10 minutes with Geert Hofstede on Uncertainty Avoidance 01032015

Summary

The concept of 'uncertainty avoidance' is explored, detailing how cultures react to ambiguity. It's distinguished from risk avoidance, with examples highlighting its societal impact. The uncertainty avoidance index (UAI) measures a society's discomfort with uncertainty, with higher scores indicating a greater need for rules and structure. The script contrasts high and low UAI countries, discussing their attitudes towards change, innovation, and diversity. It also links UAI with other cultural dimensions like power distance, influencing organizational structures. Lastly, it notes that while UAI scores fluctuate globally due to economic and political climates, they remain consistent on a national level over time.

Takeaways

• 📚 The concept of 'uncertainty avoidance' was introduced in the 1960s and later applied to national cultures in the 1970s to describe how cultures react to ambiguous and unknown situations.
• 🌍 Uncertainty avoidance is not synonymous with risk avoidance; it refers to the cultural tendency to feel threatened by uncertainty, not just the avoidance of risky situations.
• 🏛️ Cultures can be categorized into uncertainty-avoiding and uncertainty-accepting, with most falling somewhere in between, exhibiting varying levels of stress and anxiety in response to uncertainty.
• 🚦 In uncertainty-avoiding societies, there is a greater need for rules and structure, even if impractical or unenforced, compared to uncertainty-accepting societies that favor fewer rules and more flexibility.
• 🚗 The uncertainty avoidance index (UAI) is used to measure a society's level of uncertainty avoidance, with higher scores indicating a stronger aversion to uncertainty.
• 🌐 Examples of high UAI countries include Russia and Japan, while the Netherlands, Australia, and the United States are on the lower end of the scale.
• 🔍 The UAI can be used to statistically analyze societal phenomena, such as driving speed and the prevalence of alcoholism, which are found to correlate with a society's level of uncertainty avoidance.
• 🏥 In healthcare, uncertainty-avoiding societies tend to have more doctors and fewer nurses, indicating a preference for specialized roles, whereas uncertainty-accepting societies have a more balanced ratio.
• 🌐 The perception of corruption varies with UAI, with higher uncertainty-avoiding countries often perceived as more corrupt, despite being wealthier.
• 📊 When combined with power distance, the UAI helps to categorize countries into different organizational and societal structures, such as market-like, machine-like, pyramidal, or familial.
• ⏳ Over time, while individual country scores on the UAI may not shift significantly, global trends show oscillations in uncertainty avoidance levels, influenced by periods of war, economic crisis, and peace.

Q & A

What does the term 'uncertainty avoidance' refer to in the context of national cultures?

Uncertainty avoidance refers to the extent to which members of a culture or national society feel threatened by ambiguous and unknown situations. It does not equate to risk avoidance but rather reflects the societal response to uncertainty.

How is uncertainty avoidance different from risk avoidance?

Uncertainty avoidance is about the cultural response to ambiguity and the unknown, whereas risk avoidance pertains to the conscious effort to avoid dangerous or risky situations. The former is a cultural trait, and the latter is an individual or collective strategy.

What are the characteristics of uncertainty-avoiding societies?

In uncertainty-avoiding societies, uncertainty is perceived as a threat, there is a higher level of stress and anxiety, aggression and emotions may be vented, a need for rules is emphasized, formalization is valued, and there is a slower adoption of technological innovations.

How do uncertainty-accepting societies view uncertainty?

In uncertainty-accepting societies, uncertainty is seen as a normal part of life, and there is less stress and anxiety. These societies tend to have more tolerance for what is different and prefer fewer rules, with a greater acceptance of breaking them when necessary.

What is the relationship between uncertainty avoidance and job stability?

In uncertainty-avoiding societies, people tend to stay in the same job for as long as possible because changing jobs is seen as one of the most uncertain things one can do, whereas in uncertainty-accepting societies, job changes are more easily accepted.

How is the uncertainty avoidance index (UI) measured, and what does it represent?

The uncertainty avoidance index (UI) is measured by comparing one country to another on a scale from zero for weak uncertainty avoidance societies to 100 for strong uncertainty avoidance societies. It represents the cultural tendency towards dealing with uncertainty.

What are some examples of countries with high and low uncertainty avoidance scores?

