from both independent and interdependent world views.
I know it sounds like a nightmare, but the authors do a remarkable job of presenting their case in very well organized, clear and fun language and examples. They also ground their ideas in very practical advice after each chapter summary.
LOVED IT :)
January 21, 2014
Interesting theories, but a bit too binary.
February 11, 2017
Using the axes of independence and interdependence the authors use evidence from myriad studies to promote understanding and harmony within and between persons, groups, and cultures. I love that. However I find some parts of the book that use pre-history to explain current situations glib and unconvincing.
March 8, 2021
I feel there are good points made in this book, but I found the writing not very engaging. I would have had a hard time to read this book, listening to this book helped me finish in a timely manner. Differently feel it's wroth the read, or listen.
November 3, 2015
Some interesting nuggets about culture differences. However, most of the book was quite tedious and didn't contain much interesting. Instead it's full of the authors' (often questionable and highly political) opinions about things. Obviously, this book is written by researchers with no training/experience writing books: Thus no wonder it reads like an attempt to orally explain their (and others) research on these topics.
Add to that that the audiobook is narrated by the authors themselves, which makes it painful to listen to. Not only because it all sounds very amateurish, but also because there's lip smacking, sounds of flipping pages, squeaking chairs, and even phones ringing in the background(!). They obviously didn't even care about putting the recording trough proper editing. Also, the two authors taking turn reading every other chapter made it even more painful to listen to.
I'm sure both of these authors are accomplished scientist who does a good job in their fields, but this book (and especially the audio recording) falls short.
Add to that that the audiobook is narrated by the authors themselves, which makes it painful to listen to. Not only because it all sounds very amateurish, but also because there's lip smacking, sounds of flipping pages, squeaking chairs, and even phones ringing in the background(!). They obviously didn't even care about putting the recording trough proper editing. Also, the two authors taking turn reading every other chapter made it even more painful to listen to.
I'm sure both of these authors are accomplished scientist who does a good job in their fields, but this book (and especially the audio recording) falls short.
August 5, 2017
If you have found culture a bit of a mystery and are looking for a framework to better understand it then this is an excellent starting point. The authors frame our cultural difference with two key themes: independence (how am I different from others?) and interdependence (how am I similar to others?). These two themes run across a wide range of cultural conflicts that end up defining our cultural identities: West vs. East, Male vs. Female, White vs. People of Color, Middle vs. Working Class, Religious liberal vs. conservative, US Coasts vs. Heartland, Business vs Govt/Non-profit, Global North vs. South. The key recommendation is that once you figure out your identity in the framework you should test out both your independent and interdependent sides and then bring the appropriate one to different situations.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2018
This was a very interesting read, and I am really glad that I kind of stumbled upon it. I love reading things that open up my ways of thinking and educate me further on areas that often lead to confusion or conflict. The best way to make sure you are well rounded and not ignorant to prevalent issues is to educate yourself on them and hopefully make it so that you are not one of the people perpetuating ignorance and hate. Sometimes, as I learned in this novel, a lot of us do this without even realizing it. I found this book really eye opening to issues I didn't realize I was ignoring.
Great Read!
Great Read!
May 12, 2017
Parallels the MBTI theory of whether you use he thinking (T) or a feeling (F) function in your decision making processes. Thinkers tend to use a linear logical process to make decisions (although the logic might be idiosyncratic to them). Feelers tend to be very aware of the holistic impact that their decisions might create.
If this topic interest you, check out MBTI literature that further theorize human motivations and behavior along 4 dichotomous dimensions.
If this topic interest you, check out MBTI literature that further theorize human motivations and behavior along 4 dichotomous dimensions.
July 25, 2023
i liked the premise of this book but didn’t love the execution. each chapter was independent from the prior one, which did not feel cohesive. i would’ve liked to see blending and connection between each of the 8 clashes to create a stronger analytical framework. i also didn’t agree with a lot of the ideas that were floated around and it felt very opinionated.
February 4, 2024
This book is awesome! It explores cultures (dimensions of diversity) from the independent <�-> interdependence continuum. It argues for achieving a balance by understanding different cultural perspectives. I read the audio version which had a few words mispronounced, but it did not lose credibility.
