Basic Differences Between Culture in the United States Vs. Brazil

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

Whenever an individual travels to a different country, or enters into a culturally different group, they may experience something known as culture shock. Culture shock is a short-term period of discomfort and disorientation due to the unfamiliarity of surroundings in the environment (Martin & Nakayama). When traveling, it is important to try to adapt to the native culture and environment so culture shock can be overcome, and the immersion into another culture can be a positive experience.

In Brazil, the concept of time differs drastically than within the United States. This can cause many people from the U.S traveling within Brazil to feel out of place and experience a form of culture shock because they are so used to following a schedule as closely as possible. Brazil is a very laid back country when it comes to time. Meetings within the workplace can often start and run late, with business lunches running from even 2-3 hours long (Barreto, 2012). People from the U.S are often very punctual and take being late as a sign of disrespect. However, when in Brazil, it means no sign of disrespect towards others because that is just simply a norm of how that culture works.

As opposed to the cultures casual time orientation, etiquette and formality are extremely important within Brazilian culture, especially in business. Etiquette, formality, and proper behavior are directly linked to a person’s class identity, or socioeconomic status within this culture (Martin & Nakayama). Everyone in Brazil is expected to be able to know how to eat properly and display themselves in a way that shows class. This is because Brazil is a very formal culture, with etiquette denoting one’s power and class. If conducting business within Brazil, this becomes extremely important because most business meetings take place around the dinner table (Barreto, 2012). This differs from business lunches and dinners in the United States because the meetings tend to be much less formal. For the most part, formality in Brazil plays a much bigger role than it does within the United States, and it is important to remember that when traveling there.

If looking for a job in Brazil, it is important to remember that the culture may value work differently than those from the U.S do. In Brazil, family and life outside of work definitely come first. Brazilians work to live and enjoy life, as opposed to people in the U.S who live to work and are defined by their jobs (Barreto, 2012). This is because Brazil is a collective-feminist society. Collective-feminist societies place a great deal of value on family and quality of life (Martin & Nakayama). This means that Brazilians tend to value family time and happiness more than work and having a great deal of money. This can cause intercultural conflicts because people from the U.S may feel like Brazilians are not serious about their work. While Brazilians may feel like those in the United States do not respect their personal time (Barreto, 2012). Therefore, it is important to learn the more about the culture you intend to work in to avoid situations like this.

Overall, there is no right way or wrong way to do things, it all just depends on what the norm is within the culture that we live in. It is always necessary to be mindful that different cultures may do things in different ways, and that it is important to understand those differences so we can maintain positive relationships.

Brazilian Business Atire Basics

If you’re planning to stick around in Brazil and you’re looking to find a job there, there’s a couple things to keep in mind while on your job search. In Brazilian culture, how you dress yourself is very important. To them in their business culture, how you dress reflects on the company itself. You can expect their business wear to be very similar in taste and expectations as the United States. But one different emphasis in Brazil is that for women, it is essential that they still dress formally while retaining their femininity. This is especially the case in the city of Sao Paulo (Brazil: Business Dress). But for other cities in the northwest region of Brazil, their business dress is slightly less informal where business casual is the norm.

For those looking into the law and business fields, expect to dress very formally for work. Some tips for men is to avoid wearing any ties with drawings, figures, and that are too colorful. This is to ensure that you’re projecting a serious image. So men, don’t expect to be taken very seriously if you decide to wear your favorite superhero tie to an interview or work. For women, it is considered a cultural norm for women to constantly have their nails kept well and polished. This makes nail polish chips all the more stressful women. Heavy makeup is often frowned upon in the work environment. One final tip for business dress that applies to both men and women, is to never wear the combination of the Brazilian flag in a single outfit. Brazilians deem this as an unsuitable color combination.

One important factor to keep in mind, besides the importance of how you dress, is that Brazil is on the higher end of the power distance scale. Power distance refers to the belief and attitude that all individuals in society aren’t equal, and the less powerful member within society expect and accept power to be distributed unequally (Martin & Nakayama). Brazil tends to fall on the higher end on the power distance scale with a score of 69, with the belief that hierarchies are to be respected and inequalities are acceptable. They also place a high importance on showing respect to the elderly (Brazil). In the work setting, there is a single boss that shoulders all the responsibility.

