Foreign to Familiar; A Guide to Understanding Hot- and Cold- Climate Cultures

by Sarah Lanier

In high-context cultures, because everything matters, so does how you dress. Even in poor areas of the world, the people dress their very best when going to a meeting, out in public or to someone’s home for dinner. For a low-context person, wearing sensible shoes, a rumpled cotton skirt and nice T-shirt to match when traveling may seem adequate. That would be considered an insult by the host in a high-context culture. That manner of dress says, “I don’t respect you or your protocol, and I express how casually I take it by not bothering to dress appropriately.” Americans are especially guilty of this. There is something in the mind-set of the American that says being comfortable is of higher importance than looking appropriate.