April 15, 2013
Clash is one of those Big Idea books on popular social science, specifically, in this case, cultural psychology. Cultural psychology deals with the effect of culture on the mind, the mind on culture, and the inextricable intertwining of culture and the mind. The influence is powerful; I think cultural psychology could rival behavioral psychology for grist for “nudge� policies. Markus and Conner see one, not eight, conflict as central—Independence versus Interdependence. They then look at the independence-interdependence conflict across eight cultural facets: Eastern Hemisphere v. Western Hemisphere, gender, race, class (or, rather, college educated v. non-college educated), American region, religion (really focused on cultural differences between Mainline and Evangelical American Protestants), for-profits v. non-profits v. government work cultures, and the “Global North� v. the “Global South.�
Markus and Conner define culture as the “ideas, institutions, and interactions that tell a group of people how to think, feel, and act,� which sounds horribly restrictive. But our cultures are legion, and we “actively construct� them by inserting our influence, by choosing which cultures to embrace, and even by changing cultures. It’s a powerful thing. According to Markus and Conner, “[m]aking cultures is our other smart human trick (the first . . . is having a self).�
As befitting a work of popular social science, Markus and Conner keep a breezy, conversational style mixed in with the empirics (a section is titled, no lie, “Hoes in Different Area Codes�). They are unafraid to drop subtly subversive statistics, e.g., “[t]he achievement gap between low- and high-income families is now double the Black-White gap—a complete reversal of the pattern fifty years ago.� Their work couldn’t be more relevant to that great melting pot, America. For example, “[r]oughly twenty percent of Americans now live in a region other than the one where they were born.� They keenly identify differences in cultures on either side of the independence-interdependence divide. Asians and Southern Americans may both come from interdependent cultures, but the Southerners are going to address slights to honor individual rather than relying on the group or a source of authority (also neatly showing how interdependence and independence can be paired together). They highlight where their research can have direct, real-world implications—for example, studies show that “organizations that emphasize collectivism and interdependence better harness the creative power of diverse work groups than do organizations that emphasize individualism and independence.� They’ve identified cultural markers that run deep: “the more [Africans’] ancestors encountered the slave trade in the past, the more modern-day residents mistrust each other in the present.�
Like all grand, unifying theories, Markus and Conner’s suffers somewhat from oversimplifications and inconsistencies. Are we to believe, for example, that overly interdependence-minded female teachers struggle to teach independence-minded male students, but that those same, now-independence-minded college-educated teachers struggle to teach interdependence-minded working class students? That our education system struggles to teach both groups is plain. Such seemingly contradictory explanations require more intellectual support than Markus and Conner give them (although I suspect they may be right). They come back to the contradictions in the final chapter of Self, but never in an entirely satisfactory way.
Markus and Conner’s full-throated (albeit cursory) support of affirmative action (at least in higher education) is also a bit puzzling. Setting aside more recent scholarship that has called into question the Bowen and Bok book cited by Markus and Conner, after arguing (persuasively) that interdependence-minded black and Hispanic students are hurt by a higher education system designed for independent-minded students, Markus and Conner turn around and argue for a system that hurts interdependence-minded Asian students most of all! Given the topic of the book, one would have expected a proposed solution better tailored to address what Markus and Conner see to be a problem heavily rooted in the independence-interdependence dichotomy, something we frequently see elsewhere. After all, few policies are as independence-centric as traditional affirmative action.
The aspersions cast on democracy and capitalism are as disheartening as they are predictable, but Markus and Conner are absolutely correct on the necessity of strong institutions. Maximizing the chance of success of reform requires understanding, integrating, and strengthening existing institutions. Quibbles aside, Clash has considerably enriched my understanding of culture, psychology, and the world.
Clash ends with a chapter on the Self. Almost invariably we come from cultures that pull us in different directions. For example, I am a white, college-educated male (independence), Southern, evangelical Christian raised by non-college educated parents (interdependence).
Disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy of Clash through NetGalley.
