The cultural mosaic: A metatheory for understanding the complexity of culture

• 成果类型: Article; Proceedings Paper
• 署名作者: Chao, GT; Moon, H
• 署名单位: Michigan State University; Michigan State University's Broad College of Business; Emory University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.90.6.1128
• 发表日期: 2005
• 页码: 1128-1140
• 关键词: chaos; cultural mosaic; culture; complexity; Organizational behavior

摘要

Workforce population trends have increased the numbers and kinds of culturally diverse people who work together. Researchers in organizational behavior have often examined culture through values; however, cultural values can be based on collections of people other than traditional nation states. A cultural mosaic is presented as a framework to identify demographic, geographic, and associative features underlying culture. An individual's unique collage of multiple cultural identities yields a complex picture of the cultural influences on that person. Developments in chaos and complexity theories are proposed as a theoretical base for study on the complexity of culture at the individual level. Additional developments in network theory serve as a theoretical base for cultural research at the group level. The cultural mosaic is described as a complex system with localized structures, linking cultural tiles in ordered and chaotic ways. Research propositions examining multiple cultural identities at individual and group levels are discussed.