Some societies have "universalist" cultures.

Some societies have "universalist" cultures.
Ideas about polite behavior are different from one culture to another．Some societies,such as America and Australia are mobile and very open,people here change jobs and move house quite often．As a result,they have a lot of relationships that often last only a short time．So it’s normal to have friendly conversations with people that they have just met,and you can talk about things that other cultures would regard as personal．
On the other hand there are more crowded and less mobile societies where long-term relationships are more important．A Malaysian or Mexican business person will want to get to know you very well before he or she feels happy to start business．But when you do get to know each other,the relationship becomes much deeper than it would in a mobile society．
To Americans,both Europeans and Asians seem cool and formal at first．On the other hand,as a passenger from a less mobile society put it,it’s no fun spending several hours next to a stranger who wants to tell you all about his or her life and asks you all sorts of questions that you don’t want to answer．
Cross-cultural differences aren’t just a problem for travelers,but also for the flights that carry them．All flights want to provide the best service,but ideas about good service are different place to place．This can be seen most clearly in the way that problems are dealt with．
Some societies have “universalist” cultures．These societies strongly respect rules,and they treat every person and situation in basically the same way．“Particularist” societies,on the other hand,also have rules,but they are less important than the society’s unwritten ideas about what is right or wrong for a particular situation or a particular person．So the normal rules are changed to fit the needs of the situation or the importance of the person．
This difference can cause problems．A traveler from a particularist society,India,is checking in for a flight in Germany,a country which has a universalist culture．The Indian traveler has too much luggage,but he explains that he has been away from home for a long time and the suitcases are full of presents for his family．He expects that the check-in official will understand his problem and will change the rules for him．The check-in official explains that if he was allowed to have too much luggage,it wouldn’t be fair to the other passengers．But the traveler thinks this is unfair,because the other passengers don’t have his problem．

不同文化中对于什么是礼貌的行为有不同的观点.在某些国家,如美国和澳大利亚,人们相当自由和开放,经常换工作搬家.所以,人际关系持续的时间不长,也正因为如此,和刚认识的人就进行友好的对话是很常见的,你可以和对方谈论那些在其他文化下认为是比较私人的话题.
另一方面,在较为拥挤且人们不到处走动的国家里,长久的人际关系更为重要.马来西亚或墨西哥商人需要非常清楚地了解你之后才会乐意与你进行生意往来.但是一旦你们双方互相了解之后,与那些活动自由的国家相比,你们之间的关系更深刻.
对美国人来说,欧洲人和亚洲人一开始都显得很酷很正式.但另一方面,作为从一个不太移动的国家来的乘客,如果身边坐着个陌生人,几小时滔滔不绝地向你叙述自己的生活并且问你各种你不想回答的问题,会是很不愉快的一件事.
跨文化差异不仅是旅行者的问题,而且对他们乘坐的航班也是个问题.所有航班都想提供最优质的服务,但是地域不同,对优质服务的理解也不同.这一点可以很明显地从处理问题的不同方法上看出 .
某些社会具有“普遍性”文化,这些社会十分尊重规则,而且人们为人处事基本采取一样的方式.另一方面,“特殊性”社会也有规则,但对于对待某个人或者出于某种情况下什么是对什么是错,这个社会又有不成文的想法,与之相比,社会规则就不那么重要了.所以,正常的规则会被改变,用于适应形势需要或人物的重要程度.
文化差异可能引发问题.从某一“特殊性”社会印度来的旅客在“普遍性”社会德国办理登机手续.印度游客行李过多,他解释道,那是由于他离家很久,行李箱里装满了给家人带的礼物.他希望德方官员能了解他的困难并为他改变一下规定,但对方的解释是,如果允许他携带过多行李的话,就会对其他乘客不公平.印度游客还是觉得不公平,因为其他乘客没有他这样的问题.