Markus and Conner define culture as the “ideas, institutions, and interactions that tell a group of people how to think, feel, and act,� which sounds horribly restrictive. But our cultures are legion, and we “actively construct� them by inserting our influence, by choosing which cultures to embrace, and even by changing cultures. It’s a powerful thing. According to Markus and Conner, “[m]aking cultures is our other smart human trick (the first . . . is having a self).�
As befitting a work of popular social science, Markus and Conner keep a breezy, conversational style mixed in with the empirics (a section is titled, no lie, “Hoes in Different Area Codes�). They are unafraid to drop subtly subversive statistics, e.g., “[t]he achievement gap between low- and high-income families is now double the Black-White gap—a complete reversal of the pattern fifty years ago.� Their work couldn’t be more relevant to that great melting pot, America. For example, “[r]oughly twenty percent of Americans now live in a region other than the one where they were born.� They keenly identify differences in cultures on either side of the independence-interdependence divide. Asians and Southern Americans may both come from interdependent cultures, but the Southerners are going to address slights to honor individual rather than relying on the group or a source of authority (also neatly showing how interdependence and independence can be paired together). They highlight where their research can have direct, real-world implications—for example, studies show that “organizations that emphasize collectivism and interdependence better harness the creative power of diverse work groups than do organizations that emphasize individualism and independence.� They’ve identified cultural markers that run deep: “the more [Africans’] ancestors encountered the slave trade in the past, the more modern-day residents mistrust each other in the present.�
Like all grand, unifying theories, Markus and Conner’s suffers somewhat from oversimplifications and inconsistencies. Are we to believe, for example, that overly interdependence-minded female teachers struggle to teach independence-minded male students, but that those same, now-independence-minded college-educated teachers struggle to teach interdependence-minded working class students? That our education system struggles to teach both groups is plain. Such seemingly contradictory explanations require more intellectual support than Markus and Conner give them (although I suspect they may be right). They come back to the contradictions in the final chapter of Self, but never in an entirely satisfactory way.
Markus and Conner’s full-throated (albeit cursory) support of affirmative action (at least in higher education) is also a bit puzzling. Setting aside more recent scholarship that has called into question the Bowen and Bok book cited by Markus and Conner, after arguing (persuasively) that interdependence-minded black and Hispanic students are hurt by a higher education system designed for independent-minded students, Markus and Conner turn around and argue for a system that hurts interdependence-minded Asian students most of all! Given the topic of the book, one would have expected a proposed solution better tailored to address what Markus and Conner see to be a problem heavily rooted in the independence-interdependence dichotomy, something we frequently see elsewhere. After all, few policies are as independence-centric as traditional affirmative action.
The aspersions cast on democracy and capitalism are as disheartening as they are predictable, but Markus and Conner are absolutely correct on the necessity of strong institutions. Maximizing the chance of success of reform requires understanding, integrating, and strengthening existing institutions. Quibbles aside, Clash has considerably enriched my understanding of culture, psychology, and the world.
Clash ends with a chapter on the Self. Almost invariably we come from cultures that pull us in different directions. For example, I am a white, college-educated male (independence), Southern, evangelical Christian raised by non-college educated parents (interdependence).
Disclosure: I received a complimentary e-copy of Clash through NetGalley.
February 25, 2018
A much debated subject of clash, beautifully written to decipher the divides. Clear facts with logical explanation, delve into the complex web of culture, region and other factors. As the world gets flatter, clash is unavoidable, read this to acknowledge the world and your own self!
October 8, 2018
Clash!: How to Thrive in a Multicultural World (Paperback)
by Hazel Rose Markus
from the library
by Hazel Rose Markus
from the library
December 27, 2019
Oh, what have I just read!
I hate these sorts of books with magazine content's style; a collections of articles with no connection at all, and with a punch of author's opinions about others.
Nothing interesting here, don't read this book, this is my advice.
I hate these sorts of books with magazine content's style; a collections of articles with no connection at all, and with a punch of author's opinions about others.
Nothing interesting here, don't read this book, this is my advice.
September 29, 2020
some interesting studies cited, but the constant suggestions of how people "should" interact with each other is incredibly patronizing. also, the audiobook is uniquely awful. not everyone can narrate things they wrote!
June 17, 2020
Great, loved it!
December 7, 2023
The research behind the book was solid in some ways, but I found it to get a little repetitive. It also view the world as very binary in many ways, and I do not agree with that view point.
March 8, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. As a doctoral student in clinical psychology, parts were review of information I already knew. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of information and research I didn't. Since reading this book, I've been able to see the clash of independence/interdependence just about everywhere. Highly recommend!
August 13, 2017
The author is definitely more liberal which led to some annoying conclusions, but overall there is some great content. The book will make you see almost all conflicts in terms of culture, and I'm fairly convinced that most conflicts are. I think reading 'Clash!' followed by 'The Righteous Mind' would be an amazing duo.
The book focuses mostly on interdependence and independent worldview (she never uses the terms collectivistic and individualistic which I though was interesting) which is different than other cultural psychology which use it as just one dimension (see Hofestede Center). But these constructs have been called the "structure of culture", and so I think it's appropriate to focus on this dimension. I think she does a really job of explaining the different ways that "interdependence" can manifest itself and how it influences so much else in culture.
