Cultural Dimensions

In addition to cultural norms, another component of culture

is dimensions. Dimensions are how the values of a society affect behavior. A dimension
describes the trends of behaviour in a given culture. Hofstede’s classic research
involved asking employees of the multinational company IBM to fill in surveys about
morale in the workplace. He then carried out a content analysis on the responses he
received, focusing on the key differences submitted by employees in different countries.
His research is an example of an etic approach and it looked at the 40 most represented
countries in the surveys. The trends he noticed he called “dimensions”.

Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

1. Power distance index: the extent to which a culture respects authority and status.
2. Individualism vs. collectivism: the degree to which people are integrated into
groups. Sometimes referred to as an “I” vs. a “we” orientation.
3. Uncertainty avoidance index: a society’s tolerance for ambiguity. Tolerance for
ambiguity means less strict rules in society and an openness to change.
4. Masculinity vs. femininity: Masculine societies are defined by a focus on
achievement, competition and wealth; feminine societies focus on cooperation,
relationships and quality of life.
5. Long-term vs. short-term orientation: the connection to the past and attitude
toward the future. Short-term orientation means that traditions are kept. Long-term
orientation has more of a focus on the future.
6. Indulgence vs. restraint: Indulgent cultures allow people to enjoy life and have fun.
Restrained cultures have stricter control through strict social norms. Indulgent
cultures tend to believe that they are in control of their lives; restrained cultures are
more fatalistic.
7. Hofstede argues that understanding cultural dimensions will help facilitate
communication between cultures. It is important in international diplomacy as
well as international business. For example, imagine that you have just been
given the position of a manager in company in Korea. Korean culture has a very
high power distance index - that is, there is a clearly established hierarchy of
power within the society and this hierarchy is expected. Coming from a culture
with a lower power distance, you make it clear in the first meeting that you like
to make decisions by consensus and that you think it is very important that you
are not making decisions for the entire company. You may find that your
employees fail to respect your leadership. After all, as the boss it is your job to
make decisions which they need to respect. If, on the other hand, you come from
a high power distance culture and try to make decisions for employees from a
low power distance culture, you may find that morale suffers as they feel that
they were "never consulted" about these decisions.

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 8. This is just one example of why it is critical to understand other cultures you may
be doing business with, whether you are on a vacation in a foreign country, or
negotiating a multimillion-dollar business deal.
9. In individualist societies, the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is
expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family. In
collectivist societies, from birth onwards people are integrated into strong,
cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts, and
grandparents), which provides them with support and protection. However, if an
individual does not live up to the norms of the family or the larger social group,
the result can sometimes be severe. Markus and Kitayama (1991) characterized
the difference between US and Japanese culture by citing two of their proverbs:
“In America, the squeaky wheel gets the grease; in Japan, the nail that stands out
gets pounded down.” Markus and Kitayama argue that perceiving a boundary
between the individual and the social environment is distinctly western in its
cultural orientation, and that non-western cultures tend towards connectedness.

Individualism Collectivism

Uniqueness is valued. Social harmony is valued.

Speaking one's mind is important. Modesty is important.

Self is defined by individual

Self is defined by group membership
achievement.

Freedom and autonomy are valued. Common fate/history guide one's decision making

Self-actualization is a goal. Advancing the interests of the group is the goal.

Everyone has a right to privacy. Privacy is not expected.

Rule-breaking leads to guilt and loss of

Rule-breaking leads to shame/loss of face.
self-respect.

Shared responsibility and interdependence are seen

Self-reliance is seen as a virtue.
as a way of life.

How does this dimension influence our behavior? In the last chapter, we looked at how
social identity can play a role in one’s level of conformity. What about the role of
individualism and collectivism? Berry (1967) carried out a study on conformity based
on the Asch paradigm with Temne from Sierra Leon, a collectivistic society based on

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farming, and Intuits from Baffin Bay, an individualistic society based on hunting, to see if the
dimension plays a role on the level of conformity.

