Hierarchy In Mexico Essay

Hierarchy is significant in Mexico. Professional status and authority are highly respected. Unless you are a family member or family friend, work titles are expected when addressing someone in a professional and casual setting. Failure to do so will be seen as disrespect and as a result, a tainted relationship. For this reason I believe Mexico’s rank on the power distance scale to be a 9 rather than an 8, which is, what the group ranked them. One well-known form of power distance is through the use of tu and usted. Tu is used when addressing a friend or family member that is of the same age or younger, whether it be in a casual or professional setting. Usted is used when addressing a friend or family member that is older or of high ranking. If these pronouns are not used correctly, this too will taint a relationship and the
The group rated Mexico an 8 on the structure scale however I rate the culture a 9.5. The reason I am not rating Mexico a 10 is because the culture has become slightly lenient over the years. Mexican culture is notoriously known for being significantly high structured. Any change to tradition or rules can cause uproar in a group because breaking tradition is the equivalent to disrespecting past generations. One of many examples of this is I dated an African-American boy. I remember the day I introduced him to my family at a gathering and my grandparents looked stunned. They questioned my mother about my decision to date him let alone bring him around the family. The issue was not that he was African-American, no; the real issue was the fact that he was not Mexican. My grandparents are extremely traditional so their thought process was, “are Mexican men not enough for you?” is what they asked me. Me dating this guy offended them because since he was not Mexican, he would not understand Mexican traditions, he did not speak Spanish, and therefore, I would break