The book focuses on 9 (I think) cultural clashes (not in order):
East vs west
American east vs American west
Gender
Global north vs global south
American north vs American south
Class
Business vs Non-profit vs government
Race
American religion
Some interesting bits:
The section on sexism pointed out how schools are becoming more feminine which hurts boys. I liked the inclusion of a more balanced view of gender discrimination, but the talk on gender discrimination still focused on women. She also takes the view that gender is completely cultural, which I don't think is true. But it is perhaps true in many ways, and reasonable people can disagree on this point.
Section on class conflict was pretty good. Focused on the conflict between, not the 99 and the 1, but between the 70 and the 30. I think it's correct to say that this is the more pertinent divide in America today. College-educated vs the working class. Blue tribe vs red tribe. The Gentry vs the Labor. However you want to phrase it.
The book brings up some interesting points on charity and the global south. She does make some rather anti-capitalist remarks at times, but I thought they were appropriate. Capitalism isn't the end all be all. She brings up the point that capitalism may not work as well in some cultures. She cites some economists who say that wealth really depends on having institutions more than democracy and capitalism. So she isn't just dissing capitalism. She admits democracy might not be exportable as well. I thought she was fairly balanced and I'm actually strongly sympathetic to this view despite being pretty adamantly pro free market and pro democracy. I do think strong accountable institutions matter more than the economic or political system. This view does seem fairly mainstream at this point.
Nepotism is a virtue in much of the world. This makes me rather pessimistic about meritocracy and the nationalism vs globalism debate.
I think she makes a good case for absorbing a little bit of different cultures. Those of us who are more western should learn to appreciate the eastern, and so forth. This was really the moral message of the book and she comes back to it a lot. I agree with her though. I think a more culturally balanced view would do everyone well which is why I think this book pairs well with 'The Righteous Mind'.
4/5. Marked down only because she brings up outdated science (implicit Association tests and gender as 100% cultural), and is perhaps too liberal at times.
The book focuses mostly on interdependence and independent worldview (she never uses the terms collectivistic and individualistic which I though was interesting) which is different than other cultural psychology which use it as just one dimension (see Hofestede Center). But these constructs have been called the "structure of culture", and so I think it's appropriate to focus on this dimension. I think she does a really job of explaining the different ways that "interdependence" can manifest itself and how it influences so much else in culture.
The book focuses on 9 (I think) cultural clashes (not in order):
East vs west
American east vs American west
Gender
Global north vs global south
American north vs American south
Class
Business vs Non-profit vs government
Race
American religion
Some interesting bits:
The section on sexism pointed out how schools are becoming more feminine which hurts boys. I liked the inclusion of a more balanced view of gender discrimination, but the talk on gender discrimination still focused on women. She also takes the view that gender is completely cultural, which I don't think is true. But it is perhaps true in many ways, and reasonable people can disagree on this point.
Section on class conflict was pretty good. Focused on the conflict between, not the 99 and the 1, but between the 70 and the 30. I think it's correct to say that this is the more pertinent divide in America today. College-educated vs the working class. Blue tribe vs red tribe. The Gentry vs the Labor. However you want to phrase it.
The book brings up some interesting points on charity and the global south. She does make some rather anti-capitalist remarks at times, but I thought they were appropriate. Capitalism isn't the end all be all. She brings up the point that capitalism may not work as well in some cultures. She cites some economists who say that wealth really depends on having institutions more than democracy and capitalism. So she isn't just dissing capitalism. She admits democracy might not be exportable as well. I thought she was fairly balanced and I'm actually strongly sympathetic to this view despite being pretty adamantly pro free market and pro democracy. I do think strong accountable institutions matter more than the economic or political system. This view does seem fairly mainstream at this point.
Nepotism is a virtue in much of the world. This makes me rather pessimistic about meritocracy and the nationalism vs globalism debate.
I think she makes a good case for absorbing a little bit of different cultures. Those of us who are more western should learn to appreciate the eastern, and so forth. This was really the moral message of the book and she comes back to it a lot. I agree with her though. I think a more culturally balanced view would do everyone well which is why I think this book pairs well with 'The Righteous Mind'.
4/5. Marked down only because she brings up outdated science (implicit Association tests and gender as 100% cultural), and is perhaps too liberal at times.
March 16, 2017
Interesting but ended up a bit boring and repetitive. Still informative, eye opening book.
May 2, 2015
Finally finished reading "Clash!: 8 Cultural Conflicts That Make Us Who We Are" (2013) by Hazel Rose Markus and Alana Connor. A book about how different cultures form different parts to ourselves, it first caught my attention because of the numerous advance praises received by illustrious psychologists such as Philip Zimbardo, Claude Steele, Carol Dweck and more.
