Just Make a U-turn--Nobody Cares! A Cross-Cultural Look at Taiwanese and U.S. Attitudes toward Rules.

This paper examines universalism and particularism in the context of following traffic rules and cross-cultural communication in Taiwanese and U.S. adults. A universalist culture such as the United States emphasizes rules; the particularist culture of Taiwan emphasizes relationships. Universalists follow the rules no matter what; particularists believe that circumstances and relationships take precedence over rules. The paper discusses insights into the differences in driving in traffic in Taiwan and in the United States; the differences in how drivers react to traffic laws highlights the different intracultural communication rules between the two cultures. This report suggests that these differences may be expanded into all aspects of communication between the two cultures, but especially in business. Asians expend more effort on the group benefit; Americans on the individual. Networks of relationships are very important in Taiwan; they are more important than rules and laws. (Contains nine references.) (NAV)