Week 2: Culture

Question 1

Individualism

Answer 1

(within a culture) It means that individual choices and decisions are expected.

With a metaphor from physics, people in an individualistic society are more like atoms flying around in a gas.

Question 2

Collectivism

Answer 2

(within a culture) It means that one “knows one’s place” in life, which is determined socially.

With a metaphor from physics, people in a collectivist society are more like atoms fixed in a crystal.

Question 3

Power Distance Index (PDI)

Answer 3

is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally.

Question 4

Masculinity

Answer 4

is the extent to which the use of force is endorsed socially.

In a masculine society, men are supposed to be tough.

Question 5

Feminity

Answer 5

In a feminine society, the genders are emotionally closer. Competing is not so openly endorsed, and there is sympathy for the underdog.

Question 6

Uncertainty Avoidance

Answer 6

deals with a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity.

It has to do with anxiety and distrust in the face of the unknown, and conversely, with a wish to have fixed habits and rituals and to know the truth.

Question 7

Long-term orientation (Flexhumility)

Answer 7

In a long-time-oriented culture, the basic notion about the world is that it is in flux, and preparing for the future is always needed.

Question 8

Short-term orientation (Monumentalism)

Answer 8

In a short-time-oriented culture, the world is essentially as it was created, so that the past provides a moral compass, and adhering to it is morally good.

Question 9

Indulgence

Answer 9

In an indulgent culture, it is good to be free. Doing what your impulses want you to do, is good. Friends are important and life makes sense.

Question 10

Restraint

Answer 10

In a restrained culture, the feeling is that life is hard, and duty, not freedom, is the normal state of being.