Markus and Connor explains clashes for 8 different cultural criteria: hemisphere (north/south), gender (male/female), race (white/non-white), class (middle/working), religion (mainline Christianity/others), US region (northeast-western/southern-midwest), workplace (profit/nonprofit) and global regions (north/south). In all, she summarises them in 2 groups: independent or interdependent groups. While grouping them into 2 groups makes the cultural study easier to grasp, it often simplifies the literature itself when culture is very fluid and complex. Furthermore, the discussion of independence versus interdependence seems to make no substantial difference from that of individualism versus collectivism.
Also, as all books on cultural studies should disclaim from the onset, Markus and Connor do not offer a clear disclaimer that any form of cultural categorization is always subjected to stereotyping. While cultural categorization exists, the book attempts to explain generically two given groups on different ends of the cultural spectrum but does not acknowledge much about the grey area that inevitably exists.
While I applaud the authors' tremendously rigorous and numerous citations on cultures, the contents of the book is basically a collection of past research. Rather than a book on offering solutions to cultural frictions, it is more interesting as one that simply explains what some of the cultures exist in this world. However, in order to learn in-depth about each cultural realm, it may be better to look up on other books individually e.g. Claude Steele's Whistling Vivaldi, Jonathan Haidt's Happiness Hypothesis, Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, etc.
NEXT BOOK: "What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful" (2007) by Marshall Goldsmith.
Markus and Connor explains clashes for 8 different cultural criteria: hemisphere (north/south), gender (male/female), race (white/non-white), class (middle/working), religion (mainline Christianity/others), US region (northeast-western/southern-midwest), workplace (profit/nonprofit) and global regions (north/south). In all, she summarises them in 2 groups: independent or interdependent groups. While grouping them into 2 groups makes the cultural study easier to grasp, it often simplifies the literature itself when culture is very fluid and complex. Furthermore, the discussion of independence versus interdependence seems to make no substantial difference from that of individualism versus collectivism.
Also, as all books on cultural studies should disclaim from the onset, Markus and Connor do not offer a clear disclaimer that any form of cultural categorization is always subjected to stereotyping. While cultural categorization exists, the book attempts to explain generically two given groups on different ends of the cultural spectrum but does not acknowledge much about the grey area that inevitably exists.
While I applaud the authors' tremendously rigorous and numerous citations on cultures, the contents of the book is basically a collection of past research. Rather than a book on offering solutions to cultural frictions, it is more interesting as one that simply explains what some of the cultures exist in this world. However, in order to learn in-depth about each cultural realm, it may be better to look up on other books individually e.g. Claude Steele's Whistling Vivaldi, Jonathan Haidt's Happiness Hypothesis, Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, etc.
NEXT BOOK: "What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful" (2007) by Marshall Goldsmith.
August 26, 2015
The title of this feels pretty weak. I suppose it does speak to that and may be what others are looking for, but I was bored with it until I got to the first chapter which delves into the social findings of their psychological theory (Alana Conner, Ph.D coauthored this). Their theory is that our individual selves follows two paradigms: Independent and Interdependent and depending on your social standing of the globe, you adhere more to one than the other in your mind as evidenced in your language and culture. They advocate mixing them as needed in a complex adaptability. While the title made me feel patronized as if I was afraid of a world of diversity, this explains that diversity in ways I hadn't heard before. Heavily researched and well-cited, they give strong support to their theory and a good introduction to various social theories around racism and classism among others. I did feel like they missed an important angle in this: ideology. As this psychological dichotomy mirrors that of a philosophical dichotomy: collectivism vs individualism, they could have touched on the implications of this in religion and politics and how those affect which self you use or vice versa. THey also treat this as an omnipresent governing rule, they do seem to have enough research to back that up, but I can already see potential holes in their mapping of the duo. Anyway, a quick interesting read.
June 13, 2013
Markus examines eight different possibly culture conflicts and how they shape both who we are and how we interact with each other. The descriptions of the eight clashes were very interesting, and I enjoyed reading about differences between the midwest mindset and the mindset of the west, for example, but I did not enjoy the last section of each chapter, where Markus gets on a soapbox and details how to resolve these culture clashes. I think it's pretty clear after the first soapbox rant that the culture clashes could be resolved if we all took time to understand each other and realize that not everyone approaches every situation with the same mindset. I don't think it's necessary to repeat these maxims ad nauseum.
