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.