According to a decades-long research project, the U.S. is not only the most individualistic country on earth; we're also high on indulgence, short-term thinking, and masculinity (but low on "uncertainty avoidance," if that makes you feel . In a future episode, well look at why the U.S., for all its wealth, has such a high rate of child poverty, and whats being done to address that. HOFSTEDE: This is a very American question, Stephen. HOFSTEDE: They will look at them if they admire them, but they will look away if theyre afraid. DUBNER: When youre inclined to look at the U.S. in a positive light, do you find uncertainty avoidance to be largely a force for the good in terms of creating and building a strong society, or do you think its more ? So if you base your understanding of a given culture on a body of research that fails to include them, youll likely fail to understand how that culture thinks whether were talking about another country or a group within your own country. HOFSTEDE: And it immediately yielded a four-dimensional model. GELFAND: In cross-cultural psychology, we study how ecological and historical factors cause the evolution of differences. Its more about how individuals are acted upon by the people and institutions around them. Wade meant that these unwanted children were not being bornthus, they could not grow up to be criminals. Like, the military should be tighter than tech. Wed rather think about solutions temporarily rather than as, this might take some time. It means that we need to attract different types of people to an organization. Ultimatum Game Bargaining Among the Machiguenga of the Peruvian Amazon, U.S. Student Tells of Pain Of His Caning In Singapore, Singapores Relations With U.S. In a multitude of ways, large and small. Also, he uses some very bold examples (crime rates versus abortion, drug dealership, cheating teachers, etc) to make some very simple . For the last few months, the city-state has seen just a handful of Covid-19 cases. SFU will never request our users provide or confirm their Computing ID or password via email or by going to any web site. It's part of our founding D.N.A. We said that a lot of good ideas and policies that work elsewhere in the world cant work in the U.S. because our culture is just different. But Im Dutch, of course. Its trying to include all the stuff that we acquire as a consequence of growing up in different environments, and contrast that with things like our sex drive, which doesnt seem to be acquired by observing others. HOFSTEDE: In an individualistic society, a person is like an atom in a gas. 470. Open Document. Download Print. on one axis and religiosity on the other axis, the U.S. is a clear and distinct outlier with high G.D.P and high religion. DUBNER: When I look at the loosest country in the data, I see Ukraine. That, again, is the American culture scholar Joe Henrich. Categories like age, gender, job type, job seniority, and so on. Gert Jan Hofstede is a Dutch culture scholar whos been walking us through these dimensions. And the research subject explained to him that, Oh, I feel so bad for you that you cant afford pants without holes in them that I cant take the money from this poor American kid. And it struck me as a way in which this experiment could be perverted. Long Island, New York, is thebirthplace of the American suburb. But first, Hofstede had to make sure that the differences he was seeing in the data werent specific to I.B.M. Freakonomics is a registered service mark of Renbud Radio, LLC. Stay up-to-date on all our shows. Im a professor of artificial sociality at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. It is what we got fed with our mothers milk and the porridge that our dad gave us. That is not just the most American thing thats ever happened. HENRICH: Two players divide a sum of money. The other point is a reminder: Its good to be humble about our ability our inability, actually to predict how a given culture will change. You could ask people, What do you like to eat? The more collectivistic they are, the more likely they are to talk about their grandmother and what she made, and theyre less likely to start entirely on their own diet. Still, Gelfands horizons were suddenly expanded; and her curiosity was triggered. Each week, Freakonomics Radio tells you things you always thought you knew (but didn't) and things you never thought you wanted to know (but do) from the economics of sleep to how to become great at just about anything. Someone raised in an Eastern culture might focus more on the image as a whole and less on the central object. In an individualistic society, depending on how the mood is, you can get very different developments. The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism (Ep. DUBNER: I find that people who dont load dishwashers carefully are usually pretty loose with the planning. Its all the levels in the organization. Even Gert Jan Hofstede suggests that his model shouldnt be seen as overly deterministic. The United States, you may not be surprised to learn, is on the loose end of the spectrum although not in the top five. The final dimension on the Hofstede model is called indulgence versus restraint. I think thats a good litmus test of tight-loose. So, again, if you want to talk about Americans, youre okay. HOFSTEDE: In an individualistic society, a person is like an atom in a gas. Its very, very hard to do. In a society of small power distance, a lot. The sixth and, for now, final dimension was added to the model in 2010. Spoiler alert: This dimension is one of the six in which the U.S. is the biggest outlier in the world. Then came SuperFreakonomics, a documentary film, an award-winning podcast, and more.. Now, with Think Like a Freak, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner have written their most revolutionary book yet.With their trademark blend of captivating storytelling and . All rights reserved. The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism. The reason we reached out to Michele Gelfand is that I want to understand this stuff better, too. Whereas in other contexts, like in the Middle East, when you think about honor, you