Power distance belief and preference for transparency

Abstract

Transparency is a significant topic of debate in virtually every domain of human existence today. However, an understanding of conditions when it is preferred and when it is not is ambiguous. In this paper, we show that preference for transparency may be driven by people's power distance belief (PDB; Hofstede, 2001). Six studies in different domains—corporate transgressions, job interview settings, and corporate policy—reveal that people low in PDB express greater preference for transparency than those high in PDB. Findings are discussed from the perspective of the need for a clearer definition of transparency and a better understanding of the moderators of its preference.