Chapter 6: Dimensions of Nation-State Cultures

The Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner dimensions

-concluded that people from diverse cultures differ from one another in seven dimensions 1. Universalism versus particularism: in universalistic cultures people place importance on laws, rules, values, and obligations. To treat people fairly one follows the accepted rules. In particularist cultures people follow the dictates of each circumstance and relationship 2. Individualism versus communitarianism: In individualistic cultures people believe they take care of themselves and make decisions for themselves. Freedom and personal achievement are values. Communitarianistic cultures believe the group comes before the individual as the group is more important than the individual. The group provides safety and security of the individuals 3. Specific versus diffuse: In specific cultures, people keep their personal lives separate from their work lives. There is the belief that relationships at work don't have a major impact on work and that people can work together without having a good relationship with each other. In diffuse cultures people see work and personal lives overlapping. 4.Neutral versus emotional: In natural cultures people take great care to control their emotions. Reason is valued over feelings. In emotional cultures spontaneous emotional expressions are accepted and welcomed 5. Achievement versus ascription: In achievement-oriented cultures people believe you re what you do. An individual is judged accordingly and performance is valued over identity. In ascription-oriented cultures title, position, and power influences how others view you. Your value is determine day who you are 6. Sequential time versus synchronous time: In sequential time cultures people place a value on planning and staying on schedule. Punctuality and meeting deadlines are values and events should happen in the planned order. In synchronous time cultures people working multiple projects at once and commitments along with plans are viewed as flexible 7. Internal direction versus outer direction: Having an internal or external locus of control. In internally directed cultures people believe they can control their environment and nature in order to achieve their goals. In outer-directed cultures people believe they are highly influence day their environment and must work with the environment to achieve their goals along with tending to avoid conflict with others

Environmental Sustainability

-development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs -a multidimensional construct -quality of environmental systems, stresses on those systems, the vulnerability of human populations to environmental degradation, the social and institutional capacity to respond to stresses, and global stewardship -countries with low levels of power distance, high levels of individualism, and low levels of masculinity has higher social and institutional capacity -power distance and masculinity negatively related to the ESI and education positively elated to the ESI -masculinity and power distance are effective and constant predictors of environmental performance

Individualism vs. collectivism

-dimension refers to how people define themselves and their relationships with others -the interest of the individual prevails over the interests of the group in individualistic culture -people look after themselves and their immediate families -in a collectivist culture, the interest of the group prevails over the interest of the individual -people are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups that continue throughout a lifetime to protect in exchange for unquestioning loyalty -in individualist cultures, goals are set with minimal consideration given to groups other than perhaps your immediate family -in collectivist cultures, other groups are taken into account in a major way when goals are set -individualist cultures are loosely engrained collectivist cultures are tightly integrated -Individualist cultures are more remote and distant -cultures characterized by collectivism emphasize relationships among people to a greater degree, stress interdependent activities and suppressing individual aims for the group's welfare -difficult for individuals from highly individualist cultures to understand collectivist values -employer-employee relationship is established by contract for individualist cultures -strong association between a nation's wealth and individualism -countries with moderate and cold climates tend to show more individualism -countries with higher birth rates tend to be collectivist -Confucian countries are collectivist -individualism associated with direct style of communication, collectivism associated with the indirect sale of communication

The Hofstede dimensions

-identified four dimensions that he labeled -power distance refers to the distribution of influence within a culture -uncertainty avoidance reflects a c culture's tolerance of ambiguity and acceptance of risk -Hofstede identified a fifth dimension labeled long-term orientation versus short-term orientation to life -described cultures that range from short-term values with respect for tradition and reciprocity in social relations to long-term values with persistence and ordering relationships by status

Indulgence versus self-restraint

-indulgence is a tendency to allow relatively free gratification of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life na having fun -restraint reflects a conviction that such gratification needs to be curbed and regulated by strict social norms -indulgence scores are highest in latin america, parts of Africa, the Anglo world and Nordic Europe -restraint is mostly found in East Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Muslim world -in indulgent cultures there is a higher percentage of very happy people, greater importance placed on leisure na having friends, more extroverted personalities, and lower death rate from cardiovascular diseases -in private life,there is more satisfying family life, more involvement in sports, and loosely prescribed gender roles -In restrained cultures, there tends to be a lower percentage of very happy people, a perception of helplessness, cynicism, mor neurotic personalities, more pessimism, an high death rates from cardiovascular diseases. Private life is less satisfying etc.

Uncertainty avoidance

-the extent to which people in a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations -this feeling is expressed through nervous stress and a need for predictability or a need for written and unwritten rules -in these cultures, such situations are avoided by maintaining strict codes of behavior and a belief in absolute truths -cultures strong in uncertainty avoidance are active, aggressive, emotional, compulsive, security seeking, and intolerant -cultures weak in uncertainty avoidance are contemplative, less aggressive, unemotional, related, accepting of personal risks, and relatively tolerant -Orthodox and roman catholic christian cultures score high -Judaic and Muslim cultures tend to score in the middle -Protestant christian cultures score low -Eastern religion cultures score medium to very low

Power distance

-the way he culture deals with inequalities -the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally -power distance is learned early in families -in cultures with high power distance, children are expected to be obedient towards parents versus being treated more or less as equals -people are expected to display expect for those of higher status -the extent to which power, prestige, and wealth are distribute within a culture -cultures with high power distance have power and influence concentrated int he hands of a few rather than distributed throughout the population -one indicator of power distance is economic inequality -A country can have highly concentrated wealth distribution and still have more equal distribution of income -power centralized in high power distance and wide salary gap exists between the top and the bottom of the organization -in more democratic organizations, leaders are physically more accessible -higher latitudes are associated with lower power distance -large populations are associated with high power distance -national wealth is associated with lower power distance -countries with a Romance language score media to high as do Confucian cultural inheritance countries -Countries with a Germanic language score low

Long-term versus short-term orientation

-values as thirst, persistence, having a sense of shame, and ordering relationships -confucian work dynamism refers to dedicated, motivated, responsible, and educated individuals with a sense of commitment and organizational identity and loyalty -Countries high in confucian work dynamism are Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, etc. -long-term orientation encourages thrift savings, perseverance toward results, and a willingness to subordinate oneself for a purpose -short-term orientation is consistent with spending to keep up with social pressure, less savings, preference for quick results, and a concern with face

Masculinity versus femininity

-women's social role varied less form culture to culture than men's -masculine cultures are those that strive for maximal distention between what women and men are expected to do -cultures that place high values on masculine traits stress assertiveness, competition, and material success -Those labeled as feminine cultures are those that permit more overlapping social roles for the sexes -traits apply to both women and men -Feminine cultures are somewhat more likely in colder climates -In feminine cultures, the woman has a stronger say in the number of children, IN masculine cultures, the man determines family size