Learning all these nuances in Brazilian culture is important. People that help educate others going abroad with information and tips for dealing with these culture differences, is becoming even more important with so many people traveling and staying in foreign places for extended amounts of time (Martin & Nakayama). These cross cultural trainers can and often are the difference in whether someone is able to adjust to a foreign country. In the case of those that want to stay for a long time in these foreign countries, it could affect their likelihood of landing a job. This is especially vital training for those that are planning to go into jobs that interact with a lot of people in Brazil.

Basics of Brazilian Culture and National Identity

Before traveling to another country, it's important to know the basics like what language is spoken and what the people there are like.

Here are the must-know facts about Brazil, it's culture and it's people:

Language:

 Portuguese. Brazilian Portuguese is different than European Portuguese.  Some slang that you might want to be familiar with when traveling to Brazil: 

•   Burro: While directly translated as "donkey", if you hear someone call you this, they aren't comparing you to a 4 legged mammal, they're calling you stupid. 

•   Legal: This word is slang for cool.

•   Gringo: This is a Portuguese term for foreigner. 

•   E aí, cara?: What's up, dude?
(Sonia, 2014)

It's important to keep in mind when traveling to every country, that words aren't always taken at face value. Slang is an example of that. Just because you know the language, doesn't mean you'll be able to communicate perfectly. (Martin & Nakayama, 2014.)

Holidays:

Brazil celebrates many different holidays many of which America celebrates for example Christmas, New Year's, Labor Day and a few more along those lines. Brazil has seven holidays that are the most important in their culture and are very interesting.

1  February Carnival

2  Festivals of the Cavalhadas (Of The Holy Spirit)

3  Festival of Tiradentes

4  Independence Day

5  Festival of la Virgen Aparecida 

6  Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic


Religion:

One of the most popular types of religion in brazil is Catholicism. Though down 90 percent from decades ago, there is a high number of people in Brazil that are Catholic. According to Margolis (2013), A random sample of Brazilians in the Boston metropolitan area in the mid-2000s found that more than one in three (or 37 percent) were Protestant; close to one in two (48 percent) were Catholic; and most of the remaining 15 percent claimed to have no religious preference. 68 percent of Brazilian in Brazil claim they are Catholic. According to Martin & Nakayama (2014)  some religions are learned through culture and it’s just acquired when you are born. They list two examples: Catholic and Protestant. When you look at studies it is clear that most Brazilians are very culturally oriented in their religion.

Traditions:

One of the biggest traditions that you will find in Brazil is soccer. Brazil is one team out of eight that has won a world cup tournament and they have won 5. Brazil is the only team that has played in every single world cup tournament. There have been 20 world cup tournaments and if you do the math, Brazil has one a quarter of them. 

If traveling to Brazil, whatever you do, do not walk around anywhere and talk bad about Brazilian Soccer or soccer in general.

Social Interaction in Brazil: The Do's and Don'ts of Conversation

Planning a trip to Brazil? Unsure of how to act around the locals? Afraid of awkward conversations?

Then this is for you!

A nifty list of do's and don'ts for successfully navigating social interaction in Brazil!

Do: Talk about things like the weather, food, and of course- soccer. These topics are always safe and can help you learn more about the culture of Brazil.

Don't: Bring up things like class differences, crime or issues like street children and homelessness.    These are sensitive topics to Brazilians and it will likely be taken as you looking down on them. (Cultural information-Brazil, 2009.)

Do: Make eye contact and show that you're listening and engaged in the conversation. Give a response, even if it's something as simple as saying "Oh" or "I see". Staring down at your phone or zoning out during a conversation is not acceptable.

Don't: Be weirded out by how close people may stand next to you. It's totally normal for people in Brazil to stand as close as 1ft apart during a conversation.

Do: Be comfortable with touching. Pats on the arm or back are very common in Brazil.

Don't: Say "America" or "American when referring to the United States. Brazil is part of South America which -shocker- makes them American too!

Do: Expect greetings that may make you a little uncomfortable. Cheek touching or air kisses are common greetings in Brazil, especially among women. (Gayle, 2015.)

Don't: Use the "OK" symbol. While in the United States it is a totally harmless and common gesture, it is very obscene in Brazil! Another harmless act in the United States that's very offensive in Brazil, burping in public! (Selem, 2014.)

Do: Leave your ethnocentricity and comfort zone behind. Be polite, be openminded and be willing to learn about the rich Brazilian culture