Different Strokes and Different Folks

Abstract

In cross-cultural studies, cultures are often described based on their cultural values. Examples of such values are time orientation and social self-construal. Cultures might predominantly represent one of these seemingly bipolar categories, and often dualistic categories of time orientation and social self-construal are grouped, namely monochronism and individualism ( MONO + INDV ), as well as polychronism and collectivism ( POLY + COLL ). In academic literature, limited focus is allocated to unique cultural value variations or orthogonal groupings (e.g., MONO + COLL ) – a clear gap in the knowledge base. In this article, through conceptual analysis, the author expounds some differences between three POLY + COLL cultures (found in South Africa, the Arab League, and China) based on their time orientation and social self-construal. She also gives accounts of the Japanese and French cultures that present with orthogonal groupings ( MONO + COLL and POLY + INDV , respectively) to illustrate that such groupings – much like unique cultural value variants – should receive more focused attention in cross-cultural research.