Hofstede's 6 dimensions of national culture | A reflection on Chinese culture pt1

After more than 4 years and 7 months living in China, across 3 cities and 3 very different jobs, having visited 15 out of 30 provinces, and with an imminent move back to my native United Kingdom on the horizon, I find myself reflecting on my experiences. This reflection has led me to consider "what can I do with; the lessons I have learned, the memories I have acquired and the culture I have absorbed?".

In this article, my main objective is to reflect, document, and understand my time in China through the lens of popular cross-cultural theories. And so, in a random burst of motivated energy, I have decided to write this mixture of an article, that I would poetically describe as a potion. Into the cauldron I will throw; 1 heaped spoon of intense research (this time on Hofstede's 6 dimension model of national culture), 2 sprigs of personal anecdotes, 3 drops of careful contemplation, and 1/3 a pinch of personally amusing writing.

How will this potion turn out? That is a mystery! But I do hope any readers will learn something new and that, upon re-reading this in a year's time, I will also.

The origins of cross-cultural studies

Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian, widely regarded as being the first historian for his work documenting the Greco-Persian wars is also quoted as being the first anthropologist. Cultural historians such as Klineberg (1980), Jahoda and Krewer (1996) note that Herodotus practiced Participant Observation, a technique still used in anthropology today, and made a very early cultural insight that most humans are ethnocentric, meaning we see the world through the lens of the culture we grow up in until we have lived and experienced multiple other cultures.

After Herodotus, more cultural thoughts were expressed by exceptional individuals, but things really picked up in the 1800s. The most notable early work took place in 1871 when Edward Burnett Tylor published his evolutionist theory on culture called Primitive Culture (Vol 1). On the very first page, Edward writes a definition of culture that is still cited in research today. "Culture or Civilization, taken in its wide ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society."

It was during the 1960s that the groundwork for cross-cultural studies was established and George Murdock pioneered this with the publication of many foundational data sets. His extensive work became absolutely essential to cross-cultural studies as a discipline because, unlike previous cultural comparisons, cross-cultural studies use large amounts of data and statistical analysis to find relationships, or lack of, between traits in different cultures. This scientific and quantitative approach helps establish cross-cultural studies as more reliable and accurate than other research methodologies. Without George's work, we would not have sufficient data to make these comparisons today.

Modern Anthropology has 4 recognized disciplines, Archeology, Biological Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology, and Cultural Anthropology. Cross-cultural studies sit within Cultural Anthropology but also have sister sciences across sociology, psychology, politics, and economics.

Hofstede's pioneering theory

Now that we have finished the history lesson, we can discuss an actual theory!

Geert Hofstede has devoted his life to the study of culture and is an early pioneer in cross-cultural theories. His most famous work outlines the "6 dimensions model of national culture", this model acts as a framework to view different countries' cultures. Furthermore, this model can be applied to multiple settings, for example how businesses operate within a certain country or how any particular organization is set up.

Originally Hofstede outlined 4 dimensions but after further research 2 more were added. I borrowed the below image from another blog to support our learning.

My own experience

This is where the fun begins! I have been an observing participant in Chinese culture for over 4 years now and I want to share some stories for each of Hofstede's 6 dimensions that I believe represent what I have learned.

Power distance: Refers to the amount of accepted and tolerated inequality that exists between people with or without power.

Traditionally China gives a lot of respect to those in power, either emperors or government officials. This can be seen to a lesser extent in business meetings, where customs dictate that the guest of honor, (the host, the eldest or the most senior employee) sits in the chair facing the entrance to the room. The "importance" of each guest would then dictate how close you would sit to the guest of honor. I have seen this during business trips to Inner Mongolia, where my recruitment leader at the time was given the seat of honor and showered with many drinks of Bai Jiu. It created a respectful and fun atmosphere.

Collectivism vs Individualism: Meaning the amount to which people within a culture depend on and feel obligated towards groups rather than themselves.

I would confidently say that China is a much more collective society than others and whilst I have quite a few examples to share, the perfect one comes from my first day in a culturally Chinese company. After spending the morning setting up my laptop and meeting my new colleagues the team all went for lunch together (nothing different from the UK yet). After finishing lunch we all went for a walk around the office building. As I looked around at the other groups going on their after-lunch walks, I realized that every team was totally segregated from other teams. Sometimes teams would walk 5 or 6 people abreast just to have everyone in a line and able to chat. And this continued, every lunchtime, every day, even the few employees who went to the gym did so in groups, no lunchtime activity was done alone unless absolutely necessary.

