Nathaniel Yohannes, Masculinity vs. Femininity

Hofstede's cultural dimensions can help us understand both masculinity and femininity behaviors. Masculinity and femininity are two different behaviors that society divides with different roles. Males usually take on the more dominant roles while females take on more nuturing or caring roles. Hofstede explained that cultures with high masucline traits tend to value supremacy, wealth, and succesful occupience, while cultures with high feminime traits tend to overlap on values like relationships, supportiveness, and quality of life. Which means if one culture values masculine traits then both genders in that region would follow the cultural values, same applies with feminime cultures. The dimension of culture is applied by the factors based on Hofstede's data. One factor is geography, his studies shows that for some reason masculine cultures are more likely in warmer climates than colder climates. Which can be seen in countries like Japan, Venezuela, and Mexico where they were on the near-top of the list in Hofstede's rankings of fifty countries and three regions on masculinity. Another factor is birth rates, where in feminime cultures females have more say in how many children she wants. Where on the other end men have more say on determining the family size in masculinity valued regions. Homosexuals can also assume roles as the opposite sex, which mean females can also take masculine roles or vice-versa. On Hofstede's rankings, the US was placed ranked 15th. It can be seen here in this country that it isn't uncommon for females here to achieve male-oriented goals, one example is females being in the armed forces. That's one good example on how over time females began to intergrate in the armed forces. Overrall, it's good to have a balance in society on male and female roles, because at the end it just makes up a better enviorment for everyone.

David Harmon, Uncertainty Avoidance

According to Hofstede, Uncertainty Avoidance is an individual's fear of the unknown or unexplainable and the extents to which they go to avoid them. The biggest example I see of this is religion itself. All forms of religion, and therefore this is not limited to one culture. People are afraid of the possibility that there is no divine Creator or that there is no afterlife or that there is no reason for life and there is no point to living. Now, I don’t mean to say that religion is a farce, nor do I mean to express my own beliefs on the matter, but if you look into the history books, you find that all religion can be traced back to man. Religion is a human’s way of assuring themselves that the questions they fear the answers to, are answered in the way they see fit and acceptable. Specifically in (most forms of) Christianity, there is a belief that when someone dies, as long as they have kept pure and good and lived life as God wills it, then they will be rewarded in the afterlife with heaven and pure happiness. This is the avoidance that alleviates the fear of the divine creator, the afterlife, and the reason for living.

Mercedes Talvitie, Uncertainty Avoidance

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions can help the public understand Uncertainty Avoidance, which can either be strong or weak. Uncertainty avoidance is defined as “The degree to which people are threatened by the unknown or ambiguous situations and have developed beliefs, institutions, or rivals to avoid them.” If one were to have strong uncertainty avoidance then one would prefer to have defined laws and a high amount of control and regulations on its people. While if one has weak uncertainty avoidance then one prefers implicit and flexible rules and is keen on experimentation.

Many cultures can be seen exhibiting uncertainty avoidance. If it’s strong or weak it is usually correlated with religion. Protestant countries and ones with Chinese authority usually have low uncertainty avoidance, meaning they are willing to take risks and are not as concerned with ambiguous situations. Those countries that are said to have a low uncertainty avoidance rate could be said to be countries that have a shorter history since they have less of a risk when experimenting. Also these countries could have less of an uncertainty avoidance level if there are many cultures living there. Diversity is what could inspire change and they would embrace it. While countries that have high uncertainty avoidance levels are very calculated with their actions. This is why diversity would be low in that area because of the concern with being uncomfortable. Having many rules is what helps stop a country from having to low of an uncertainty avoidance rate. It helps them with a sense of security with their country and to be sure of their beliefs. Hofstede’s cultural dimension about uncertainty avoidance shows which countries are more tolerant to other cultures and which ones like to have premeditated actions.

