4 ms·

Definitely racial tones. Asian countries are frequently accused of copying, cheating, and stealing intellectual property from others, so it matches what people

Definitely racial tones. Asian countries are frequently accused of copying, cheating, and stealing intellectual property from others, so it matches what people assume about members of those races.

miningape 2y ago
I think this comes down to "face culture" where its "better" to lie and be caught than be forthright from the beginning. The people used to / raised in face cultures think this is normal and acceptable behavior (because: hey everyone else is doing this I should too - If I don't I will fall behind), whereas those from more "honest" cultures tend to despise the behaviour as it makes work less trustworthy and tends to give an unfair advantage. Notice how the reason for and against doing this is the same: unfairness. Face cultures tend to embrace systemic unfairness as "fair" whereas non face cultures tend to call it as it is. What's interesting is that countries "with a face culture" tend to have higher levels of corruption and unfair business practices but also much higher levels of societal cohesion and trust. In other words, the more likely you are to save face the less likely you are to live in a democracy. And the less likely you are to trust institutions/organisations the more likely that they are trustworthy.
- throwaway48476 2y ago
  There are plenty of examples in the recent past of high social trust countries without a face culture.
jimmydddd 2y ago
I know these guys were US kids, but when I was at university, it did seem that foreign students from large population and highly competitive countries seemed to not have the same focus on honesty. I mean, I saw US kids cheating, but some of the foreign students would actually laugh at you for not cheating. I just took it as a difference in culture. The same way what would be considered a "bribe" in the US would just be "doing business" in some other cultures.

Definitely racial tones. Asian countries are frequently accused of copying, cheating, and stealing intellectual property from others, so it matches what people assume about members of those races.

miningape 2y ago

I think this comes down to "face culture" where its "better" to lie and be caught than be forthright from the beginning. The people used to / raised in face cultures think this is normal and acceptable behavior (because: hey everyone else is doing this I should too - If I don't I will fall behind), whereas those from more "honest" cultures tend to despise the behaviour as it makes work less trustworthy and tends to give an unfair advantage. Notice how the reason for and against doing this is the same: unfairness. Face cultures tend to embrace systemic unfairness as "fair" whereas non face cultures tend to call it as it is. What's interesting is that countries "with a face culture" tend to have higher levels of corruption and unfair business practices but also much higher levels of societal cohesion and trust. In other words, the more likely you are to save face the less likely you are to live in a democracy. And the less likely you are to trust institutions/organisations the more likely that they are trustworthy.

throwaway48476 2y ago
There are plenty of examples in the recent past of high social trust countries without a face culture.

jimmydddd 2y ago

I know these guys were US kids, but when I was at university, it did seem that foreign students from large population and highly competitive countries seemed to not have the same focus on honesty. I mean, I saw US kids cheating, but some of the foreign students would actually laugh at you for not cheating. I just took it as a difference in culture. The same way what would be considered a "bribe" in the US would just be "doing business" in some other cultures.