Page 196 - Cultures and Organizations

172 DIMENSIONS OF NATIONAL CULTURES

centages attributing poverty to having been unlucky varied from 14 per-
cent in Germany to 33 percent in the Netherlands; they were signifi cantly
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negatively correlated with MAS. The percentages attributing poverty to
laziness varied from 10 percent in the Netherlands to 25 percent in Greece
and Luxembourg; these results were positively correlated with MAS. In
masculine countries, more people believe that the fate of the poor is their
own fault; that if they would work harder, they would not be poor; and that
the rich certainly should not pay to support them.
Attitudes toward the poor are replicated in attitudes toward lawbreak-
ers. A public opinion poll in nine European countries in 1981 asked to what

extent a number of debatable acts were justifiable: joyriding, using soft
drugs, accepting bribes, prostitution, divorce, and suicide. The answers
were summarized in an index of permissiveness, which across countries was
strongly correlated with femininity. Mother is less strict than father. 63
The masculinity-femininity dimension is also related to opinions about
the right way of handling immigrants. In general, two opposing views
are found. One defends assimilation (immigrants should give up their old
culture), the other integration (immigrants should adapt only those aspects

of their culture and religion that conflict with their new country’s laws).
In a public opinion survey covering fourteen European Union countries in
1997, the public preference for integration over assimilation was strongly
negatively correlated with MAS; there was a weaker additional correlation
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with gross national income per capita. Respondents in more masculine
and poorer countries required assimilation; those in feminine and wealthier
countries favored integration. In Chapter 4 we associated “respect for other
cultures” with universalism, citing 2008 Eurobarometer data. Europeans
in twenty-six countries were asked to choose “the most important values
for you personally” (three out of a list of twelve). One of these values was

“respect for other cultures.” Differences among countries in percentages of
respondents choosing this answer related both to IDV and to low MAS. 65
In wealthy countries, the value choice between reward for the strong
and solidarity with the weak is also reflected in the share of the national

budget spent on development assistance to poor countries. The percentage
of their GNI that governments of rich countries have allocated to helping
poor ones varies widely. In 2005 the United States spent 0.22 percent of its
GNI, while Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden
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each spent more than 0.7 percent. The proportions spent are unrelated