Cultural Conundrums / Why are you so bossy?
Kate Elwood / Special to The Daily Yomiuri
A cartoon in the April 7 issue of The New Yorker magazine shows two men walking down a city street. one is complaining to the other, "My boss is always telling me what to do." I chuckled as I read it, and then it led me to think about bosses and bossiness from a cross-cultural perspective.
Recently "power harassment" has come into the news in Japan. An NHK program in March interviewed various people who had quit their jobs because of browbeating they had received from their supervisors. Some were afraid to even look for another job. Those who had done the rebuking, for their part, were often bewildered by what they viewed as overly sensitive subordinates.
Certainly, the traditional chain of command in Japan has not required many social niceties, but as long as nobody expected gentleness and consideration from the powers that be, the system seemed to work, more or less. I remember being unpleasantly astonished several years ago when witnessing the reprimanding of a student by another teacher at a university where I taught part-time.
The teacher was a calligraphy instructor and apparently he was very unhappy with the student's homework. He was practically foaming at the mouth as he screamed at the student in front of many other teachers in the teachers' room. I found it painful to watch and even considered intervening as the student bent forward in a bow of apology and just kept standing there until the teacher's hysteria had run its course. Then with some final words of repentance, the student left the room looking crushed.
As it happened, I was on my way home, and when I left the building I saw the student outside. He was laughing and recounting what had happened to his friends, none the worse for his experience. Perhaps because his back had been bent low and he now stood tall, I remember thinking that for the first time I really understood the ｅxpression "Like water off a duck's back." I had felt true concern that the professor had hurt the student deeply with his excessive words but obviously the criticism had rolled right off. Whether or not the student became a better calligrapher, I have no idea.
Since then, other Japanese people have told me about times in which they were in the student's position, either at university or work, and they, too, seemed by and large to view the venting of rage by a superior as part of life. Some even put forth the notion that the scolding was evidence that the other person cared. As for me, I'd prefer a little less care, thank you very much.
Chew out, dress down, tear into, haul over the coals, bawl out, call a person on the carpet-- there are enough ｅxpressions in English to suggest that this kind of behavior is not confined to those in authority in Japan. A Feb. 20 article in The Economist titled "Fear and Management: When to Terrorize the Talent" takes as its starting point the flying-boot altercation between David Beckham and Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson as well as a similar fracas involving Derek Jeter and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. The article acknowledges that the bully boss is generally considered unfavorable as a management model but suggests that instilling fear can at times be an effective strategy in sports and industry.
Nonetheless, most Americans seem to tend toward a nonconfrontational, or at least not completely openly confrontational, approach to dealing with subordinates compared with many Japanese. A few years ago, I asked American and Japanese people to imagine what they would say to a subordinate who was regularly late for work. The Americans typically said things like "I really need for you to arrive on time," "I'd appreciate it if you'd make a habit of arriving on time" or "I hope that you will be able to be in on time." Some simply observed the pattern of tardiness and asked if there were a reason. The toughest ones commented that the behavior was inappropriate or unacceptable and might additionally say somewhat more directly, "You need to be here on time."
The Japanese respondents didn't beat around the bush at all: "Don't be late for work anymore," "From now on, look ahead and act responsibly," "Your attitude is not suited for work" and "You should wake up earlier" were representative comments. If they asked a question it was more likely to be the more aggressive-sounding "Why are you late?" or "What's the problem?" rather than the less directly challenging "Is there a reason you're late?" or "Is there a problem?" preferred by the Americans. My Japanese students, when shown the American data, often ask me why the American bosses are so nice.
The applied linguists Leslie Beebe and Tomoko Takahashi have researched cultural differences in the act of correction, finding similar differences between how those of higher status correct those of lower status. They asked American and Japanese people to imagine that they were history professors and that in a class discussion a student gave the wrong date for a famous historical event.
Sixty-four percent of the Americans made some kind of positive remark before correcting the student but only 13 percent of the Japanese people responding in Japanese did. Japanese who responded in English were more likely to use a positive remark than the Japanese responding in Japanese, but still only 26 percent did. In addition, 71 percent of the Americans used a softener when correcting the student, saying something like "I believe...," "Did you say...?" or "You made one small error..." Again the results for the Japanese were much lower. only 26 percent of the Japanese responding in Japanese used softeners and just 50 percent of the Japanese responding in English did. The researchers further noted that the Japanese responding in Japanese sounded much more authoritative, saying things like "Please check the date."
It's hard to hear comments like "Please check the date" and not envision the imaginary professor as imperious and overbearing. And yet, many Japanese professors have very close relationships with their students, treating them to meals and going together on study retreats. What seems to Americans to be overly direct correction or unwarrantedly passionate rebuking may be accepted on both sides as normal interaction. However, with power harassment becoming an issue, dealings between those of higher and lower status may change. A few years ago, when I was teaching part-time at a different university, I and my colleagues were warned in a meeting at the beginning of the year that students were becoming more timid in recent years and that if scolded too harshly they might drop out of the course or the university altogether.
So the positive remarks and softeners that spring naturally to my lips when pointing out shortcomings may not sound too syrupy or make my reproaches too feeble even when spoken in Japanese in the years to come. And until then, I'll brace myself to not get overly disturbed if taken to task a little more roughly than I might be in the United States.
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Elwood is a lecturer of English and intercultural communication at Waseda University's School of Commerce. She is the author of "Getting Along with the Japanese" (Ask, 2001).
