Kimmel Subjective Culture Summary

What I believe Kimmel is indicating is the personal creation and perception of an act as a result of our own culture. As Kimmel discusses, subjective culture influences a difference in perceptions, actions, and decisions. (627). The strong relation discussed by Kimmel is what identifies us into our culture, our people, our language, and our styles. When encountering a situation including another culture we are more apt to encounter conflict. An example of an encountered conflict as a result of subjective culture could be my perception of Canadian drivers or your perception of Michigan drivers. The experience one may encounter does not have a significant impact on us as we juxtapose their behavior with the predisposition of our culture. Kimmel discusses the attribution errors that likely occur in differing subjective cultures (630). Additionally he discusses an increased awareness of not only our own but other’s subjective cultures to limit the amounts of misperceptions and errors of attribution. (633).

The all or nothing syndrome is a decision of one’s response to ground shaking negative information in relation to our identity and being. The reaction of the all or nothing syndrome could encompass denial or exaggeration. The denial aspect attempts to maintain and protect one’s identity by rejecting the information and convincing ourselves otherwise. The exaggeration response is an incredibly critical way of handling feedback. By taking what you have heard and flipping it to the utmost negative. While an exaggeration response is debilitating, the denial response can only prove defensive for so long before the facade