Reading Material 7　Social Groupings and Relationships

Societies are grouped together:They contain families，classes，castes，status，elites…While those social structures are dynamically changing in today's world，they can still be found in all societies，although the importance has diminished in many.Equally the Indian caste system has officially been abolished，while it is still clearly visible and adhered to.

While the interaction between groups can vary drastically from culture to culture，the relationship of the individual to the group is equally volatile:both depend on and interact with each other，however depending on the cultural environment，the emphasis may be more on the individual or on the group the individual belongs to.One of the most quoted examples of this concept is the fact that in traditional Mandarin，no word describing the concept of“personality”was in existence.

Also the individual to individual relationships，their depth and extend，can vary enormously.While for example it is often quoted that the Americans are very open，and have lots of friends，each one for specific purposes，the Russians are said to be far more selective and “unapproachable”，however once a friendship has been made it extends far deeper and is a friendship for every situation.

Related to this category is also the “speed of getting to the point”in a business or personal situation:depending on the cultural surrounding “direct talking”can be viewed as rude，and a“getting to know”phase is more important at first.