“Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster.” G.Hofstede.

What makes America, America ? What are the values that Americans hold? These are the questions we ask the most when we think about America. Two values I have chosen to discuss and compare to Belgian values are  individualism and work ethic.

I. INDIVIDUALISM

What does individualism actually mean  ?  According to the Britannica Encyclopedia Online, it is the « political and social philosophy that emphasizes the moral worth of the individual. » The individualist would focus on his or her goals and desires in the first place rather than promote the collective approach. We understand then that individualism is the opposite of collectivism. Individualistic societies are societies in which people are expected to look after themselves.  This is the case in America, and the famous « American Dream » is a good representation of this strong, individualistic belief. As you read stories about the American Dream (John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a good example) you will usually find people coming to the USA alone in order to have a better life-  and fighting to have a higher standard of living than their parents did and to raise themselves from poverty. Geert Hofstede is a Dutch social psychologist who did a pioneering study of cultures across modern nations. To compare individualism in the United States and in other countries, Geert Hofstede divides the culture into five dimensions.

• PDI is the power distance index. This shows the degree of cultural acceptance of unequal status and power between individuals. This dimension indicates the degree of respect shown by the people towards their hierarchy and authority.
• IDV is the individualism. It expresses the freedom degree of an individual towards a group. In other words it expresses the degree of autonomy towards the group, social norms,  and commitment to community values.
• MAS is for the masculinity. The question is whether a company is on the one hand somewhat more sensitive to emotional factors (female) or factual (male) and on the other hand organized with a clear separation or mixed up with both gender working together in the tasks of everyday life.
• UAI represents the uncertainty avoidance index. This refers to the degree that a culture of tolerance can accept towards the anxiety caused by future events. The relationship of uncertainty is different in each society. Some use forecasts and devices to handle events (such as Vigipirate, the French security devise meant to prevent threat or terrorist attacks).
• Finally we have the LTO (long-term orientation). The values associated with short-term orientation are the respect for traditions and the fulfillment  of social duties. The values associated with a long-term orientation (so-called “truth”) are economy and perseverance.

Country	PDI	IDV	MAS	UAI	LTO
USA	40	91	62	46	29
Australia	36	90	61	51	31
United Kingdom	35	89	66	35	25
Netherlands	38	80	14	53	44
New Zealand	22	79	58	49	30
Italy	50	76	70	75
Belgium	65	75	54	94
Denmark	18	74	16	23
France	68	71	43	86
Sweden	31	71	5	29	33
Ireland	28	70	68	35
Norway	31	69	8	50	20
Switzerland	34	68	70	58
Germany	35	67	66	65	31
South Africa	49	65	63	49
Finland	33	63	26	59
Poland	68	60	64	93
Czech Republic	57	58	57	74
Austria	11	55	79	70
Hungary	46	55	88	82
Israel	13	54	47	81
Spain	57	51	42	86
India	77	48	56	40	61
Argentina	49	46	56	86
Japan	54	46	95	92	80
Jamaica	58	41	43	59
Brazil	45	39	68	13
Egypt	69	38	49	76	65
Iraq	80	38	52	68
Turkey	66	37	45	85
Uruguay	61	36	38	100
Greece	60	35	57	112
Philippines	94	32	64	44	19
Mexico	81	30	69	82
Ethiopia	64	27	41	52	25
Malaysia	104	26	50	36
Hong Kong	68	25	57	29	96
Chile	63	23	28	86
China	80	20	66	40	118
Ghana	77	20	46	54	16
Singapore	74	20	48	8	48
Thailand	64	20	34	64	56
El Salvador	66	19	40	94
South Korea	60	18	39	85	75
Taiwan	58	17	45	69	87
Peru	64	16	42	87
Costa Rica	35	15	21	86
Indonesia	78	14	46	48
Pakistan	55	14	50	70
Colombia	67	13	64	80
Venezuela	81	12	73	76
Panama	95	11	44	86
Ecuador	78	8	63	67
Guatemala	95	6	37	101

Of course we notice that the United States have the highest individualism score (91). Belgium closely follows the US with a IDV score of 75. When we take a closer look to the countries  at the top, we notice that all of these countries are developed countries. And that brings me to the conclusion that people living in an industrialized country will have the tendancy to develop a individualistic beliefs. In these societies it does not matter who you are. What matters is what you do, which means that people have to notice YOU and not your neighbor. That is why people have developed this tendency to work, to act and live for themselves.

II. WORK ETHIC

The second value I have chosen to discuss is work ethic. The American work ethic is « Work hard and you will be rewarded “right here right now”». I wrote “right here right now” between quotation marks because originally, the work ethic came from  the Bible, which says “you will be rewarded one day”. However, this was before religious belief has been placed second next to the first and most attractive thing in the world: money. One might wonder why Americans want to work so hard. First of all we have to remember that consumerism is king in America so if people want to afford all the objects that they desire, work is essential. Also, many Americans think that if you work really hard all your life, when you retire you will be able to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. In Belgium we have similar mindset, but it is less extreme. We have to work because no work means no money and no money means… you will not have the means to live.

Laura Petrussa.

Sources :

– Images : http://www.getmilked.com/comics/IndividualismIsEasy.html & http://www.freakingnews.com/Gothic-Work-Ethic-Pictures-85344.asp

– http://www.britannica.com/

– http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php