THE MANY DIMENSIONS OF
CULTURE
By Harry C Triandis
Individualism-Collectivism Dimension
GREECE vs ILLINOIS

Behave differently between the two groups

interact more with ingroup > outgroup
GREECE vs ILLINOIS

Act according to norm.



What should I do? > What
would I like to do?
Define themselves in more
social terms.
“How much do you earn per
month?” is acceptable for
the Greece in the first
encounter but not in America.
THE IMPORTANCE OF HOFSTEDE’S WORK




Triandis is a psychologist
The study of culture back then was not popular.
“This would not make sense in X culture
- Some theories would not fit in some cultures
The majority view was that “culture is none of our
business.” The minority view held that culture is so
pervasive that all psychology should be a cultural
psychology.
CULTURE “INSIDE” THE PERSON


Culture was thought of “out there.”
A major turning point occurred when culture started
to be conceived of as “inside” the person.
 Out

there VS Inside
Cultural Psychology >> Cross-cultural psychology
>> not “mainstream” yet.
THE TURNING POINT



There are major cultural differences in cognition,
emotion, and motivation.
“Psychologists suddenly realized that what was
considered universal in psychology is true only in the
West, eg., in Individualistic cultures; it is not valid
everywhere.”
Handbook of Industrial and Organizational
Psychology – have to be changed so many times due
to other author being late and culture changed.
THE CULTURAL AND INDIVIDUAL
LEVELS OF ANALYSIS


The emphasis on the distinction between the cultural
and individual levels of analysis.
Individualism and Collectivism was split into many
facets
 These
factors were no longer on the opposite.
 A person can be high in both collectivism and
individualism at the same time.
THE DETRACTORS

Detractors
 Creative


VS Critical
“The perfect is the enemy of the good”
Hofstede’s work has become the standard against
which new work on cultural differences is validated.
INDIVIDUALISM and COLLECTIVISM:
The most important dimension
There are scores of dimensions in cultural
variations:


Primary
Secondary
INDIVIDUALISM and COLLECTIVISM:
Research
1.
2.
3.
Difference in perceptions and behavior.
Within culture, there are idiocentric and allocentric
individuals.
Tendencies towards idiocentrism or allocentrism are
influenced by many factors.
1. Difference in Perceptions and Behavior
Individualist
Collectivist


Tendency to emphasize on
context
Behavior seen as due to
external factors such as
norms and roles


Tendency to emphasize on
Content
Behavior as due to internal
factors such as attitudes
and personality.
2. Within culture, there are idiocentric and
allocentric individuals
Idiocentrics



Think, feel and behave like people
in individualist cultures
Individualist 35-100 %
idiocentrics; collectivist 0-35%
idiocentrics.
High in expressiveness, dominance,
initiation of action, aggressiveness,
logical arguments, regulation of
flow of communication, eye
contact, teneded to finish the task,
and had strong opinions.
Allocentrics



Tend to behave like people in
collectivist cultures
Collectivist cultures have between
30-100 % Allocentrics;
Individualist cultures have
somewhere in between 0-35%
allocentrics.
High on accomadating and
avoidance of argument, and shift
their opinions more easily.
3. Tendencies towards idiocentrism or allocentrism
are influenced by many factors
Idiocentrics


Increases with affluence,
leadership roles, much education,
has done much international travel,
has been socially mobile.
Increases when a person has been
greatly exposed to western mass
media or has been in western
culture for many years.
Allocentrics


Increases when a person has
been financially dependent on
some ingroup, is of low social class,
has limited education, has done
little travel and has been
socialized in a unilateral family
Increases when a person usually
stays in a collectivist culture.
POWER DISTANCE
An important cultural dimension
The dimension interacts with individualism and
collectivism in interesting ways resulting the
following: Horizontal individualism
 Vertical individualism
 Horizontal collectivism
 Vertical collectivism
Implications for working in
another culture:


In Individualist cultures,
people were selected
based on individual
attributes while in
collectivist cultures people
were selected based on
group memberships.
There is more training in
collectivist cultures
because people tend to
be more loyal to the
organization.
Implications for working in
another culture:



Paternalism is a more common leadership style in
collectivist than in individualist cultures.
In collectivist cultures, bosses are more involved in
personal lives of employees.
Managers in collectivist cultures are not as
concerned with performance but rather
interpersonal relationships unlike managers in
individualist cultures are.
Implications for working in
another culture:
As countries become more affluent, their
populations become more individualist. However,
this change requires several generations.


Individualism-collectivism dimension also has some
relevance when it comes to deception in organizations.
Triandis et all found that people in vertical collectivist
cultures are likely to use deception if it helps their
ingroup. In the case of vertical idiocentrics,
competitiveness and the need to be the best seem to be
the factors that increase the use of deception.
UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE
Tight and Loose Cultures

The tight and loose culture has some major cultural
differences.
- Tight Culture:
Many rules, norms, and standards for correct behaviors
Eg. There are strict rules about how to smile or bow
- Loose Culture:
Few rules, norms, and standards2
UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE



When people do not follow a rule, break the norms, or ignore
standard.
- Tight Culture:
People are likely to be criticized, punished, or killed
- Loose Culture:
“It does not matter.”
For a culture to be tight, it requires agreement about norms
and cultural homogeneity.
Normally, in cultures with high population density, tightness is
particularly functional.
Example of Tight vs Loose Cultures
-
Tight
Japan
Taliban
(Afghanistan)
-
Loose
Thailand
America
Hofstede’s Uncertainty Avoidance is related to tightness.
In cultures high in UA, people want to have structure, to
know precisely how they are supposed to behave.
Other Dimensions of Cultural Variation


Cultural Complexity and Tightness- looseness
relates to collectivism-individualism:
Collectivist cultures = tight and simple
Individualist cultures = loose and complex
Masculinity-Femininity dimension
Masculinity correlates with domestic political violence.
The Influences of Hofstede’s Dimensions



The Hofstede’s dimensions are relevant to how
people function in industrial society.
Hofstede’s dimensions influence psychological
processes and organizational behaviors in many
cultures.
The dimensions have generated many researches
and have been highly influential in all the social
science.