Research in psychology: Berry (1967)

For his sample, Berry used three distinctly different cultures. First, the Temne of Sierra
Leone, a society that is based on rice farming. And then the Inuit people of Baffin Island
in Canada, which survives by hunting and fishing. Each group was made up of people
who had never had a western education and maintained the traditional way of life - and
people who were "in transition" - either have Western education or having Western
employment. Lastly, he used Scots as a reference group. The control group was made
up of both urban and rural Scots. There were approximately 120 participants in each
group.
Each individual was brought into a room by him or herself. For the test, they were given
a set of nine lines. They were asked to match the line below that most closely matched
the line on the top. These were the two practice tests to make sure that the directions
were understood. The instructions were read in their own language by a native
interpreter.
After the first two trials, there were four more trials. On the third trial, they heard the
following directions: Here is another sheet with the nine lines on it, one here on the top
and eight beneath it. This time I am going to give you a hint. Most Temne (or Inuit or
Scottish) people say this line (experimenter pointed to a designated line) is equal in length
to the one at the top. Which one do you say?
For the third trial, the correct answer was given. For trials 4 - 6, the wrong response
was given. The DV was the number of lines that they were away from the correct line.
The Temne, which is the collectivistic culture, had a much higher rate of conformity
when told what other Temne believed, even though it was incorrect. The Inuits, on the
other hand, had even a lower rate of conformity than the Scots.
Interestingly, there was no significant difference within groups - that means, it made no
difference whether the participants were living the traditional life or were highly
exposed to Western culture. It appears that when the participants were reminded of the
cultural identity by being told that another member of their culture had already given a
response, the cultural dimension played a more significant role in an individual’s level
of conformity than their current relationship with that cultural identity.

As you continue through the course, you will find several more examples of research
that demonstrate how this dimension influences behavior.
One does have to be careful, however, with applying the idea of dimensions too casually.
Hofstede warns against the ecological fallacy—that is, when one looks at two different
cultures, it should not be assumed that two members from two different cultures must
be different from one another, or that a single member of a culture will always
demonstrate the dimensions which are the norm of that culture. These concepts simply
give psychologists a way to generalize about cultures in order to better discuss the role
that culture plays in behaviour. However, we have to be careful of stereotyping,
recognizing that these expectations of the behaviour of a member of a different culture
opens up the possibility of stereotype threat.

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Hofstede (2001) has carried out extensive research since his original study. With scores
obtained over a span of 30 years, he claims that the results have stayed
consistent. However, there are some things to keep in mind when evaluating the theory
of cultural dimensions. First, remember that Hofstede was studying work
environments. The attitudes of people toward the work environment may not transfer
to all areas of their daily lives. In addition, his research was done by inductive content
analysis. After receiving the questionnaires, the researcher and his team went through
the responses and looked for emerging themes. Researcher bias can play a significant
role in which trends are seen as significant. There is the danger that researchers see
what confirms their own biases. However, Hofstede worked as a team and was able to
establish inter-coder reliability - that is, there was no significant difference in the
findings among the different members of his team. Finally, the research is correlational
in nature. It is not possible to argue that culture causes these behaviours. That being
said, using dimensions is a good way to discuss cultural differences and to challenge us
in our own ethnocentrism.

Possible essay question

Discuss the role of one cultural dimension on human behaviour.
Assessment advice
The command term “discuss” asks you to present an argument using evidence. In this
case, you might look at the cultural dimension of individualism versus collectivism. How
does the dimension affect behaviour? What evidence is there for this? You may use
research from the options to support this.
Always explain the value and limitations of the research that you are using to support
your argument.
And finally, "think globally" about the question. This is the heart of a discussion. What
are the difficulties of answering the question of the role of culture? What are the general
limitations of research on culture? How useful is this research? To what extent can
variables be operationalized and measured? What are the assumptions that we have to
make if we are to accept the findings of the research?

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