Culture differences and similarities between United States and Saudi Arabia
Societies over the world have major differences while they also exhibit similarities in some aspects. The disparities in societies are usually a result of religious convictions, customs and traditions, economic and technological development, and most importantly the values a particular society attach to the general freedom. In effect, these factors essentially make behavior by human beings different, which essentially brings the cultural differences in various societies. Thus, there are characteristic cultural differences and similarities between the Americans and the Saudis. However, from a general viewpoint, the differences in culture seem to be more than the similarities. Case in point, the Americans belief and role of religion is different from that of the Saudis. In this regard, the Americans do not attach a significant value to religion in their daily lives. On the other hand, religion is the most important thing amongst the Saudis. Effectively, the religion dictates the rhythm of life to the Saudis and its role in the society and the country is significant. Nevertheless, while too many people think that there is nothing common about the cultures between United States and Saudi Arabia, there are similarities and differences between them. Therefore, this expose elucidates these similarities and differences while focusing on the important aspects of attachment to gas, the way people lived in these two societies, the role of women, and the role of the youths in the two societies.
The world cannot seem to get enough of petroleum and its byproducts. In this case, the use of the product varies from its fundamental intended use as fuel to an essential requirement of products such as lipstick. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration [EIA](n.d.), Saudi Arabia is the largest net exporter of oil and its products to the world. In this case, this makes the country’s economy rely, almost entirely, on the export of oil. However, the consumption of gas by Americans rivals no other one in the world. In this regard, Americans consumed 24,088 billion cubic feet of gas in 2010. On the other hand, the Saudis total consumption for the same period was 3,096 billion feet (EIA, n.d.).
The United States of America ranked first in the world while the Saudis ranked ninth in the total world’s gas consumption (EIA, n.d.). Effectively, this makes Americans appear more attached and hooked to gas in comparison to Saudis as evidenced by these statistics. One of the main reasons is that the United States is a wealthy nation that effectively places low taxes on gas. In addition, the combination of a high population and a poor public transport system in the country effectively makes the Americans obsessed with gasoline for their transport. On the other hand, although the cost of gas in Saudi Arabia is cheaper in comparison to the United States of America, the country has a low population. In addition, its public transport system is effective enough to ensure that more people avoided using private means of transport and effectively cut on the requirements of gas for transport.
One thing that is common knowledge is that, the Americans have the most open-minded society over the world. For this reason, America is known as the free world. On the other hand, Saudis appear to live in a close-minded society and effectively try as much as possible to avoid the uncertain future. Therefore, the American society embraces diversity and accepts the differences in people while it takes time for the Saudi society to do the same. Case in point, the current president in America is African-American. This effectively underlines the open-minded nature of the American society and ready to embrace others different from them. On the other hand, the Saudis will try to resist change at times and accepting diversity to them takes a longer period.
The American society is more task-oriented and effectively distinguishes time to perform one task at a time from the socio-emotional time. Therefore, the Americans will concentrate on one task at a given time. On the other hand, there is flexibility about scheduling tasks in the Saudi society. Effectively, the Saudis can reschedule time meant for important tasks to socio-emotional tasks. Therefore, the American society consists of monochronic individuals while the Saudi society consist polychronic individuals (Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching [CELT] (2011). In this regard, the Americans lived in a society that valued promptness, stuck to the timeline, and completed assigned tasks within the scheduled tasks. On the other hand, the Saudis lived in a society that valued upholding relationships with friends and families more than the conclusion of tasks and duties. To the Saudis, events may possibly occur at the same time while the American society believes that each event should occur at a time.
One similarity in the two societies is about the conveyance of information. In this regard, the context of communication in these two societies is typical of a low context culture. According to CELT (2011), a low context culture is characterized by information forming a part of the content that is communicated verbally. In this regard, rules and regulations in these two societies are properly communicated. In addition, there is a clear discussion and explanation of the rules and regulations in these two societies in order to ensure that each individual understood the role they are meant to play. From the foregoing, it is evident that people in these two societies preferred direct communication instead of indirect communication.
