Culture Frameworks 79 TABLE 3.1 Selected Scores for Hofstede’s Six Cultural Dimensions Country Power Distance Uncertainty Avoidance Individualism Masculinity Pragmatism desires or suppress human drives though strict social norms.26 Indulgence tends to be strong in the Americas and western Europe, while restraint is strong in eastern Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. In indulgent cultures, people believe they have personal control over their lives; leisure is valued, as is freedom of speech; and people tend to be active in sports. There is relatively less effort invested in control and structure. In contrast, in restraining cultures, much more energy is dedicated to establishing order and structure and individuals are not “indulged.” For example, in restraining cultures, the police-to-citizen ratio is higher than in indulging cultures.27 Pragmatic vs. Normative This dimension is a measure of how people deal with the unexplainable in their lives. In normative societies there is a strong desire to explain and to know the absolute Truth. Concern for personal stability is high. There is respect for tradition, a low propensity to save, and a focus on quick results. In contrast, a pragmatic orientation suggests a people who are not concerned with understanding so much because life as a complex process is a given. The challenge here is to live a virtuous life, and truth depends on context, time, and situation. There is a strong inclination to save and persevere. This is a modification of an earlier dimension called Confucian dynamism. Table 3.1 presents the scores for Hofstede’s six dimensions for about one-third of the countries in his sample. Indulgence/ Restraint Mexico 81 82 30 69 24 97 Venezuela 81 76 12 73 16 100 Colombia 67 80 13 64 13 83 Peru 64 87 16 42 25 46 France 68 86 71 43 63 48 Chile 63 86 23 28 31 68 Portugal 63 104 27 31 28 33 China 80 30 20 66 87 24 Japan 54 92 46 95 88 42 United States 40 46 91 62 26 68 Australia 36 51 90 61 21 71 South Africa 49 49 65 63 34 63 New Zealand 22 49 79 58 33 75 Canada 39 48 80 52 36 68 United Kingdom 35 35 89 66 51 69 Ireland 28 35 70 68 24 65 Source: These scores are taken from Geert Hofstede’s site, http://geert-hofstede.com (April 12, 2014). Variances between these figures and earlier listings have been corrected to this standard.
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