Rudra Shevlikar, Long-Term Orientation

Long-Term Orientation is the fifth dimension of Hofstede. Long-Term Orientation means the dimension of culture that refers to values people hold that emphasize the future, as opposed to short-term values focusing on the present and the past. Long-Term Orientation was added after the original four to try to distinguish the difference in thinking between the East and West. Hofstede created a Chinese value survey, a questionnaire designed by Chinese scholars, which was distributed across twenty-three countries. It can be said to deal with Virtue regardless of Truth. From these results, and with an understanding of the influence of the teaching of Confucius, who was a Chinese philosopher whose ideas about the importance of practical moral values collected by his disciples in the Analects formed the basis of the philosophy known as Confucianism, on the East and long term vs. short term orientation became the fifth cultural dimension. Values associated with Long Term Orientation are thrift and perseverance and the ordering relationships by status and observing this order and has a sense of shame. And values associated with Short Term Orientation are respect for tradition, fulfilling social obligations, protecting one's 'face', respect or tradition and has the reciprocation of greetings, favors, and gifts. Both the positively and the negatively rated values of this dimension are found in the teachings of Confucius, the most influential Chinese philosopher. The U.S mostly focuses on short-term orientation while Asian countries focus on long-term orientation. So long term orientation focuses on the future rather than short-term orientation which focuses on the present.

Leah Michetti Individualism v. Collectivism

One of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions is Individualism v. Collectivism. Individualism is “the degree to which cultures expect individuals to look after themselves and their immediate family,” and Collectivism is “the degree to which cultures expect individuals to belong to groups that are supposed to look after its members in exchange for loyalty”. This Cultural Dimension can explain the relationships between people of the same culture and how they interact with each other. The US is an example of a country with a highly Individualistic culture. On the other hand, Japan has a very Collectivistic culture. These two types of cultures differ greatly from each other. One attribute of Individualism is personal achievement. In the US, students who get good grades in school usually credit their own hard work and effort. In contrast, Japanese students do not take credit for their efforts; they give credit to their teachers and family. This is a prominent example of the differences between the behavior of Individualistic and Collectivistic societies.

In Individualistic cultures, individuals are expected to be responsible for their own actions, and take the blame when they have done something wrong. This differs from a Collectivistic culture because the members of the group or extended family are expected to be loyal to one another. The group or family takes responsibility for the mistakes of a single member. In exchange for this loyalty, the group offers protection for individuals. In this sense, Collectivism can be compared to a gang, but with good intentions. Individualism revolves around only looking out for yourself and your immediate family. The saying “it’s a dog-eat-dog world,” is a good way of explaining the roles of individuals in this type of culture. When everyone is looking out for their best interests, competition arises, and many individuals will do whatever it takes to succeed. This ambition isn’t as aggressive in Collectivistic cultures because people are always looking out for each other. This demonstrates how different the relationships are in Individualistic and Collectivistic cultures.

Conner Eveker, Aggressiveness

Culture is a distinctly human factor that plays a role in aggression. A person's beliefs about the social acceptability of an aggressive act are major predictors of their behavior. According to Hostede's cultural dimensions there is a gender gap, and women's values are said to be more similar across cultures. Women are thought of as being gentle and caring. In cultures where there is a low aggressiveness value these values are shared with the men as well. However, other cultures have more distinctive values for men such as competition, assertiveness, and "looking out for Number One." In such cultures, the values of women also move somewhat towards the Aggressiveness end of the spectrum, although not as much as men's do. This is where the Aggressiveness trait shows. Men are set out to be the alpha male and take control of the group to lead it. When having this stature there is the constant need to show you masculinity which leads to the aggression. Some scholars believe that behaviors like aggression may be partially learned by watching and imitating the behavior of others. This is mostly due to the makings of the culture you associate with. A good example would be the presentation we were showed in psychology class the other day. In the Asian culture we see that they focus more on their faults and what they needed to work on to be better contributors to their society as a whole. But in the American culture they focused on the positive actions and the accomplishments they have overcome; as well as illustrating that they could preform tasks on their own without the help of others.

