The Great Misunderstanding: When High-Context Cultures Mistake Switzerland for Low-Context Simplicity

The Great Misunderstanding: When High-Context Cultures Mistake Switzerland for Low-Context Simplicity

Anthropologist ET Hall used the concept of culture as a system of patterns that are. learned and analyzable, and applied those patterns to the way we communicate. According to Hall, high-context cultures use often indirect communication. Low-context cultures do the opposite; direct communication is mostly needed to understand a message being communicated.

Most migrants who struggle to integrate into Switzerland come from high-context cultures—places where hierarchy, relationships, and unspoken rules define everything. Think of the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and parts of Asia. These societies are deeply networked, tradition-bound, and opaque to outsiders.

But when they arrive in Switzerland, they misread it.

They assume Switzerland is like the USA—a low-context, rule-based, open-access society where everything is written down, contracts are king, and people operate with a Western-style "transactional" mindset.

In other words, they think Switzerland has no culture.

The Foreigners' Assumption: Switzerland is Just a Set of Rules

In their home countries, success depends on who you know, how well you can navigate power structures, and your ability to work around the system.

But in Switzerland, they see clear rules, a functioning bureaucracy, and a lack of visible hierarchy.

So they conclude:

• "This is an easy country. I just need to follow the steps."
• "There’s no deeper structure here—just laws and paperwork."
• "They don’t have a real culture like we do."

They assume Swiss identity is shallow and that they can simply plug themselves in without needing to adapt much.

The Swiss Reality: High-Context in a Low-Context Disguise

What they miss is that Switzerland is not actually low-context. It’s just efficiently high-context.

Instead of relying on personal relationships, the Swiss rely on shared cultural habits. Instead of informal networks, they rely on deeply ingrained expectations.

Everything looks transparent, but beneath the surface, there is a strict, unwritten code.

• There is a way to behave. (It won’t be explained to you.)

• There is a way to integrate. (It’s not spelled out in a pamphlet.)

• There is a way to be Swiss. (And if you don’t do it, you won’t be told—you’ll just be left out.)

So when migrants try to shortcut their way in, thinking Switzerland is an easy, rule-based society, they crash into an invisible wall.

The Swiss Reaction: Silent Exclusion

The biggest difference between Switzerland and truly low-context societies like (most parts) of the US or (many parts) of Germany is that Americans or Germans will tell you when you’ve broken a norm.

• In the US or Germany, if you make a social mistake, someone will correct you openly.

• In Switzerland, if you make a mistake, no one will say anything. You’ll just quietly be excluded.

Swiss integration is not about paperwork or learning German. It’s about mastering an entire way of behaving that no one will explain to you.

This is why so many foreigners feel rejected without understanding why.

The Cultural Illusion: Why Migrants Think Swiss People Are Cold

To a migrant from a truly high-context culture, the Swiss look cold, unfriendly, and robotic.

• They don’t engage in small talk.
• They don’t ask about your family.
• They don’t offer favors or “help you out” in ways you expect.

This is because the Swiss don’t need to. Their society functions smoothly without personal transactions. You don’t need to bribe someone to get something done. You don’t need personal favors to find work. You just follow the structure.

But for someone from a high-context culture, this doesn’t feel like culture at all.

It feels like a society of robots.

So they assume:

• "These people are empty."
• "They don’t care about each other."
• "They don’t know what real culture is."

But in reality, the Swiss have an extremely strong culture. It’s just invisible to outsiders.

The More You Force Your Way In, The More You Stay Out

Here’s the final paradox.

• The more you demand to be included, the less you will be.

• The more you take shortcuts or try to negotiate the system, the more resistance you will face.

• The more you assume the Swiss have no culture, the more you will feel excluded by it.

Switzerland doesn’t require bloodlines for integration—it requires subtlety.

If you can see and adapt to the invisible structure, you will integrate effortlessly.

If you refuse to see or acknowledge it, you will always feel like an outsider.

And no one will explain to you why.