High uncertainty avoidance scores are found in Russia, Japan, France, Italy, and Arab countries, while low scores are found in the Netherlands, Australia, the United States, India, Britain, China, and Nordic countries like Denmark.

How can the uncertainty avoidance index be validated and what is it useful for?

The uncertainty avoidance index can be validated through statistical analysis to see what societal phenomena correlate with the index. It is useful for understanding cultural differences in areas such as driving behavior, alcohol consumption, healthcare, perceived corruption, and marketing preferences.

How does uncertainty avoidance relate to power distance in organizational structures?

When combined with power distance, uncertainty avoidance can influence how organizations are perceived and structured. For example, countries with high power distance and high uncertainty avoidance may view organizations as pyramidal structures, while those with low power distance and low uncertainty avoidance may see them as more flexible and market-like.

Do uncertainty avoidance index scores change over time, and if so, how?

While there is no worldwide shift or systematic change in the relative position of countries regarding the UI index, there is an oscillation that occurs worldwide, influenced by periods of war, economic crisis, peace, and economic stability. During times of crisis, the index tends to be higher, and during times of stability, it tends to be lower.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 Understanding Uncertainty Avoidance

The concept of 'uncertainty avoidance' was initially used in the 1960s in the context of organizational theory but later expanded to describe cultural differences among nations. It refers to the degree to which individuals in a society perceive ambiguous situations as threatening. This is not synonymous with risk avoidance. The speaker contrasts uncertainty-avoiding societies, which view uncertainty as a threat, with uncertainty-accepting societies, which consider it a normal part of life. The former often exhibit higher stress, anxiety, and a need for strict rules, while the latter are more relaxed, open to change, and less rule-oriented. The speaker also notes that uncertainty avoidance is associated with a preference for formalization and slower adoption of technological innovations. Cultural attitudes towards difference are highlighted, with avoiding societies perceiving difference as dangerous and accepting societies finding it curious. The uncertainty avoidance index (UI) is introduced as a comparative tool to measure a society's stance on this spectrum, with examples of countries at both ends of the scale.

05:00

🚦 Cultural Impacts of Uncertainty Avoidance

This paragraph delves into the practical implications of the uncertainty avoidance index (UI). It reveals that higher UI countries tend to have faster driving speeds and higher speed limits, contradicting the misconception that uncertainty avoidance equates to risk avoidance. The UI also correlates with societal phenomena such as alcohol consumption patterns, identification requirements, and healthcare professional ratios. The speaker discusses differences in marketing and advertising strategies across cultures, with uncertainty-avoiding societies favoring clean and pure products and uncertainty-accepting societies preferring convenience and humor in their marketing. The paragraph concludes with an exploration of how UI interacts with power distance, affecting organizational structures and perceptions, and how these cultural dimensions can be visualized through a 2x2 matrix categorizing countries into four distinct types based on their UI and power distance scores.

10:03

🌍 Global Variations and Temporal Changes in Uncertainty Avoidance

The speaker discusses the variability of uncertainty avoidance across different countries and how it contrasts with power distance. They present a matrix that categorizes countries into four groups based on high or low uncertainty avoidance and power distance. This categorization influences how people in these countries perceive organizations, ranging from market-like interactions in low uncertainty avoidance societies to family-like structures in high power distance and low uncertainty avoidance cultures. The speaker also addresses the temporal aspect of UI, noting that while there is no significant worldwide shift in UI scores, there are oscillations that correspond to periods of war and economic crisis, with higher UI scores during these times and lower scores during peace and stability. These fluctuations are observed globally but do not alter the relative positions of countries on the UI scale.

15:05

🔄 Oscillations in Uncertainty Avoidance Over Time

This final paragraph focuses on the temporal changes in uncertainty avoidance, highlighting that there is a global oscillation in UI scores. During times of war and economic crisis, the index tends to rise, reflecting increased societal anxiety and a desire for certainty. Conversely, in periods of peace and economic stability, the index decreases, indicating a more relaxed societal attitude towards uncertainty. Despite these fluctuations, the relative positions of countries on the UI scale remain consistent, suggesting that while external circumstances can influence societal attitudes, the underlying cultural tendencies towards uncertainty avoidance are relatively stable over time.