Kaushal Sedhai, Individualism vs. Collectivism

Individualism and collectivism were one of the five cultural dimensions founded by Geert Hofstede. On one side, individualism explains how the societies' individuals are concerned about only themselves and their own family. On the other side we have collectivism where the individuals in a society are part of a group and are concerned not only about themselves but others in their group. Their group might consists of their whole family like grandparents, uncles, and their friends. Individuals who practice individualism only have to worry about their small family including themselves and might be independent and self-progress minded. One of the examples of where they practice individualism is United States. Though people do have communication with others in their society, they're only concerned about their own success. Also usually, Americans main goal is a better quality and higher standard of living than their parents. On the other hand we have countries like Guatemala where the individuals depend on their society and their society depends on them. The individuals feel like they have a duty to do not only for themselves but for their whole society. These people are usually dependent and have a close relationship with everyone in their society. Their society's success to them is like their own.

Connor Higgins, Indulgences vs. Restraint

Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory of indulgences says that societies that have a higher ratio of indulgence are more free to satisfy themselves. So could you say that the more indulgence there is in a society- the less culture, the less civility there is? I say no... the most cultured of societies, for example Spain, drink wine and partake in other sources of alchohle and drugs even before lunch or commonly start having sex at the young age of sixteen, but still have somehow managed the ability to build Huge Cathedrals or be the ones to revoulutionize the art of warfare in building great castles. Spain has somehow made a culture by still fullfilling their indulgences.
Culture or the lack thereof does not affect social restraint either. As an example China is completly defined by culture, their very social restraint has been developed by their culture. This society has built a world wonder and is the current largest resource supplier in the world, but has one of the strictists societies seen in any culture. Can it be said then, that if Spain, a soceity of with a high ratio of indulgence, and China, a socitey with a lot of social restraint both have culture to spare that neither the social acceptance of Indulgences or Restraint effect culture, only the behavior of those individuals in the society.

Mark Dionisio, Long and short term Orientation

Long-term and Short-term Orientation is the fifth dimension that Hofstede added after adding the first four Culture Dimensions. Long-term Orientation can be identified with having persistence being defined as a "firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition." It can also be identified by having a sense of shame, thrift which is defined as "the quality of using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully." Finally ordering relationships by status and observing this order. Meanwhile, Short-term Orientation can be associated with personal steadiness and stability, such as trying to get a good education or a good job, protecting your "face" or reputation, and giving the reciprocation of greetings, favors and gifts. In the studies of Hofstede it shows that the Asian countries particularly China, has more of a Long-term Orientation base then elsewhere in the world. Some examples of this would be a chinese student going to school and that child fails a test, that student would feel more shame then someone from the United States because they have different Orientation. Another example would be an Asian family shopping just for the needed objects while a Caucasian family may get something unneeded such as a flat screen television or tickets to a football game. Short-term Orientations examples would be people in the United States trying to get money any means possible for money and their financial stability. Another example of Short-term Orientation would be schools in the United States, students would say hello to fellow students or teachers and if a special event comes give presents to others that seems fit. Just like how both Long-term and Short-term Orientation differ from each other, different cultures differ from each other, so each culture has their own different way of Orientation.

Maria Sueng, Collectivism

Hofstede's cultural dimensions can help us understand collectivism, state in which members of a group look after each other member in order to progress equally, at the same rate, rather than individually grow in society. This typical cultural dimension purposely eliminates "Ego" and identity , to impose benefits for the community instead of the well-being of an individual or the minority group; in other words, collectivism has the power to sacrifice a body for the advantage of the majority of its population. Some goals that they are submitted to accomplish are the best for them, and seek and secure: health, justice, peace, and prosperity, equally distributed in their group. Hofstede explain that in a collective society, members of a group might face worries and express behavior that are extreme due to the fact that they have each other to depend and rely on. They focus on working together to pull the group up. Another singular behavior of a collective mind is imposing fairness for an entire group or nationality through laws rather than supporting independence and democratic views. They also are focus on mundane issues that negatively or positively affects the earth like global warming. Cuba, for instance, abolishes rights in favor of private property, therefore, any resource obtained within the country is the property of everyone as well as of no one. Everyone has the right to use it and no one has the right to preserve it. This concept lowers "Self", therefore, giving the group the idea to demonstrate concern and charity for each other. In comparison to the ideals of collectivism, they establish equality for everyone. Progressing equally together throughout the other surrounding societies and cultures. These collective minds are also exposed to sacrifice themselves, as a way to show loyalty to make the group grow.

