SOUTH KOREA CULTURE
Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimension of classification theory
Member: 周静雯 2007080221 黄蕊 2007080216
江佩仪 2007080242 韩叶 20070802
杨丽萍 2007080235 邹绮 2007080225
蔡嘉欣 2007080211
About South Korea
Republic of Korea referred to as South Korea that is a country in the s
outh of the Korean peninsula. South Korea's total area is 99.6 thousan
d square kilometers.
South Korea's total population of 49.053 million (2007), mainly for the
Korean nation, accounting for 99% of the national total population, is
an ethnically homogeneous country.
South Korea's capital is Seoul. South Korea's language is Korean. National dress is the Hanbok .
About South Korea
South Korea's people, attaches importance to China's Spring Festival
and Mid-Autumn Festival. South Korea also has 3200 islands and islets. South Korea's currency i
s the won and National flower is the Althea . National bird is the magp
ie
About South Korean
Korean upheld strength. On the one hand, Koreans are mercurial,
cold, sensitive, and irritable. On the other hand, Koreans hard-
working, self-esteem, unwilling to others and be doing anything to
fight efforts in order to not be underestimated.
Korean people's national pride is strong, have a strong
entrepreneurial spirit. They like the challenge, set ambitious goals, and
strive to prove its value to others.
About South Korean
South Korea's relationships reflect the spirit of Confucian ethics. They
require mutual trust between friends; Younger people should respect t
he elderly; The status and responsibilities of the respective spouses sho
uld be differentiated; Between father and son should be close in . Thes
e traditional ethics and moral standards continue to affect the behavio
r of many South Koreans, in violation they will incur blame. South Koreans do not pay attention to eating right, usually a bowl of ri
ce, a bowl of broth, a few dish kimchi can be considered a good meal. Korean drink, often with pride and a while to do, if someone small mouth sip wine, will be considered stingy.
About Geert Hofstede’s Cultural dimension of Classification Theory Hofstede divided the cultural dimensions of a country into
five areas. Then the evaluation of a country‘s cultural prob
lem is in accordance with these five areas to carry out ratin
g and scoring. Five dimensions are power distance, individ
ualism and collectivism, gender role (Masculinity and femi
ninity ), Uncertainty avoidance, the long-term orientation a
nd short-term orientation .
The second dimension ——Individualism /Collectivism
About Individualism
A weak tendency of individualism : Individualism values for South Korea:43 (P142 TAB
LE5.1)
However, people begin to think more about their own and do more decisions by themselves. Therefore, the individualism of korean has been more stated than before.
Privacy & freedom
Living in single dorm room Don’t live with grandparents Prefer a quiet restaurant for dating
Innovation
Major in Advertising Design Love drawing Take part in many competitions of Advertising
Design
Personal rights and responsibilities
Career job Working mum
About Collectivism
What is Collectivism? Collectivism means individual subordinate to social organizati
on in society collective (by Britannica Concise Encyclopedia).
In other words, social members related tightly with each other.
People always are divided into “insider” and “outsider”. And t
he standard of treating insider and outsider is also different.
Nation Score Ranking Conclusion
America 91 1 very Strong tendency of individualism
Britain 89 3 very Strong tendency of individualism
France 71 10/11 strong tendency of individualism
Germany 67 15 strong tendency of individualism
Japan 46 22/23 strong tendency of collectivism
Hongkong China
25 37 strong tendency of collectivism
Korea 18 43 strong tendency of collectivism
chinese tai
wan 17 44 strong tendency of collectivism
Guatemala 6 53 very Strong tendency of collectivism
individualism index of some countries and areas
Korea —— collectivism
In our interview, we realized that Korea is also a collectivism country.
1) Patriotism education they pay great attention to patriotism education. Under the g
roup orientation, people usually think national interests first. Individual interests give way to national interests.
Korean pupils’ patriotism education: went to national cemetery for
condolence.
2) Regard traditional culture Their traditional custom is similar to us. They regard saving folk-custom and traditional values (e.g. respecting eldership, regard family interest…) highly.
The most important festival in Korea is also Spring Festival
The first dimension ——Power distance
About Power Distance
Power Distance focuses on the degree of equality, or
inequality, between people in the country’s society .A High
Power Distance ranking indicates that inequalities of
power and wealth have been allowed to grow within the
society. These societies are more likely to follow a caste
system that does not allow significant upward mobility of its
citizens. A Low Power Distance ranking indicates that the
society de-emphasizes the differences between citizen’s
power and wealth. In these societies , equality and
opportunity for everyone is stressed.
South Korean have a widespread state of mind. They
respect authority so much. Therefore, the Korean cult
ure has a high power distance index.
For example, subordinates are often so afraid of autho
rity that do not dare to express their views, and too m
uch respect and reverence who has more power than t
heir leadership.