think about your family, you think about your purity, your dutifulness, and so forth much less so about accomplishments. As a result, the needs of individuals dictate social behaviors, rather than the needs of larger groups. How does the U.S. do on this dimension? Historically, politically, and yes culturally. And by the way, in that sense, the U.S.A. is also a huge laboratory of society formation, hopefully, which is by no means finished. As its been said: Everyone knows that 11 oclock on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in American life. Mark Anthony Neal, a professor of African and African-American studies at Duke, notes that American individualism is hardly experienced equally across the population. Heres how he describes himself these days. So he left I.B.M. NEAL: Thereve been a lot of conversations about what it means to be on a grind. HOFSTEDE: My name is Gert Jan Hofstede. They made sure to include a variety of ages, occupations, religions, social and economic classes. Individualistic countries tend to be richer, but as Hofstede the Elder once put it, The order of logic is not that individualism comes first. The correct answer of the given question above would be the second option. The best thing you can become is yourself. HOFSTEDE: My name is Gert Jan Hofstede. You have to pronounce it right. Freakonomics is a book about 'freaky' research and insight. So looking decisive, muscular, active or if youre a woman, sexy that makes you more status-worthy. And in one condition, I had them wearing these fake facial warts. Compared to other countries including places like Japan, Singapore, Germany we can afford to be more permissive. One of the defining features of Americanism is our so-called rugged individualism. You might even call it wild individualism. The notion of the American Dream has long been that prosperity is just sitting out there, waiting for anyone to grab itas long as youre willing to work hard enough. HENRICH: So Americans tend to be more work-obsessed than other people. The study of culture is a family business for Hofstede. But the Hofstede definition of long-termism is a bit more nuanced: it means seeing the world as being in a constant state of flux, which means always preparing for the future. And this paper was basically sitting in the shelves of libraries for many years. BUSH: Allied air forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait. And we found the full spectrum of variation. Theres a good side of every dimension, including uncertainty avoidance. GELFAND: I grew up on Long Island. Another one: impatience. Michele Gelfand and several co-authors recently published a study in The Lancet about how Covid played out in loose versus tight cultures. On many Freakonomics Radio episodes, well hear about some idea or policy that works well elsewhere in the world but hasnt taken root in the U.S. HOFSTEDE: You are on the masculine side not at the very end, but more on the masculine side. He did some work in the factory and it shaped him to a great extent because there, he could see that the world of the organization looks so differently from the floor than it does from above. HOFSTEDE: Thats my idea. Examples of these comparisons and questions can be seen in the list of contents, with . Citation styles for Freakonomics How to cite Freakonomics for your reference list or bibliography: select your referencing style from the list below and hit 'copy' to generate a citation. This is the dimension based on data from the World Values Survey. But it was serious. And if there are crumbs in the sheets, theyll get in your pajamas. HOFSTEDE: High individualism is correlated with trying new stuff. This episode was produced by Brent Katz. A child is a child, and a parent is a parent, and a parent decides for the child. Michele Gelfand wasnt interested in that. This is where he combines all his academic interests: not just economics and psychology, but also anthropology and evolutionary biology. China is also very collectivistic and so are the Southeast Asian countries, but not Japan. HENRICH: Im a researcher who tries to apply evolutionary theory to understand human behavior and human psychology and particularly culture. It shouldnt surprise anyone that individualism might contribute to inequality or at least, as Henrich puts it, the justification of inequality. The next dimension is what the Hofstedes call uncertainty avoidance.. For instance, the rhythm of vaccination in the U.S.A. is very fast. And I think this community-spiritedness has been built in us since we were very young. According to a decades-long research project, the U.S. is not only the most individualistic country on earth; were also high on indulgence, short-term thinking, and masculinity (but low on uncertainty avoidance, if that makes you feel better). Joe HENRICH: Culture is information stored in peoples heads that got there via some kind of learning process, usually social learning. Freakonomics is therefore NOT the book that I would recommend to anyone interested in (a) learning economic theory, (b) learning about how economists think, or (c) understanding the world or thinking of ways to improve it. Michele Gelfand again: GELFAND: De Tocqueville noticed this about Americans, that we are a time is money country. It suggests that as in most things in life balance is desirable. And that also means that fighting is a good way to get what you want. I had been led to believe, by you, that you are as dumb as bricks. Whereas people from less individualistic societies tend to be better at making relative-size judgments. And when I started to work with Harry Triandis, who was one of the founders of the field, I thought, Wow, this is a super-interesting construct. You look at parents and how they treat their kids art. Anyway, in this episode of No Stupid Questions, we'll be talking about how our surroundings can make us smarter and maybe happier too. And I think that is a hallmark of African-American culture in this country. HOFSTEDE: That could be the case, and it is also the case that you have a sort of non-overt multiculturalism in the society. 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