Page 187 - Cultures and Organizations

He, She, and (S)he 163

tion distinguish between fi eld-independent and fi eld-dependent persons. 43
Field-independent persons are able to judge whether a line, projected on a
wall, is horizontal even if it is put within a frame that is slanted or if they
themselves sit on a chair that is slanted. Field-dependent persons are infl u-
enced by the position of the frame or the chair. Field-independent persons

rely on internal frames of reference; field-dependent persons take their

clues from the environment. Therefore, field-independent people tend to

have better analytical skills, and field-dependent people tend to have better
social and linguistic skills. Men are more often fi eld-independent, women

field-dependent. Masculine cultures tend to score more fi eld-independent,
and feminine cultures more fi eld-dependent, and there is less difference
44
in perceptual abilities between the genders in feminine than in masculine
countries.
Segregation in job choice also determines whether teachers themselves
are women or men. In masculine societies, women mainly teach younger
children, while men teach at universities. In feminine societies, roles are
more mixed and men also teach younger children. Paradoxically, therefore,
children in masculine societies are exposed longer to female teachers. The
status of these teachers, however, is often low so that they will be antihero-
ines rather than models for behavior.

Masculinity and Femininity in Shopping

Dutch marketing expert Marieke de Mooij studied data on consumer
45

behavior across sixteen affluent European countries. She found several

significant differences related to the masculinity-femininity dimension.
One was the division of buying roles between the genders. In feminine
culture countries, a larger share of the family’s food shopping is done by

the husband. Other differences relate to the family car. In buying a new car,
the husband in a feminine country will involve his partner. In a masculine
country, this tends to be the man’s sovereign decision, in which the car’s
engine power plays an important role. In feminine cultures, car owners
often don’t even know their car’s engine power. The car has often been
described as a sex symbol; to many people it certainly is a status symbol.
Masculine cultures have relatively more two-car families than feminine
cultures; in the latter, husband and wife more often share one family car.
Status purchases in general are more frequent in masculine cultures.
People in masculine cultures buy more expensive watches and more real