Page 247 - Cultures and Organizations

220 DIMENSIONS OF NATIONAL CULTURES

was lower. As for having taken part in a public demonstration, however,
the trend was, if anything, the other way around. 52
Citizens in strong uncertainty- avoidance countries not only were more
dependent on the expertise of the government but also seemed to feel that
this was how things should be. The authorities and the citizens shared the
same norms about their mutual roles. The authorities tended to think in
legal terms: in high-UAI countries higher civil servants more frequently
had law degrees than in low-UAI countries (a 1977 article reported 65
53
percent with law degrees in Germany versus 3 percent in Britain). Civil
servants in high-UAI countries tended to have negative feelings about poli-
ticians and the political process; in low-UAI countries their feelings were
more positive.
Citizens of strong uncertainty- avoidance countries were less interested
in politics and less inclined to trust their country’s politicians and civil ser-
vants. While we observed that these countries tend to have more laws and
bylaws, this situation did not imply a greater trust in the legal system. 54
Citizens of weak uncertainty- avoidance countries participated more often

in voluntary associations and activities for the benefit of their society.
An American family living in a suburb of Brussels worried about the
increasing noise level caused by their proximity to the airport. They cir-
culated a petition to the authorities to demand measures for noise reduc-
tion. Only the foreign families in the neighborhood were prepared to sign.
The Belgians (from a high-UAI culture) either denied the problem (“What
noise?”) or declined to sign, claiming the authorities would pay no atten-
tion anyway. 55
Chapter 5 described the “dropped pen” experiment by U.S. psychol-
ogy professor Robert Levine and his international students. This experi-
ment was part of a project studying helping behavior across cultures. The

same project included an experiment on “helping a blind person across
the street.” Students played the role of a blind person at a busy pedestrian

traffic light. “Helping” meant that within sixty seconds after the light
turned green, someone informed the “blind person” that it was green or
helped him or her across. Percentages of helping pedestrians in twenty-

three countries were significantly positively correlated with the countries’
UAI score. In more uncertainty- avoiding cultures, members of the public
could not stand by and see a blind person wait while the light was green. 56