It’s an important and powerful concept to wrap your mind around, especially when setting expectations. The overwhelming conclusion after years of research is that “birds of a feather flock together,” meaning that people who are alike tend to become friends, partners, and mates (Berscheid & Reis, 1998; Byrne, 1997; McPherson, Smith-Lovin, & Cook, 2001). And one of the similarities that brings people together is personality (Boyden, Carroll, & Maier, 1984; Acitelli, Kenny, & Weiner, 2001; Caspi & Harbener, 1990; Gonzaga, Campos, & Bradbury, 2007). Also, people are more likely to help others who are genetically similar to themselves, as demonstrated in research that shows people are most likely to help close kin members before others (Burnstein, Crandall, & Kityama, 1994; Sime, 1983).
It’s key to understanding the human condition and how it can affect a global organization. Understanding culture is a key aspect to developing relationships in business. Grouping Eastern Europe and Russian vs Russia and Asia revolves more around the culture similarities then the distance between to countries or lines that divide them. There is a historical context as well, dating back to the the opposition of the West (originally Europe) to the East in European thought goes back to Ancient Greece, namely to the fifth century B.C., when Greeks encountered the growing threat from the powerful Persian Empire, situated in the part of the world that the Greeks called “Asia.” From the time of the Greek-Persian conflict, Europe was associated with political freedom and the “opposition between Greece and Persia was viewed by the Greeks as representing that between Europe and Asia, and stood for freedom as opposed to despotism.”
Now, the culture of Russia is undoubtedly more European than Asian and speaks to the basic concept of: birds of a feather flock together.
trg5166 says
Nicholas,
I think you’re really onto something here in comparing the the well known saying of “birds of a feather flock together” with Russia, Asia and Europe. However, I think there is a lot more that goes into this argument that what you mentioned in your post. When I first read your title I took it in a completely different way, Countries like Russia and China seem to always be on the same side of an international argument and tend to always have the same agenda although they couldn’t be more different in so many other aspects.
After spending so much time looking into the current crisis is Venezuela for my global leadership paper I have a little bit of tunnel vision. However, it really does come into play in this situation as well in terms of “birds of a feather flock together”. Corruption within government is paired with nations like Russia, China and many countries in South America; in this case Venezuela. I find it very intriguing that Russia and China, two governments that are well established corrupt parties in power are ‘flocking’ to Venezuela to back the leader who also favors a corrupt government and illegal activity.
Like I said I think you are really on to something here and this argument you made can be expanded to cover so many different global issues in every which way possible.
cpd5345 says
This is a really cool topic because I think it is something so intrinsic for humans and something so primal and instinctive that we typically don’t even notice is most of the time. People tend to inherently stick to and get close with those that either share similar interest in terms of hobbies, share the same kinds of morals, practice the same type of religious ect. Although there are some that tend to argue that people don’t inherently need others, I think it is in our biology to gravitate towards being close to others. And as you point out, this lends itself in a global leadership position. There are so many different kinds of cultures throughout the world and different “packs” within those cultures and it would benefits ones self to be able to understand those different packs in not only a personable level, but also a business one.
Adriana Moreira-bendana says
Nicholas,
I think that this is an extremely good topic to discuss because it is something that people have been doing since the beginning of time: finding their “pack” or “community.” For example, my parents wouldn’t care if I married someone from a different culture or religion, but they would prefer I marry someone from our culture and religion because it’s easier to have a family when both parents were raised the same. I think it’s something that humans just do subconsciously, we merge into a group of people that understands us and/or a group of people that we can relate to. Your example of Russia being paired with Europe vs with Asia is a good example and I honestly hadn’t really thought about the countries being paired in that way until I read your blog entry.