Individualism: Collectivism and the handling of disagreement. A 23 country study

Abstract

The relationship of espoused values and the handling of disagreement in work settings was explored at the cultural level. Managers and supervisors from a variety of organizations within 23 countries completed a questionnaire about the handling of disagreement in their work unit. Responses were compared with value measures derived from Hofstede, 1980[Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture fn1 fn1 Amorim, Sabino Ayestaran, Stephen Bochner, Victor Callan, Valeria Cavalcante, Nam Guk Cho, Pierre-Henri Francois, Margarita Garcia, Karsten Hoffman, Jorge Jesuino, Paul Koopman, Tock Keng Lim, Shahrenaz Mortazavi, John Munene, Mark Radford, Arja Ropo, Grant Savage, Bernadette Setiadi, Ritch Sorenson, Yumiko Taylor and Conrad Viedge for assistance in collecting the data. s consequences: international differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.]. Country means for power distance predicted the frequency of occurrence of disagreement between but not within work groups. In the handling of disagreements, there was stronger reliance on subordinates and co-workers in low power distance nations and on one’s own experience and training in individualist nations, whereas in collectivist nations reliance on formal rules and procedures was stronger. It is concluded that Hofstede scores for collectivism and power distance have continuing predictive validity in relation to this aspect of social behavior. It is suggested that the preference for in-group harmony within collectivist cultures may be less than universal.