Also, I was bothered by Markus's apparent lack of thorough research in the chapter on religion. Not only does Markus intimate that the book of Proverbs is located in the New Testament, but she recommends that conservative Protestants resolve the culture conflict by reading their Bibles. Yes, really. As a former conservative Protestant who has read the entire Bible - including the begats - over thirty times in my 33 years, I think Markus missed the mark on this one.
All that being said, the rest of the book is interesting. I wouldn't invest in a copy of this book for my personal collection, but I would willingly check it out of the library.
Also, I was bothered by Markus's apparent lack of thorough research in the chapter on religion. Not only does Markus intimate that the book of Proverbs is located in the New Testament, but she recommends that conservative Protestants resolve the culture conflict by reading their Bibles. Yes, really. As a former conservative Protestant who has read the entire Bible - including the begats - over thirty times in my 33 years, I think Markus missed the mark on this one.
All that being said, the rest of the book is interesting. I wouldn't invest in a copy of this book for my personal collection, but I would willingly check it out of the library.
January 2, 2015
Clash! offers a valuable and highly readable synthesis of the current state of research in cultural psychology. Organized around Markus' core theory of 'independent' and 'interdependent' selves, it walks through anecdotes and laboratory studies for several particularly salient cultural divisions. These case studies come as a refreshing reminder that we are different in important ways, and, contrary to calls for either assimilation or 'color-blindness' from the powerful majority, the best course of action is to recognize the culture cycles driving these differences and learn from them. Everyone can be independent in some ways and interdependent in other ways, and this flexibility is useful.
On the flip side, though, there's a component of this book that comes across as overly self-help-y. For instance, the repeated refrain to 'be a little of both' comes across as a bit trite. Also, much of the later sections is spent reiterating the analyses of the early sections, and the stream of new information slows down to a trickle. Of course, this may just be my independent streak showing! Overall, it's a book that left me with a much more informed and sympathetic understanding of other people, both friends and strangers.
On the flip side, though, there's a component of this book that comes across as overly self-help-y. For instance, the repeated refrain to 'be a little of both' comes across as a bit trite. Also, much of the later sections is spent reiterating the analyses of the early sections, and the stream of new information slows down to a trickle. Of course, this may just be my independent streak showing! Overall, it's a book that left me with a much more informed and sympathetic understanding of other people, both friends and strangers.
September 10, 2015
This was an interesting book to read. It is full of fascinating studies of human behavior and intriguing correlations. The authors present a perspective of the world that asks if we primarily function as independent selves or interdependent selves. They draw this out in unending permutations of how the juxtaposition between the two create culture clashes. However, most of the correlations are just that- broad sweeping statements about large sectors of society that illustrate vaguely correlating behaviors. The generalizations made are just too broad to be very helpful. And as many of us know, studies may prove correlation but not causation. I would argue that the independent vs. interdependent ideas are most helpful as a lens through which to observe culture rather than any scientific explanation of why cultures have conflicts.
October 24, 2016
Interesting (as I'm pretty much insterested in cultural psychology) with a theory that diversity between East vs West, White vs POC, Rich vs Poor, Men vs Women (and so on) is basically about being independent vs interdependent. Some of the experiments' conclusions are a bit forced to fit and support the theory but for me, it's also fun to see various experiments / researches to as cultural psychology approach (40+ pages for listing citations). Above all, easy to read but a bit too simplifying for such great issues.
September 12, 2014
Extremely useful and important insights into interpersonal relations presented in a straightforward, somewhat boring, writing style. Not a page-turner like NurtureShock. But...understanding the difference between independent and interdependent interaction styles and how these vary between cultures, regions, genders, and socioeconomic groups is useful and important. I will never look at interactions, especially among people from different cultural backgrounds, the same way again.
July 21, 2016
It might all be pop-sociology, but this book gave me the words to explain why I sometimes have trouble relating to the people around me. I kind of wish my closest friends and family would read it: They'd understand why I'm such a weird mix (or internally conflicted) about being a first generation Chinese-Canadian.
January 22, 2014
Interesting analysis of the differences in us as a result of where we live, the type of jobs/careers we engage in and how they affect our relationships and our cultures. There were a lot of good examples that explain how countries and cultures end up in such dramatic and dangerous conflicts.
February 12, 2014
Great book framed around the vast differences in cultures that are independent (west) vs. interdependent (east) with application to eight different aspects of cultural divides between human beings. Very stimulating discussion. Very thought provoking! Highly recommend.
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