Cultural dimensions Flashcards
Definition of cultural dimensions
The values within a culture that influence behaviour and cognition
Who researched cultural dimensions?
Hofsted (1980) who used to work at IBM
What did Hofsted do?
Carried out a content analysis of questionnaires asking people form several different countries how they perceived their work environment?
What did Hofsted find?
When analysing the data, he found cultural differences which he called: cultural dimensions.
What are the 6 cultural dimensions?
Individualism vs collectivism
power distance index
masculinity vs femininity
uncertainty avoidance index
long term vs short term
orientation and indulgence vs restraint
What is collectivism vs. individualism?
Whether individuals see themselves as independent or dependent of a social group.
What do individualist cultures value?
Achievement, uniqueness and independence
What do collectivistic cultures value?
Social harmony, tradition and interdependence
What is the study for cultural dimensions?
Berry
When was Berry?
1967
What is the aim of Berry (1967)?
To investigate whether cultural differences in individualism versus collectivism affect conformity
What were the 2 groups of participants?
Temne people of Sierra Leone
Inuit people of Norther Canada
Temne people
The Temne are a food accumulating society whose way of life promotes collectivism. They are rice farmers who harvest one crop a year. In order to survive until the next harvest they rely on sharing food among group members
Inuit people
The Inuits live as a hunting and fishing society. This way of life promotes individualism. People are responsible for their survival on a daily basis, and there is little accumulation of food in the society.
What did the study use as procedure?
Asch Paradigm
Procedure
Participants are shown a series of lines of varying length, with one target line on top of a page and several other line below. Participants are then asked to identify which of the other lines is of equal length to the target line. They are also tricked into believing that most of the other participants pick a particular line as the correct answer however, the line is actually not equal to the target line. The measure of conformity in this procedure is whether or not the participant will accept the suggestion of the ‘majority’ and pick an incorrect response because most other group members have chosen it.
Results
The Temne had a significant tendency to accept the suggestion of the group and select the incorrect response.
Participants from the Inuit group are mostly unaffected by this suggestion of the ‘majority’.
Conclusion
The researchers concluded that the individualist Inuit participants conform less often than the collectivist Temne because conformity to group norms is ingrained as a cultural value in the Temne society, which depend on tight social relations.
Individualism vs. Collectivism
A preference for a loose‐knit framework for a society, with ties to and responsibility for one’s immediate family only, as against a tight‐knit framework where you look after your relative and friends in return for their care of you as you need it.
This has been described by Hofstede as the self‐image of ‘I’ vs. the self‐image of ‘we’.
Example of Individualism vs Collectivism
South Korea has a score of 18
USA has a score of 91
Hofsted made scores for each country