Uncertainty Avoidance: This dimension describes the amount of uncertainty and ambiguity people from a certain culture can tolerate.

Dealing with uncertainty is part and parcel of working life in China. Most of my projects have gone from 'idea' to 'execution' within a short time frame where the emphasis was on getting results quickly rather than planning the perfect project. Because of this, finding solutions to project hurdles with short notice became both a stressful and exciting part of daily work. Whilst this might seem like an unorganized approach, it also meant concepts were quickly proven as a success or a failure without such large time investments allowing people, teams, and the organization to fail fast and continue learning.

Femininity vs Masculinity: Measures a society's distribution of roles between genders and "tough vs tender" behaviors.

This is the hardest dimension to give an opinion on, I would definitely say that Chinese society favors men, especially in smaller cities and the generations born before the 1980s. This is seen in the gender roles that couples have and the expectations of how women should behave. However, I have also met an incredible amount of strong, well-educated, passionate, and driven young women who are succeeding and thriving in society. Perhaps these are just people in my circle that are pioneering a more gender-equal world. One positive aspect of China is the very gender-equal educational system, where everyone has equal access to all levels of education.

Short-term vs Long-term orientation: Considers the time horizon each society displays, with short-term orientation placing emphasis on principles, consistency, and truth, whereas long-term orientation places more emphasis on modesty and pragmatism.

Shenzhen, the first city I lived in for 1 year, is the perfect example of China's long-term mindset. The city, now a metropolis with a population of over 12 million, started out as a literal fishing village. In 1980, China opened a special economic zone in Shenzhen that promoted free-market principles and enterprise, in doing so they set into motion a plan that would take over 40 years to see out. You see, China chose this spot for a reason, being on the northern border of Hong Kong and at the opening of a major river shipping goods from industrial areas inland, it was the perfect spot to create an economic powerhouse in both the financial and global trade industries. The time frame for success didn't matter to anyone in China, they were making decisions not for their generation but for the ones after themselves. Now it is home to the 4th largest building in the world (pictured below) and confidently one of the top 4 cities in China.

Restraint vs Indulgence: Meaning the extent to which a society can control its impulses and desires.

Like most cultures, both extremes of the scale exist in China. I can think of examples of local citizens showing great restraint towards their desires (food, alcohol, cigarettes', leaving work early, and more). However, I have also seen people who are very much the opposite. So, I am going to middle fence this dimension and state that China sits somewhere in the middle.

Disclaimer...

1. Whilst, I have made every effort to review multiple sources of information and include all the citations for everything I present, I would not consider myself an expert. I am as much a learner of this info as anyone reading.
2. Any anecdotes and reflections I make from my personal experiences do not represent a scientific conclusion or the thoughts and feelings of every expat in China. It's also worth saying that I (as every human being does) see the world through the lens of the country, family, friends, and experiences I have had.

References

I totally forgot how to reference properly! Please forgive this poor imitation of me trying to reference.

# 1 Klineberg (1980): Klineberg. O. (1980). Historical perspectives: Cross-cultural psychology before 1960. In H. C. Triandis & W. W. Lambert (Eds.). Handbook of cross-cultural psychology (Vol. 1. pp. 1-14).

# 2 Jahoda and Krewer (1996): Jahoda. G .. & Krewer. B. (1997). History of cross-cultural and cultural psychology. In J. W. Berry. Y. H. Poortinga. & J. Pandey (Eds.). Handbook of cross-cultural psychology (2nd ed., pp. 1-42).

# 3 Edward Burnett Tyler (1871): ?Primitive Culture Vol.?1. London: John Murray. 1871.

# 4 George Murdoch: George Peter Murdock, New World Encyclopedia contributors, 15 June 2017 22:32 UTC, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=George_Peter_Murdock&oldid=1005168

# 5 Geert Hofsted: Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede, Michael Minkov, "Cultures and Organizations, Software of the Mind", Third Revised Edition, McGraw-Hill 2010

# 6 Hofsted 6 Dimensions: Link to Geert Hofsted's personal webpage https://www.geerthofstede.nl/

# 7 6 Dimensions Graphic: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/hofstedes-cultural-dimensions-theory/

# 8 Collectivism vs Individualist Graphic: https://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-collectivism-and-individualism/

# 9 Picture of Shenzhen: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/Shenzhen-in-pictures-a-former-fishing-village-is-transformed