Italian Culture
Introduction
Italian culture is deeply rooted in cuisines, the arts, music, architecture, and the arts. The country’s official language is Italian, which also has many dialects such as Calabrian, Sardinian, Neopolitan, Sicilian, Venetian, among other dialects. Central to Italian culture is family life, with family solidarity being focused on extended families. Italian cuisine – which is viewed as an art by many – has influenced food cultures all around the world. The Italian culture is individualistic, power distance, and long term in orientation, which is created by communication strategies at play in the culture. These three attributes are evaluated in detail below.
Individualistic Orientation
Individualism is a term used to describe the degree of interdependence that societal members maintain in society (Tavanti, 2012). It addresses the question of whether societal members are defined in terms of “we” or “I.” People in individualistic societies only look after their families and themselves. Italian culture is “me” centered” or individualistic, especially in the northern rich and big cities, where people feel lonely even when they are in a crowd. This means, therefore, that friends and family are a great solution to the feelings of loneliness. Individualism in Italian culture is evidenced by the culture’s emphasis on individual needs, preferences, and goals. For example, a child may be told “find your passions,” or “follow your dreams,” or “do your best.” From these verbal choices, a child gets the impression that he or she is more important than other people. In other words, Italians derive personal fulfillment and happiness from personal or individual objectives and ideas. The degree of individualism in South Italy, however, is much less. Family networks and groups that individuals belong to constitute critical social aspects, while Sunday lunches and rituals – like weddings – are important occasions that Italians do not miss. In fact, Italians from the south usually feel cold when they visit north Italy not just from the climate but also from the relationships which are “less warm.”
Even though Italian culture is perceived to be highly individualistic, the kind of individualism experienced in the country differs from individualism in countries such as Sweden, Australia, and the USA. Individualism in Italy emphasizes individual responsibility towards one’s close friends and family, a responsibility that relies on close family ties and strong connections. This implies that Italians will take care of their families and themselves first, as evidenced by the many businesses across Italy owned by families and individuals. Individualism also influences business in Italy, where we see businesses people only dealing with people they know with. Additionally, Italians heavily rely or depend on direct personal contacts, mostly through acquaintances or mutual friends to when deciding to explore new business opportunities.
Leadership in individualistic societies such as Italy can be said to be that of cultural hegemony or cultural dominance. Cultural hegemony can be described as “the maintenance of power of the (hegemon) leader who dominates followers of subordinated social classes through ‘‘persuasion’’ with a combination of ‘‘coercion and consent’’ (Travis, 2012, p. 3). Cultural dynamics are very evident in Italian leadership. Leadership in Italy is maintained through cultural dominance, where one social class rules over another. The power distance or the unequal distribution of power in Italian cultural values was greatly influenced by the Catholic Church (Tavanti, 2012).
Power Distance
This concept suggests that individuals are unequal in society. It refers to “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally” (Tavanti, 2012) As explained above, Italians consider family to be very important in life. Because of the importance, they place on family, power distance in Italian culture can then be said to be small. Culture may define different gender roles for women and men in Italian families, but all members of the same family are expected to remain together, love one another, and be supportive of one another. Every member of each family is, therefore, taken to be an important part of the family bond.
In regard to communication, Italians prefer to keep a short distance between one another when they are communicating. Sometimes they may even stand less than a meter apart to the people they are talking to. This distinction may, however, not always be noticeable. If communicating with an Italian and you move farther away from the person you are communicating with, your actions may be perceived as avoidance. Italians are also known to be very tactile people even during conversations. To show engagement in communication, for example, the Italians may touch each other. They also prefer to maintain their contact during conversations, but staring can also be interpreted to mean defiance.
When it comes to leadership, power distance – as a dimension of culture – reflects a community’s endorsement or acceptance of status, privileges, power differences, and authority. Italy is perceived to be a country that tolerates more power distance in leadership. Italians generally expect and accept that certain groups are more powerful. Italian leaders, therefore, act accordingly when exercising their powers, and their followers just accept (Tavanti, 2012). Power distance in Italian leadership is endorsed not just by leaders but also by the followers, as exemplified by their acceptance of differences in formal statuses and titles.
Long Term Orientation
This cultural aspect describes how “societies maintain links with their past” while confronting their current and future problems (Tavanti, 2012). Normative societies, for example, prefer to uphold their traditions, and they may view social changes with mistrust. Pragmatic societies, on the other hand, encourage efforts and thrifts in their educational systems in preparation for future challenges. Italian culture can be said to be more pragmatic. In pragmatic orientation implies that people in pragmatic societies, people believe that the truth is dependent upon “context, the situation, time”. Italian culture has the ability to adapt to changing situations or conditions, and most Italians have the propensity to invest and save. This means that Italian cultures encourage thriftiness and perseverance in order to achieve results.
Communication styles tend to be of low- context in societies such as Italy. This means that communication is specific, direct, and precise. This also means that people in an individualistic like Italy don have to struggle to read between the lines. Italians use explicit communication to prevent misunderstandings during communication. Italians are, therefore, very expressive people. They use body language, voice tones, and hand motions to emphasize what they are trying to say. If Italians are communicating with non-Italians, for example, they use more gestures. For example, a child who stares at his parent while he is talking to him may be perceived to be defying his parent.
Showing uncertainty or admitting mistakes is not part of Italian leadership styles. Leadership in Italian culture programs people to avoid risky situations in their daily lives (Tavanti, 2012). Almost everybody has strategies for avoiding uncertainties. With the help of religion, law, and technology, they are able to minimize the anxieties associated with ambiguity and uncertainty. For instance, they may use technology to avoid nature uncertainties, regulations, and laws to prevent uncertainties associated with other people’s behaviors and religion to find answers to unanswered realities.
Conclusion
The focus of this paper was to analyze how communication strategies contribute to the aspects of individualism, power distance, and long term orientation aspects of Italian culture. As explained above, individualism is a term that describes the extent to which individuals in a community depend on each other. Certain communication patterns in Italian culture encourage the individualistic aspects that we see in Italy today. A parent may, for example, tell his child, “do you best” or “find your passions,” creating the impression that other people are not very important in the mind of the child. Besides individualism, small power distance is another cultural dimension evident within Italian culture, especially at the family level. Gender roles may be distinct, but every member is treated with love and care and affection, as evidenced even in communication patterns. Because of the high value placed on personal relationships, Italians prefer to stay very close to each other when communicating, and they may touch one another during communication or conversations. Long term orientation is another important cultural dimension in Italian culture, and it implies that Italians are more adaptive to different situations. Communication, in this context, tends to be aimed at encouraging people to consider thriftiness and perseverance to achieve results.
References
Tavanti, M. (2012). The cultural dimensions of Italian leadership: Power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity from an American perspective. Leadership, 8(3), 287-301.