The American society has different values to the Saudi society in terms of the extent that each values the interests of an individual or a group. In this regard, the Americans live in a society that values the achievement of individual goals more than the achievement of a group’s goal. Effectively, this makes the American society more of an individualistic society (CELT, 2011). On the other hand, the Saudi society significantly places a higher emphasis on the achievement of the objectives and goals of a group largely made of the family. In effect, such a society is a collectivistic society (CELT, 2011). For this reason, most of marriages in the Saudi society are arranged in order to ensure that a family formed stronger ties with other stronger and influential families. Therefore, kinship in the Saudi families is much more important than the achievement of the individual needs.
The extent of the individualistic society further extends to the way families are valued in the two societies. In this case, the fact that achievement of an individual’s goals is important in the American society makes the Americans more independent and most cut ties with their families. Therefore, they tend to do things separate from their family members. Each individual member of a typical American family defines their own paths and they are dependent upon themselves. However, the Saudis are generally dependent on each other. In this case, each member in an average Saudi family views the other member as important for their own survival. For this reason, the Saudis can live together as a family for the rest of their entire lives as a closely-knit large family depending upon each other for their survival.
The relationship between generations in the Saudi society is a strong one. This is evidenced by the fact that the Saudis lived together as one family and effectively there may be three or even four generations living under the same household. Therefore, the Saudi society effectively preserves their culture and traditions with respect being paramount important amongst the generations. For this reason, a young Saudi can obey the instructions of their elders regardless of the fact whether they were family members or not. On the other hand, there is a weakness in the relationship between the older and younger generations in the American society. In effect, the younger generations often makes decisions without the advice and input of the older generation in the society. In effect, the American society does not have a barrier in terms of the generational gap that exists in the Saudi society.
Religion dictates the tempo of life on a daily basis in the Saudi society. In this case, the Saudis get guidance from Islam values that guide them in their personal, legal, social, and political lives. Therefore, the society engages in prayers on a daily basis to ensure that their faith grew each day. In addition, the awareness about God is evident in their communication when using various Arabic texts in their greetings and other forms of communication that show their faith in God. On the other hand, the American society is not religious and does not involve God in their daily lives. Therefore, the American society does not exhibit the awareness and consciousness about God like the Saudis. In addition, the American society heavily relies on their individuality and does not engage God in their daily lives.
Gender dictates that women and men play disparate roles in the different societies. This is the case for both the Americans and Saudis. Nevertheless, women in both societies played one similar role. In this case, women play the role of mothers to their families and the rest of the society. Effectively, a woman’s role in these two societies includes taking care of the family as housekeepers and serving their husbands and their children. Therefore, a woman plays the conventional role by taking care of their families with men protecting and providing to their families while essentially playing the role of the house head in both societies.
While women play a crucial role in the Saudi society, the definition of these roles is according to Islam and tribal customs. In this regard, women’s roles in the Saudi society appear to be inhibited in comparison to the roles played by the American women in shaping the society. Case in point, women in the Saudi society risk arrest if found driving motor vehicles and used public facilities when not accompanied by a male relative (Cordesman, 2003). In addition, women do not run for political office and do not even participate in the electoral process. Conversely, the American woman has all these rights. The American woman can drive a motor vehicle, use any public facility, and participate in the electoral process.
Nevertheless, despite these limiting factors, women in the Saudi society have found ways to widen their roles in their society. In this regard, the Saudi women run 20% of the registered commercial enterprises in the country (Cordesman, 2003). Therefore, the women in this country manage and handle property according to Islam effectively playing a crucial role in the country’s economy. Conversely, it is common knowledge that American women own and run business enterprises while following the laws of the country. Unlike their Saudi counterparts, there are no religious laws that hinder the American women to operate and run businesses. Therefore, this makes the process of starting business enterprises by the American women easier in comparison to startups by their Saudi counterparts. Hence, they also play a crucial role in the economy of the country by operating enterprises that contribute to the GDP of the country.
