How to Reduce Accidents
12 Concepts that Shape the American Way of Life
(The concepts below are a compendium of ideas developed by anthropologists and sociologists over the past 40 years. They demonstrate a central tendency which should not rule out a range of differences within each concept.)
1. Assertiveness: U.S. Americans tend to be candid and outspoken in communication with others, and they seldom shy away from disclosing facts about themselves. They prefer "direct" questions and respond with "straight" answers. They employ face-to-face confrontations to resolve differences. These patterns of behavior sometimes lead people from other cultures to view U.S. Americans as overly aggressive.
2. Effort-Optimism: The linking of effort with optimism is one of the central characteristics of U.S. thought. Effort-optimism is a denial of fatalism; it is the assumption that any challenge can be met, any goal achieved, if only a sufficient quantity of time, energy, skill, and willpower are applied. The motto of the U.S. Navy's Construction Battalions ("See-Bees") during World War II exemplifies this concept: "The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer."
3. Friendliness: U.S. friendships is typified by warmth, informality, and other signs of acceptance, even toward comparative strangers. On the other hand, U.S. Americans assume that friendship involves comparatively few mutual obligations and lasts a relatively short time. People from other cultures become confused because those whom they would consider mere acquaintances are called "friends" by U.S. Americans, and because the warm manner of U.S. Americans leads them to expect a degree of commitment that the U.S. Americans do not feel and would find difficult to accept.
4. Getting Things Done: U.S. Americans are most content when they are "doing" something. They believe that hard work is intrinsically valuable. In judging others, they give the most weight to their achievements, much less to
(The concepts below are a compendium of ideas developed by anthropologists and sociologists over the past 40 years. They demonstrate a central tendency which should not rule out a range of differences within each concept.)
1. Assertiveness: U.S. Americans tend to be candid and outspoken in communication with others, and they seldom shy away from disclosing facts about themselves. They prefer "direct" questions and respond with "straight" answers. They employ face-to-face confrontations to resolve differences. These patterns of behavior sometimes lead people from other cultures to view U.S. Americans as overly aggressive.
2. Effort-Optimism: The linking of effort with optimism is one of the central characteristics of U.S. thought. Effort-optimism is a denial of fatalism; it is the assumption that any challenge can be met, any goal achieved, if only a sufficient quantity of time, energy, skill, and willpower are applied. The motto of the U.S. Navy's Construction Battalions ("See-Bees") during World War II exemplifies this concept: "The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer."
3. Friendliness: U.S. friendships is typified by warmth, informality, and other signs of acceptance, even toward comparative strangers. On the other hand, U.S. Americans assume that friendship involves comparatively few mutual obligations and lasts a relatively short time. People from other cultures become confused because those whom they would consider mere acquaintances are called "friends" by U.S. Americans, and because the warm manner of U.S. Americans leads them to expect a degree of commitment that the U.S. Americans do not feel and would find difficult to accept.
4. Getting Things Done: U.S. Americans are most content when they are "doing" something. They believe that hard work is intrinsically valuable. In judging others, they give the most weight to their achievements, much less to