Keywords

💡Uncertainty Avoidance

Uncertainty avoidance refers to the degree to which individuals within a culture or society feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations. In the video, it is contrasted with uncertainty acceptance, highlighting societies that perceive uncertainty as a threat to be combated versus those that view it as a normal part of life. The concept is central to understanding cultural differences in stress levels, aggression, and the need for rules and formalization.

💡National Society

A national society is the collective group of people sharing a legal bond within a territory, identified by a common culture, language, or history. The video discusses how uncertainty avoidance varies among different national societies, influencing their attitudes towards risk, change, and the unfamiliar.

💡Risk Avoidance

Risk avoidance is the act of steering clear of situations involving risk. The video clarifies that while it's often confused with uncertainty avoidance, the latter is not solely about risk but about the discomfort or fear of ambiguous situations. The script uses this term to differentiate between cultures that are more cautious due to uncertainty and those that are more open to risk.

💡Xenophobia

Xenophobia is the fear or dislike of people from other countries or cultures. In the context of the video, it is linked to uncertainty avoidance, where societies with high uncertainty avoidance tend to be more fearful or intolerant of those who are different, reflecting a cultural aversion to the unknown or unfamiliar.

💡Uncertainty Acceptance

Uncertainty acceptance is the opposite of uncertainty avoidance, where cultures or societies embrace ambiguity and the unknown as a natural part of life. The video describes such societies as having less stress and anxiety, being more open to change, and valuing innovation and flexibility.

💡Index

In the video, 'index' refers to a numerical measure or scale used to quantify and compare the degree of uncertainty avoidance across different societies. The Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) is mentioned as a tool for ranking countries from weak to strong in their avoidance tendencies.

💡Cultural Dimensions

Cultural dimensions are the various aspects or values that define a society's culture. The video uses the concept of cultural dimensions to analyze and compare how different societies handle uncertainty, formalization, and change, which are key aspects of their cultural identity.

💡Formalization

Formalization in the context of the video refers to the degree to which organizations or societies rely on rules, procedures, and formal structures. It is highlighted as a characteristic of uncertainty avoiding societies, where a need for clear guidelines and regulations is more pronounced.

💡Innovation

Innovation is the introduction of new ideas, products, or methods. The video discusses how societies with high uncertainty avoidance tend to adopt innovations more cautiously and slowly, reflecting a preference for the familiar and a resistance to change.

💡Power Distance

Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. The video explores how power distance interacts with uncertainty avoidance, affecting the structure and dynamics within organizations and societies.

💡Corruption Perception Index

The Corruption Perception Index, mentioned in the video, is a measure of the perceived levels of public sector corruption in different countries. It is used to illustrate how societal attitudes towards corruption can vary with levels of uncertainty avoidance, suggesting a correlation between cultural values and perceived integrity.

Highlights

Uncertainty avoidance was first used in the 1960s in a book about the theory of the firm.

It was later applied to describe differences between national societies by Hofstede in the 1970s.

Uncertainty avoidance is the cultural response to ambiguous and unknown situations.

It is not synonymous with risk avoidance, as exemplified by different societal reactions.

Societies can be categorized as uncertainty avoiding or uncertainty accepting, with most falling in between.

Uncertainty avoiding societies experience more stress and anxiety compared to uncertainty accepting societies.

Aggression and emotions are handled differently across these societal types.

Uncertainty avoiding societies have a greater need for rules, even impractical ones.

In contrast, uncertainty accepting societies prefer fewer rules and are more open to breaking them when necessary.

Technological innovations are adopted more slowly in uncertainty avoiding societies.

Job stability is valued more in uncertainty avoiding societies due to the aversion to change.

Xenophobia is more prevalent in uncertainty avoiding societies, reflecting fear of the different.

The uncertainty avoidance index (UAI) measures a society's level on a scale from 0 to 100.

Examples of high and low uncertainty avoidance scores among countries are provided.

The index can be used for statistical analysis to correlate with various societal phenomena.

Uncertainty avoiding societies tend to have higher speeds on motorways and more alcoholism.

Healthcare systems differ, with more doctors in uncertainty avoiding societies and more nurses in accepting ones.

Marketing strategies vary, with a focus on cleanliness and purity in avoiding societies, and convenience in accepting ones.

The combination of power distance and uncertainty avoidance influences organizational structures and perceptions.