The role of the Saudi women in the labor force however is minimal in comparison to the role the American women played in their society’s labor force. In this regard, women earned less when compared to what men earned in the Saudi society. In addition, women in the Saudi society regularly fail to get jobs that matched their qualifications despite them making up 58% of the university graduates in the male dominated Saudi society. However, their exclusion to studying courses such as medicine, architecture, and engineering handicapped them (Cordesman, 2003). Thus, these three factors hindered the contribution and role of women in the Saudi labor force effectively. On the other hand, it is common knowledge that women get equal chances like men in the American workforce. In effect, women played an important role in the labor force.
The society expects the youth to play a crucial role in nation building. In this case, each society clearly identifies the youth as the backbone of their country over the world. Therefore, the society expects the youths to dictate the path in which the future of their country will head. In this regard, achieving the dreams and visions of a nation heavily relies on these youths. In effect, the youth play a major role in both the American and Saudi societies. Therefore, parents on the other hand try to shape their children to responsible individuals for future generations.
According to the Saudi’s Ministry of Education, about 110,000 youthful Saudis study overseas under scholarships pioneered by King Abdullah (as cited in Fant, 2011). These youths returned to their closed societies after living for a period in open societies and acquiring the behavior and open-mindedness of these societies. In effect, these youths become crucial to engage their society by showing them of ways to live in a society that respected religion while enjoying its freedoms. On the other hand, the youths in America live in an open society. In this regard, the youth’s role in shaping the future of their country is evident in mobilizing debate on key issues that Americans faced and effectively play a crucial role in debating essential legislations that benefited the country (“Youth Have Key Role,” 2009).
The youth in the American society and the Saudi society fundamentally play the same role. In this regard, the American youth has been crucial in promoting agenda through activism in political parties. Case in point, youth lobbies have mobilized the Democratic Party to pass new legislations with input from the youth (“Youth Have Key Role,” 2009). On the other hand, the youth in Saudi have relied on the internet to express and communicate information and ideas on good governance and called for change in governance (Fant, 2011). This role amongst the Saudi youths is crucial for a country that inhibits meetings in public and civil discourse.
From the foregoing, it is evident that there are striking differences between the American and Saudi societies. However, there are also similarities evident from these two societies. While the use of gas in the two societies is evident, there are differences in the way these two societies are attached to gas. For example, the American society used more gas while compared to the Saudi society. In this case, a combination of factors made the American society more attached to the use of gas. Such factors like the wealth of the nation, high population, low taxes on the commodity, and a poor public transport network heavily influenced the seemingly attachment of the Americans to gas when compared to the Saudis.
The two societies showed striking differences in the way people lived. Case in point, religion dictates the way of life amongst the Saudis while this is not the case in the American society. On the other hand, family and dependency was the norm amongst the Saudis while independence was the custom in the American society. In effect, this made the Saudi society a collective one while the American society was individualistic.
Finally, the roles of the youths are seemingly similar in these two societies while those of women varied to a certain degree. In this case, the youth played a crucial role in defining the future of the society in both cases. Thus, their engagement in shaping public opinion was crucial. On the other hand, the contribution of women in the economy was evident in both societies. However, the contribution of women in the labor force in the Saudi society was hindered by some factors. On the other hand, their American counterparts had equal opportunities with their men.
References
“Youth Have Key Role To Play In America's Future, Say Top Democrats.” (n.d.). In The Talk Radio News Service. Retrieved from http://www.talkradionews.com/news/2009/7/9/youth-have- key-role-to-play-in-americas- future-say-top-democ.html
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching [CELT]. (2011). Cultural Differences. In Iowa State University. Retrieved from http://www.celt.iastate.edu/international/CulturalDifferences3.html
Cordesman, A. H. (2003). Saudi Arabia enters the 21st century. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Energy Information Administration [EIA]. (n.d.). International Energy Statistics. In U.S. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved from http://www.eia.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/IEDIndex3.cfm?tid=3&pid=26&aid=2
Fant, E. (2011). The Influences Shaping the Youth of Saudi Arabia. In Middle Eastern Affairs. Retrieved from http://eileen-fant.suite101.com/the-influences-shaping-the-youth-of- saudi-arabia-a356621
