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.