Abenezer Amare, Uncertainty Avoidance

Based on Hofstede's Cultural Dimension, Uncertainty Avoidance is defined as "degree to which people feel threatned by the unknown or ambigous situations and have developed beliefs, institutions or rituals to avoid them." There are many religions out there and some follow them for the reason of uncertainty avoidance. The reason people do that is because some people fear what comes after a person dies and would like to live their lives in a way that makes them think they will go to heaven. Being said that, many religions come from old cultures and get passed down from generation to generation. For example the relgion of Christianty, it originated in the eastern Mediterranaen coast in the Middle East or modern day Israel and Palestine and it has spread to Middle East, North Africa and Ethiopia. This could explain why so many Ethiopians, including myself are Christians. Although people try to follow all the rules their religion has, people prefer implicit or flexible rules. For example in some religions it might be a sin to eat pork or any kind of meat, but people make exceptions at times to eat it even though its against their religion. This shows a very weak Uncertainity avoidance. Being said that, Uncertainity Avoidance can differ people to people and culture to culture. Uncertainity Avoidance for some religions might be very strict than others, for example in the religion is Islam, it is very difficult because they have many rules to obey, and duties to follow obediantly.

Based on Hofstede's Cultural Dimension, Uncertainty Avoidance is defined as "degree to which people feel threatned by the unknown or ambigous situations and have developed beliefs, institutions or rituals to avoid them." There are many religions out there and some follow them for the reason of uncertainty avoidance. The reason people do that is because some people fear what comes after a person dies and would like to live their lives in a way that makes them think they will go to heaven. Being said that, many religions come from old cultures and get passed down from generation to generation. For example the relgion of Christianty, it originated in the eastern Mediterranaen coast in the Middle East or modern day Israel and Palestine and it has spread to Middle East, North Africa and Ethiopia. This could explain why so many Ethiopians, including myself are Christians. Although people try to follow all the rules their religion has, people prefer implicit or flexible rules. For example in some religions it might be a sin to eat pork or any kind of meat, but people make exceptions at times to eat it even though its against their religion. This shows a very weak Uncertainity avoidance. Being said that, Uncertainity Avoidance can differ people to people and culture to culture. Uncertainity Avoidance for some religions might be very strict than others, for example in the religion is Islam, it is very difficult because they have many rules to obey, and duties to follow obediantly.

Eric Thompson, Cooperation

Hofstede's cultural dimensions help us as a psychologically understanding culture to best differentiate between members of different communities that may cause variables in psychological studies. One of these possible variables is a difference in cooperative focus varying by different cultures. Cooperation is defined as: The act of working or acting together to achieve a common goal, and a cultures' focus on cooperation can cause differences in the outcome of studied data. To better corroborate this theory, take the video we watched in class as an example, where both Asian and American students were asked questions about their personal attributes. The American students dended to focus more on illustrating their positive self sufficient qualities, showing that they could accomplish tasks typically on their own without the help of others. However the Asian students had a significantly different response when asked about themselves. The Asian students tended to focus a lot more on their flaws, things that they wished to change in order to be more constructive members of a group, in orther words, they focused a lot more centrally on what they could help contribute to a community effort. This word, with the same meaning in different cultures shows that there are substantial variables in psychological study in Hogstede's cultural dimensions are not taken into accound.

As another prominent example towards differences in cooperative focus, you can take different religions and compare them, such as the Buddhists and the Protestants. The typical Buddhist focus is on community, and by helping others through cooperation. However, the protestant religion tends to focus more on individual self sufficiency, helping others by not need help yourself. Even under religious boundaries a cultural difference can drastically change a view of cooperation, and it occurs because of Hofstede's cultural dimensions.

Melissa Lazarte, Power Distance Index

Hofstede's definition of Power Distance Index measures "the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions accept and expect that power is distributed unequally". It concludes that the level of inequality is in fact endorsed by the followers as much as the leaders themselves. Power Distance is seen in many societies and cultures in the world, for example, Germany and United States. Germany has a 35 on the cultural scale from Hofstede's analysis, while the United States has a 40. Germany does not have a great amount of distance between the wealthy and the poor, they have a strong belief in the equality for all. In Germany, citizens have the opportunity to be able to be able to rise in the social scale. Unlike the United States who has an unequal distribution of wealth. As years pass by, the difference and distance between the ones who have and the ones who don't have, grows. Having a low power distance and high power distance has a great affect on the outcomes of a society. If a society has a high level of power distance, then everyone would have a specific place, the ones in power would have privileges. In school for example, parents would side with teachers to maintain order and the teachers would be treated with respect even when not in school. If a society though, has low power distance, everyone would have equal rights and no hierarchy would be set. Parents would side with students against teachers and they both would be seen as equals and respect wouldn't be known. Power Distance has it's advantages and disadvantages when it comes to the level applied in their country or society.

Connor Symons, Individualism

According to Hofstede's cultural dimensions, Individualism is "the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups". In a culture with a high Individualism score, a person is expected to stand up for themselves, their immediate family, and their individual rights. The emphasis in these cultures is on personal achievement and responsibility, values held in high regard in the United States and Western Europe. In these cultures, people are generally told to take responsibility for their actions and are rewarded or punished on an individual basis. In contrast, as we saw in the video we watched in class, countries in East Asia tend to have lower Individualism scores, focusing more on the group than the individual.

This cultural dimension can help explain a lot in a culture, particularly attributions of success and failure. For instance, in United States politics, politicians try to put faces and names to bills and policies they oppose. This associates the negative or positive feelings with the individual rather than the Congress, the House or Senate, or even the individual's party. In America, it's more widely received to have a scapegoat, one person who can take the fall for an unpopular action, rather than a group being given the blame. In American economics, frustration with corporations, which are founded on the idea of limited liability of the individual, is vented at CEOs. Rather than putting a corporation's board in poor regard, which makes most decisions with the CEO, we focus on placing the blame in the most prominent, and usually most involved individual. When a sports team does well, we attribute it to the coach, captain, goalie, leading scorer, or other prominent team member. Very few spectators will attribute their success or failure to the team as a whole. This focus on an individual is explained by individualism.

Sydney Freeman, Masculinity and Femininity

Hofstede’s culture dimensions can help us understand the behavior between masculinity and femininity by explaining to us the emotional roles, success, money, caring, and quality of life that you can differ from a man and woman. The way that masculinity is shown by is the behavior of strength, power, competiveness, boldness, wealth, assertiveness, and accumulation. The reason behind this is because usually masculinity is in men and men have all these characteristics about them. For femininity this behavior is much different they are kind, caring, focused of relationships and the quality of life in the future. This behavior usually happens in women because women usually have to deal with different things then men do which they have to have these types of characteristics about them. These behaviors have been seen from the culture and gender, because gender has to do with being a male of female which deals with the characteristics of femininity and masculinity. This also has to do with culture and race because in different races men and women have different duties and roles that they have to follow with there life style, for example with the Amish people the men work and women clean, cook, and take care of the kids. This shows people that these characteristics are set in masculinity and femininity roles in many different cultures. In conclusion, masculinity and femininity are very important to our society not just because we need men and women to reproduce but so that there is a balance of both these roles in our way of living.

Cultural Dimensions Blog Entry Assignment

In 250-300 words, discuss how Hofstede's cultural dimensions can help us understand one behavior.  Be sure to describe the behavior, the culture in which you have seen it, and apply the dimension of culture to your explanation. 

The title of your blog post should be your name and the cultural dimension you are discussing.  For example: "Ms. Evans, Power Distance."

For this assignment you are not required to comment on others' blog entries, though feel free to add comments if you think they will help us to better understand behavior or cultural dimensions.

-Ms. Evans