UAI scores reflect stable values passed down through generations, with little worldwide shift observed.

There is a global oscillation in uncertainty avoidance levels, influenced by periods of war and economic stability.

Transcripts

the term uncertainty

avoidance was used in the

1960s in a well-known American book

about the theory of the firm it was

applied to the level of organizations by

sad and March but I borrowed it uh in

the 1970s for describing differences

between National

societies what does uncertainty

avoidance mean uncertainty avoidance is

the extent to which the members of a

culture of a National

Society feel threatened by ambiguous and

un known situations some people think

that it means risk avoidance but it does

not mean risk avoidance and I have a

good example to show why that is the

case what does uncertainty avoidance

stand for I'm opposing here uh two

extremes uh the uncertainty avoiding

societies and the uncertainty accepting

societies and actually most societies

are somewhere in between in uncertainty

avoiding societies the uncertainty which

is inherent in life is a threat that

must be fought whereas in uncertainty

accepting societies uncertainty is

normal and life is accepted as it

comes which also implies that in

uncertainty avoiding societies there is

more stress and anxiety and uncertainty

accepting societies there is less stress

and

anxiety in certainly avoiding societies

aggression and emotions may sometimes be

vented whereas in uncertainly accepting

societies aggression at the emotions

should be

controlled uncertainty avoiding

societies have a feeling that what is

different is dangerous what is different

is

dangerous whereas un certainly accepting

societies believe that what is different

is

curious there is in un certainly

avoiding societies a need for rules

there is a need for rules even if they

are impractical or even if they are

never practiced there must be rules

there must be a rule whereas uncertainty

accepting societies don't like rules

very much they want fewer rules and even

the rules that are necessary May

sometimes be broken in case of

necessity uncertainty avoing societies

believe in

formalization un certain accepting

societies believe in

deregulation Innovations also

technological innovations

are adopted in uncertainty avoiding

societies rather slow rather carefully

for example the uh modern Information

Systems Innovations have taken more time

in the uncertainty avoiding societies

than in the uncertainty accepting

Societies in uncertainty avoiding

societies people tend to stay in the

same job as long as they can because

changing jobs is one of the most

uncertain things one can do in life in

uncertain accepting societies the

changing of jobs is much more easily

done and finally um and very importantly

uh and certainly voting societies they

are afraid of people who are different

who look different who behave different

who come from elsewhere that's called

xenophobia with an next uh whereas

uncertainty accepting societies are more

tolerant they as more tolerant towards

people who are

different how do we measure uncertainty

avoidance well uh there is no absolute

standards so you can only compare one

country to another differences between

societies is the only thing you can

measure and the position

on the uncertainty avoidance is measured

by an index the uncertainty avoidance

index

UI and the countries we have got data

from have been plotted on a scale which

goes from zero for um weak uncertainty

avoidance societies to 100 for strong

uncertainty avoiding societies now let

me give you some example we have dat for

76 countries on the high side on the top

we find

Russia and we also find

Japan in the um European countries the

Western European countries France is the

scores highest on uncertainty avoidance

uh in uh the other side of the Atlantic

we have Mexico which scores high in

Europe also Italy scores fairly high and

we find high scores in the Arab

countries and just above average in

Germany on the low side we find also not

so far from Germany but on the other

side we find the

Netherlands we find Australia and the

United States and still lower we find

India Britain is quite low China is low

and the Nordic countries especially

Denmark are very low what what can we do

with this index the uncertainty voidance

index how can we validate it what is it

useful for well uh you can do

statistical analysis and see what

phenomena in society are related to this

index and then we discover one thing

which is very interesting which is that

in general uh uncertainty avoiding

societies drive faster people drive

faster on motor ws and even the speed

limits on motorways tend to be higher

there uh uncertainly accepting societies

drive slower and here you show that

uncertainty avoidance is not risk

avoidance because obviously if you if

everybody drives faster there is more

risk in traffic but this is supposed to

be a known risk it is not felt as a

source of

uncertainty in uncertainty avoiding

societies there is more alcoholism and

there is less alcohol abuse in

uncertainty accepting

Societies in uncertainty avoiding

societies it is compulsory for everybody

to always be able to identify yourself

so you should carry your identity card

all the time now in most uncertainty

accepting

societies you have identity cards but

carrying them is optional you only need

to carry them if you want to go

somewhere where where you have to

identify

