Cultural Dimensions and
Communication
FIRST DIMENSION: CULTURE
INDIVIDUALISTIC CULTURE- personal fulfillment, loves to work alone or with themselves only
(introvert)
Countries: USA, Canada, Northern or Western European countries
Collectivist Culture- values teamwork and collaboration (extrovert) (Latin America, East and
Southwest Asia, Africa)
SECOND: CONTEXT
Low-Context Culture: frank, uses explicit words to convey messages
Countries: USA, Germany, Scandinavia, Europe
High-Context Culture: gentle, uses subtle non-verbal behaviors and implicit information to convey
meaning
Countries: Latin America and Asia
THIRD DIMENSION: TIME
Monochronic Culture: it advocates punctuality, timely completion of tasks, and accomplishment of
one task at a time
Countries: Japan, USA
Polychronic Culture: it has a more fluid and flexible concept of time. In this culture, task interruption
and multi-tasking are acceptable practices and maintaining relationships is more important than
strictly following a schedule
Countries: Latin America, Arab countries, Southern European Countries
FOURTH: UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE
Low-uncertainty avoidance culture – it is tolerant of unpredictable and uncontrollable situations. It
usually maintains few rules. They love initiating new kind of relationship and meeting strangers. For
them it is fun and interesting.
Countries: USA, Sweden, Denmark
High-uncertainty avoidance culture – it values precision and always attempts to anticipate risks to
possibly reduce them. In this culture, they tend to ask a lot of questions and use precise language. In
building a relationship, they would rather meet their family and friends. To make this possible, rules
and systems are created
Countries: Germany, Portugal, Greece, Peru, Belgium
FIFTH DIMENSION: POWER DISTANCE
Low-power distance culture - They value equal distribution of power (democracy) They value
democracy and egalitarian behavior.
Countries: Austria, Finland, Denmark, Norway
High-power distance culture – it recognizes that unequal distribution of power is normal. Countries:
Middle East, Malaysia, Guatemala, Venezuela, and Singapore.
SIXTH: MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY
Masculine Culture – advocates strict adherence to conventional gender roles and behaviors. In this
culture, masculine roles are more valued than feminine roles. Stereotyping is more common and
prevalent.
Countries: Mexican, Italian, Japanese
Feminine Culture- based on the premise that men and women assume varieties of roles and thus are
both valued regardless of their sex and gender.
Countries: Sweden, Denmark, Norway
SEVENTH: LONG-TERM AND SHORT-TERM
Short-term orientation culture – characterized by being very performance-driven. It emphasizes quick
results, fulfillment of social obligations
Countries: USA, Pakistan, Russia, Canada, Norway, UK
Long-term orientation culture – more laid-back that it has more patience in waiting for the outcomes
of an action. It values perseverance towards the achievement of goals
Countries: Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan
