Source: Nancy Adler, Organizational Behavior, 3rd Edition 1997, p. 71.

Would we, if we weren’t told, realize that in the South Pacific a belch following a drink from a coconut was a polite necessity rather than a random escape of gas? Wold we understand, watching our Hindu friend arrange his bedroll, that he was trying to position himself so as not to be pointing his feet at anyone’s head (instead of trying to get near the window or away from the door)?

And how much of the following would we see at a tea shop along the trail in Nepal? Would we notice that our porter (from a low caste) doesn’t actually enter under the roof of the shop but sits outside; that the lady making the tea lets us take our cup from her hand but sets the porter’s on the ground, whence he collects it; that she cleans up our cup herself but pours water into his, lets him rinse it out once and set it on the ground, then pours more water in and rinses it out a second time herself? Would we notice, handing our porter a box of matches, that he doesnt take them from us, but cups his hands to receive them? Most of these actions, if not all, would seem perfectly arbitrary. As a rule, we only see what which has meaning for us, and the only behavior that has meaning for us is that with which we are already familiar, that we have seen before.

Source: Craig Storti, The art of crossing cultures, p. 77 f.

This phenomenon is treated under the notion of “mental models” by many researchers. Mental models do not have to be true, they only have to work in order to lead to satisfying results. We also make use of categories and stereotypes. Categorization helps me to distinguish what is most important in my environment and to behave accordingly.

Categories of perceived images become ineffective when we place people and thins in the wron groups. Cross-cultural miscategorization occurs when I use my home country categories to make sense out of situations abroad. For example, a Korean businessman entered a client´s office in Stockholm and encountered a woman sitting behind the desk. Assuming that she was a secretary, he announced that he wanted to see Mr. Silferbrand. The woman responded by saying that the secretary would be happy to help him. The Korean became confused. In assuming that most women are secretaries rather than managers, he had misinterpreted the situation and acted inappropriately. His categorization made sense because most women in Korean offices are secretaries, but it proved inaccurate and counterproductive here, since this particular Swedish woman was not a secretary.

Source: Nancy J. Adler, Organizational Behavior, 3rd edition 1997, p. 74 f.

More examples:

A major international blunder was successfully avoided when Nancy Reagan revised her earlier determination to take her White House china on a state visit to the People’s Republic of China in 1984. [The People’s Republic was offended by the implication that it, of all countries, might be deficient in this regard.] However, unwittingly, President Reagan managed to offend a shopkeeper by asking him to ”keep the change” after paying for some small souvenir, an insult in a country where tips are reserved for lowly servants.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Health/Human Services, cited in Craig Storti, The art of crossing cultures, p. 22 f.

A North American meets an Austrian client for the sixth time in as many months. He greets him as Herr Smith. Categorizing him as a businessman, the American interprets his very formal behavior to mean that he does not like him or is uninterested in developing a closer relationship with him. (North American attribution: people who maintain formal behavior after the first few meetings do so because they dislike or distrust the associates so treated.).