yourself there's an interesting

difference in health care between the

two kinds of societies in uncertainty

avoiding societies there are relatively

more doctors and fewer nurses and an

uncertainty accepting societies there

are relatively fewer doctors and more

nurses which means that the number of

tasks which on the one side are

performed by the doctor himself can be

delegated to nurses who are less

educated who are supposed to be less

expert uh there's also difference in

perceived

corruption uh there is an organization

called Transparency International that

issues a um corruption perception index

you cannot measure corruption but you

can measure the perception of corruption

and now we are talking about wealthy

countries in particular on the

uncertainty avoiding side the wealthy

countries tend to be perceived as more

corrupt on the

uncertainty accepting side in the

wealthy countries tend to be seen

perceived as less

corrupt there are interesting

differences in the field of marketing

and

advertising for example in the

uncertainty voiding societies clean

products and pure products tend to be

quite popular so cleanness and Purity

are key words in marketing a product

whereas in the uncertainty accepting

side consumers will be more attracted by

easy products by convenience product

readymade

products and this also is seen in

advertisements in ads you will see in

the in certainty avoiding societies more

often an expert but maybe somebody in a

white coat who explains to you why this

product is so important whereas in the

advertising side on the uh uncertainty

accepting societies advertising more

often uses

humor it is very interesting to put the

two dimensions of power distance and

uncertainty avoidance next to each other

now first of all they are not related in

some parts of the world you find a

combination where both are high and

other parts where both are low but

there's also countries where one is high

and the other is low and so I made a

table a 2 by two table where are divided

or 76 countries into high and low uh

uncertainty avoidance uh strong and weak

uncertainty avoidance and high and low

power distance and then if I look at how

people organize themselves you can see

the difference and it is already there

if you ask people what they imagine if

they think of an

organization uh now if you have a small

power distance and a weak uncertainty

avoidance than you are in the uh

Anglo-Saxon countries you are in you

United States you also are in the na

countries of Europe and marginally in

the Netherlands if people think of an

organization it is something like a

market a place where people interact but

nothing is fixed forever you can change

the rules you can change the

circumstances whereas if you have a

small power distance but a strong

uncertainty avoidance then you get to

countries like the German speaking

countries Germany Austria Switzerland

but also the Baltic countries in Europe

and um then you see that people imagine

an organization as a kind of machine a

machine that operates by itself it's not

necessary that the boss intervenes all

the time to make it function but um it's

the uh well oiled

machine now if you move to the corner

where the power distance is large and

the uncertainty voidance is strong then

you get to the typically ltin

countries um including France but also

Russia and the countries of Southeastern

Europe but also some Asian countries

like Japan and Korea and there people I

imagine an organization like a pyramid

of people that's CLE a pyramid where

there is somebody at the top in France

it's called a president director General

p and everybody else is on their proper

place below and the organization

function owing to this structure that

makes it function and finally you have

the combination of large power distance

but weak uncertainty voidance and this

we find in the two largest countries in

the world uh China and India and U there

an organization is rather imagined like

a family um the relationship in an

organization can be compared to the

relationship in a family

and this is also visible in the fact

that there are more family-owned

organizations and family members are

employed in the own organization don't

the uaii scores change over time in a

world where so many things are

changing now first of all the uh scores

reflect the values that have been

transferred from parents to children and

uh there are values that rarely change

after adulthood we got them when we were

children when discussing the other

dimensions uh I'm also referring to

research by Professor burgl from groning

and University who compared answers to

the same questions by two age

cohorts uh successive Generations 30

years

apart uh and in the case of the UI index

we found

no worldwide shift and also no

systematic changes in the position of

countries however there is an other

effect which becomes evident uh we do

have data uh over a period of 80 years

ever since

1935 uh from which we can reconstruct an

certainty avoidance

index uh and we can see that there is an

oscillation in the entire world that

there are periods when all indexes tend

to go up and in periods when they tend

to go down and the periods when

uncertainty avoidance tend to be high is

in periods of war and economic crisis

and in periods of peace and economic

stability the index tend to go down

again so this wave movement is visible

worldwide but it does not affect the

relative position of countries