Kate Elwood / Special to The Daily Yomiuri
A cartoon in the April 7 issue of The New Yorker magazine shows two men walking down a city street. one is complaining to the other, "My boss is always telling me what to do." I chuckled as I read it, and then it led me to think about bosses and bossiness from a cross-cultural perspective.
Recently "power harassment" has come into the news in Japan. An NHK program in March interviewed various people who had quit their jobs because of browbeating they had received from their supervisors. Some were afraid to even look for another job. Those who had done the rebuking, for their part, were often bewildered by what they viewed as overly sensitive subordinates.
Certainly, the traditional chain of command in Japan has not required many social niceties, but as long as nobody expected gentleness and consideration from the powers that be, the system seemed to work, more or less. I remember being unpleasantly astonished several years ago when witnessing the reprimanding of a student by another teacher at a university where I taught part-time.
The teacher was a calligraphy instructor and apparently he was very unhappy with the student's homework. He was practically foaming at the mouth as he screamed at the student in front of many other teachers in the teachers' room. I found it painful to watch and even considered intervening as the student bent forward in a bow of apology and just kept standing there until the teacher's hysteria had run its course. Then with some final words of repentance, the student left the room looking crushed.
As it happened, I was on my way home, and when I left the building I saw the student outside. He was laughing and recounting what had happened to his friends, none the worse for his experience. Perhaps because his back had been bent low and he now stood tall, I remember thinking that for the first time I really understood the ｅxpression "Like water off a duck's back." I had felt true concern that the professor had hurt the student deeply with his excessive words but obviously the criticism had rolled right off. Whether or not the student became a better calligrapher, I have no idea.
Since then, other Japanese people have told me about times in which they were in the student's position, either at university or work, and they, too, seemed by and large to view the venting of rage by a superior as part of life. Some even put forth the notion that the scolding was evidence that the other person cared. As for me, I'd prefer a little less care, thank you very much.
Chew out, dress down, tear into, haul over the coals, bawl out, call a person on the carpet-- there are enough ｅxpressions in English to suggest that this kind of behavior is not confined to those in authority in Japan. A Feb. 20 article in The Economist titled "Fear and Management: When to Terrorize the Talent" takes as its starting point the flying-boot altercation between David Beckham and Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson as well as a similar fracas involving Derek Jeter and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. The article acknowledges that the bully boss is generally considered unfavorable as a management model but suggests that instilling fear can at times be an effective strategy in sports and industry.
Nonetheless, most Americans seem to tend toward a nonconfrontational, or at least not completely openly confrontational, approach to dealing with subordinates compared with many Japanese. A few years ago, I asked American and Japanese people to imagine what they would say to a subordinate who was regularly late for work. The Americans typically said things like "I really need for you to arrive on time," "I'd appreciate it if you'd make a habit of arriving on time" or "I hope that you will be able to be in on time." Some simply observed the pattern of tardiness and asked if there were a reason. The toughest ones commented that the behavior was inappropriate or unacceptable and might additionally say somewhat more directly, "You need to be here on time."
The Japanese respondents didn't beat around the bush at all: "Don't be late for work anymore," "From now on, look ahead and act responsibly," "Your attitude is not suited for work" and "You should wake up earlier" were representative comments. If they asked a question it was more likely to be the more aggressive-sounding "Why are you late?" or "What's the problem?" rather than the less directly challenging "Is there a reason you're late?" or "Is there a problem?" preferred by the Americans. My Japanese students, when shown the American data, often ask me why the American bosses are so nice.
The applied linguists Leslie Beebe and Tomoko Takahashi have researched cultural differences in the act of correction, finding similar differences between how those of higher status correct those of lower status. They asked American and Japanese people to imagine that they were history professors and that in a class discussion a student gave the wrong date for a famous historical event.
Sixty-four percent of the Americans made some kind of positive remark before correcting the student but only 13 percent of the Japanese people responding in Japanese did. Japanese who responded in English were more likely to use a positive remark than the Japanese responding in Japanese, but still only 26 percent did. In addition, 71 percent of the Americans used a softener when correcting the student, saying something like "I believe...," "Did you say...?" or "You made one small error..." Again the results for the Japanese were much lower. only 26 percent of the Japanese responding in Japanese used softeners and just 50 percent of the Japanese responding in English did. The researchers further noted that the Japanese responding in Japanese sounded much more authoritative, saying things like "Please check the date."
It's hard to hear comments like "Please check the date" and not envision the imaginary professor as imperious and overbearing. And yet, many Japanese professors have very close relationships with their students, treating them to meals and going together on study retreats. What seems to Americans to be overly direct correction or unwarrantedly passionate rebuking may be accepted on both sides as normal interaction. However, with power harassment becoming an issue, dealings between those of higher and lower status may change. A few years ago, when I was teaching part-time at a different university, I and my colleagues were warned in a meeting at the beginning of the year that students were becoming more timid in recent years and that if scolded too harshly they might drop out of the course or the university altogether.
So the positive remarks and softeners that spring naturally to my lips when pointing out shortcomings may not sound too syrupy or make my reproaches too feeble even when spoken in Japanese in the years to come. And until then, I'll brace myself to not get overly disturbed if taken to task a little more roughly than I might be in the United States.
---
Elwood is a lecturer of English and intercultural communication at Waseda University's School of Commerce. She is the author of "Getting Along with the Japanese" (Ask, 2001).