The third dimension —— Masculine/Feminine
About Masculine and Feminine
In today’ s Korea, women play a role as important as men’s.
Not like before, in the ancient Korea, man obviously are
much stronger than women. Just as what Hofstede said, in
his dimension, Korea is middle masculinity dimension. So
We can say that Korea is a feminine dimension society,
which is similar to China.
The forth dimension ——Uncertainty Avoidance
UAI :Uncertainty Avoidance Index The global UAI ranking:
National loyalty It’s well known that South Koreans drive South Korea's car in various parts of the world. Koreans think that their own product quality is the best and the most suitable to their people. Therefore, the Korean use mobile phones, televisions or automobiles and basically all the things are their own products.
National spirit Korean people have a sense of confidence, self-reliance of the national spirit, which may be related to their limited material resources. Koreans attach great importance to shape and foster the national spirit. Besides, the Korean government established the Korean Folk Village especially for the youth.
Education From what we’ve talked above, South Korea has been much concerned about people's moral qualities and mental state, especially concerned about cultivation of the national spirit in school. South Korean schools focuses on historical and cultural, moral traditions and customs of several aspects, which helps building a rich content of the national spirit.
Analysis_ Uncertainty Avoidance
As we may conclude from what we mention above, we see that South Korea
is a nation of high national spirit and moral qualities. If we use Hofstede’s dime
nsions of culture to analyze, we can draw a conclusion that South Korea is a nat
ion of high uncertainty avoidance.
Uncertainty Avoidance Index focuses the levels of tolerance for uncertainty
and ambiguity within the society. A high uncertainty
avoidance ranking indicates that the country has a low tolerance for uncertainty
and ambiguity. This creates the society institutes rules, regulations and control t
o reduce the risk. It can be seen from the national loyalty and high nation spirit
we maintain in South Korea.
Religion in South Korea At present, South Korea’s religion still can be generalized to about four kinds, Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism and South Korea traditional folk faith. It is no deny that all of these religions area absorbed into South Korea’s culture and jointly help to make up of its own national culture.
Uncertainty Avoidance analysis: As we know, South Korea's industrialization took 20 years, but the industrialization of the west took almost 2 centuries. The high speed industrialization caused anxiety and the sense of alienation. And at the same time, it destroyed Korean’s peaceful mind. It made people choose to find consolation from the religion activity. So the religious population increased to a large number and the religious institutions increasingly turn into influential social organizations. To sum up, when South Korean meets something that is uncertainty, they will try to use religion to relieve the sense of uncertain.
Technology in South Korea: South Korea is a nation which pays so much attention to technology development. It builds up ‘science equip nation’ as their strategy of economic development. In a certain sense, science is the most fundamental reason of the rapid development of South Korea. Meanwhile, South Korea government actively unfolds the foreign affairs through technology communication.
Uncertainty Avoidance analysis: As Geert Hofstede says, people will use technology to minimize the uncertainty from nature. There is no doubt that South Korea uses so much resource to support the science development and it helps South Korea to realize industrialization and gains its today’s International status.
The fifth dimension ——Short term orientation/ Long term orientation
About Time Orientations
Short term orientation
Long term orientation
The characteristic Short term orientation:
history is a mirror of reality Long term orientation:
focus on future
Chinese VS. Korean
Chinese’ time-orientations are similar with Korean’s. They bot
h attach great attention to the traditional festivals. For example,
they both have the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Lan
tern Festival and Mid-Autumn Day. In the Spring Festival, the
y both like to stay with their family and have some traditional
activities like red bag, wearing the traditional clothes. During
our talk, the Korean girl remember lots of her past life and like
to talk about it.
South Korea displays Geert Hofstede Dimensions similar to Latin American
countries (see Latin America Hofstede Graph below). South Korea's Index
values are: PDI=60 IDV=18 MAS=39 UAI=85. South Korea's closest
Correlation to another country in the Hofstede survey is to El Salvador's
values of PDI=66 IDV=19 MAS=40 UAI=94.
South Korea's highest Hofstede Dimension is Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI)
at 85, indicating the society’s low level of tolerance for uncertainty. In an
effort to minimize or reduce this level of uncertainty, strict rules, laws,
policies, and regulations are adopted and implemented. The ultimate goal
of this population is to control everything in order to eliminate or avoid the
unexpected. As a result of this high Uncertainty Avoidance characteristic,
the society does not readily accept change and is very risk adverse.
South Korea has a low Individualism (IDV) rank of 18. The score on this
Dimension indicates the society is Collectivist as compared to
Individualist. This is manifest in a close long-term commitment to the
member 'group', be that a family, extended family, or extended
relationships. Loyalty in a collectivist culture is paramount, and over-rides
most other societal rules and regulations. The society fosters strong
relationships where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of
their group.