Globalization, Culture, and the Non-Convergence of German and American Norms of Interaction: Revisiting the Lewin Hypothesis

Cultural globalization raises the question regarding the convergence of the norms governing face-to-face interaction in different cultures. As increased cross-cultural communication and mobility lowers the barriers of interaction, many argue that local cultural norms will inevitably give way to global standards, as defined by globally leading cultures such as the Americans. In this paper I take a critical look at the idea of converging cultural norms between two countries, Germany and the United States. Drawing on Simmel’s theory of face-to-face interaction and Kurt Lewin’s analysis of German-American differences, I find that for three key levels of interaction —self-disclosure in the stranger-to-member passage, conversation style, and the construction of friendship— characteristic German versus American norms of interaction persist with little evidence of convergence ; Cultural globalization raises the question regarding the convergence of the norms governing face-to-face interaction in different cultures. As increased cross-cul- tural communication and mobility lowers the barriers of interaction, many argue that local cultural norms will inevitably give way to global standards, as defined by globally leading cultures such as the Americans. In this paper I take a critical look at the idea of converging cultural norms between two countries, Germany and the Uni- ted States. Drawing on Simmel’s theory of face-to-face interaction and Kurt Lewin’s analysis of German-American differences, I find that for three key levels of interaction —self-disclosure in the stranger-to-member passage, conversation style, and the cons- truction of friendship— characteristic German versus American norms of interaction persist with little evidence of convergence.