[Blog project assignment 2] Hofstede's cultural dimension theory

 

I'd like to compare these four countries by Hofstede's cultural dimension theory. I tried to choose both Eastern and Western countries because they're a good variable that can be compared in many ways.

The first dimension is power distance. On average, Eastern countries scored higher on power distance. I guess as the East follows Confucian ideas, courtesy and hierarcy are important. on the other hand, Western maintain a relatively comfortable atmosphere regardless of age or power. we can see that china is the most dependent on power among the Eastern countries.

Second dimension is individualism. as we can expect, the Western has a greater tendency to individualism than the Eastern. In the East, family culture is very important. Not long ago, most of the Eastern houses were lived their large family together. and they think it is right thing to keep faith and loyalty between families. It seems to have had a lot of influence on Korea. but, In the west, people care about personal life and personal privacy and health rather than group things. they put their own pursuit of happiness before everyone's happiness. Even in Eastern cultures, Japan has individualistic lifestyle. Japan is already well known for individualistic culture. 

Third dimension is masculinity. Japan has the highest score. According to this statistics, Japan is still expected to have gender stereotypes like a woman's job and man's job. Unexpectedly, Korea recorded a lower figure than the Western.

Fourth dimension is uncertainly avoidance. Japan and Korea recorded similarly high figures. Korea is now an extremely competitive society.  and many people are tired of competition and evaluation and are often seized with anxiety. and they afraid to deviate from the ordinary route and take on other features. to sum up these characteristics, Korea tend to avoid uncertainness strongly. China and the U.S are similarly low part, taking more tolerance of uncertainness. 

Fifth dimension is Long term Orientation. In all Eastern countries are in long term orientation position. long term orientation countries tend to look to the future rather than the past and judge by circumstances. on the other hand, U.S belongs to short term orientation.

Sixth dimension is indulgence. the U.S is closest to indulgence. the U.S has a relatively good balance between work and leisure and people value happiness. they more likely to remember positive emotions. but the rest of the Eastern countries are close to restrained. because economic growth is more important, it's more tied to work or rules that to personal happiness or balance.