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38 WHEN CULTURES COLLIDE

1. Japan Strongly Reactive

2. China
3. Taiwan
4. Singapore, Hong Kong*
5. Finland*
6. Korea
7. Turkey†
8. Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos†
9. Malaysia, Indonesia†
10. Pacific Islands (Fiji, Tonga, etc.)†
11. Sweden*
Occasionally Reactive
12. Britain*

*Linear-active tendencies when reacting

†
Multi-active tendencies when reacting

Figure 3.3 Ranking of Countries on the Reactive Scale

Figure 3.3 gives a suggested ranking of countries on the reactive scale, from
strongly reactive to occasionally reactive.

Intercategory Comparisons

Common linear-active behavior will facilitate smooth relations between, for

instance, Swedes and Flemish Belgians. A common multi-active mentality will
help contacts between Italians and Argentineans or Brazilians. In the Vietnam
War, the most popular foreign troops with the South Vietnamese were reactive
Koreans. There are naturally underlying similarities between members belong-
ing to the same cultural category.
When members of different cultural categories begin to interact, the differ-
ences far outnumber the commonalities (see Figure 3.4).
Figures 3.5 to 3.7 illustrate intercategory relationships. When you look care-
fully at these diagrams, you can see that commonalities exist between all types,
but tend to be thin on the ground between linear-actives and multi-actives.