Page 123 - Cultures and Organizations

102 DIMENSIONS OF NATIONAL CULTURES

large power distances. Smith’s study has supplied us with a nonobtrusive
measure of the degree to which respondents in a culture want to maintain
formal harmony and respect toward the researchers. 13

Are Individualism and Collectivism One or
Two Dimensions?

A frequently asked question is whether it is correct to treat individualism
and collectivism as opposite poles of the same dimension. Shouldn’t they be
seen as two separate dimensions? The answer is that it depends on whether
we compare entire societies (which is what our book is about) or individuals
within societies. This is known as the level of analysis issue.
Societies are composed of a wide variety of individual members, hold-
ing a variety of personal values. Tests have shown that a person can score
either high on both individualist and collectivist values, high on one kind
and low on the other, or low on both. So, when we compare the values of
individuals, individualism and collectivism should be treated as two sepa-
rate dimensions. 14
When we study societies, we compare two types of data: average value
scores of the individuals within each society and characteristics of the societ-
ies as wholes, including their institutions. Research by us and by others has
shown that in societies in which people on average hold more individualist
values, they also on average hold less collectivist values. Individual persons
may differ from this pattern, but those who differ are fewer than those who

conform to it. The institutions of such societies reflect the fact that they
evolved or were designed primarily for catering to individualists. In societies
in which people on average hold more collectivist values, they also on aver-
age hold less individualist values. The institutions of such societies assume

that people are primarily collectivist. Therefore, at the society (or country)
level, individualism and collectivism appear as opposite poles of one dimen-
sion. The position of a country on this dimension shows the society’s solution
for a universal dilemma: the desirable strength of the relationships of an
adult person with the group(s) with which he or she identifi es.

Collectivism Versus Power Distance

Many countries that score high on the power distance index (Table 3.1)
score low on the individualism index (Table 4.1), and vice versa. In other
words, the two dimensions tend to be negatively correlated: large-power-