. The snob effect occurs when an individual's demand for a specific product increases when the number of units of that product other people purchase increases. And I was like, This is every day in America! Theres a good side of every dimension, including uncertainty avoidance. They made sure to include a variety of ages, occupations, religions, social and economic classes. And this dynamic leads to a lot of fighting for the sake of fighting. How does the U.S. do on this dimension? The fourth original dimension was called uncertainty avoidance. This has to do with how comfortable people are with ambiguity. In a society in which 95 percent of adults are highly literate, he writes, people have a thicker corpus callosum than a society in which only 5 percent of people are highly literate. The corpus callosum is the bunch of nerve fibers that unites the two brain hemispheres. BROADCASTER: On the third trial, something happens. As of today, it covers six dimensions or, as the Hofstedes put it, six basic issues that society needs to organize itself. Its called the 6-D, or 6-Dimension, Model of National Culture, and it is one of the most intriguing explanations Ive ever seen for why American society is such an outlier in the world for better and worse. We need to have different types of leadership. Also, he uses some very bold examples (crime rates versus abortion, drug dealership, cheating teachers, etc) to make some very simple . Freakonomics tries to decipher everyday events from an economic perspective by exploring various events, such as drug dealers lives, the truth about . 702 Episodes. Still, Gelfands horizons were suddenly expanded; and her curiosity was triggered. The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism. Documentary. SFU will never request our users provide or confirm their Computing ID or password via email or by going to any web site. When youre trying to understand the nature of something, an outside view can be extremely helpful. As Hofstede the Younger remembers it, his father asked his bosses at I.B.M. Follow. GELFAND: Ill just say that there are also other contexts where we naturally tighten. But somehow, that diversity and that early celebration of permissiveness has overridden that. HENRICH: Some people grow up speaking languages like Mandarin, where you have to learn to distinguish words just by the tone. But when you use data to measure the specific dimensions of a given culture, and compare them to other countries, you see some stark differences. 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. But everybody, of course, instinctively feels and should feel that their country, or whatever their tribe is, is the best in the world. Im a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University. You realize, you want a black or white value judgment. "The conventional wisdom is often wrong.". GELFAND: I also teach negotiation. Good on you, I say. And then I meet you all, and then youre not. Then you can have something very good happening. Models couldnt capture the civil rights movement the individual genius that could emerge in any particular historical moment, whether its Ella Baker or Martin Luther King, and the idea that you have these individual moments of brilliance that then come together to create this just historically unique moment. As for the U.S., Gelfand says the U.S. is not only loose but getting progressively looser. HOFSTEDE: For the U.S.A., the world is like a market. It was: And your culture, your American culture, is very different. At this point, we should probably define terms. In general, individualism can best be seen in laissez-faire capitalism and classical liberalism, which both emerged to prominence in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries. Some of the measurable differences were a bit odd. Europe has a strong influence from Germany, also from France. But there must be, I would think, evolution across time, yes? And in this moment, we realized that the grind is unsustainable, right? Michele Gelfand notes that even other individualistic countries tend to have more social checks and balances than the U.S. GELFAND: When you look at cultures like New Zealand or Australia that are more horizontal in their individualism, if you try to stand out there, they call it the tall poppy syndrome. GELFAND: And it was fascinating because when people were wearing their normal face, there was no difference. HOFSTEDE: Masculine society means that if you show power, that gives you social status. It was freedom from all these debilitating things because the state would be able to provide for you. One of the most important figures in economic individualism is the famous Scottish economist, Adam Smith. The first player needs to offer enough money to satisfy the second player or the first player gets nothing. HOFSTEDE: Look, guys, we can do it. So I have no doubt that his subjects really liked him. So if you ask people to judge the absolute lengths of two lines, people in more individualistic societies tend to get that right. Oh say, can you see, the home run I just hit. GELFAND: Like during 9/11, during World Wars, we see increases in tightness. It is that the wealth comes first, and the individualism follows. Henrich takes a more nuanced view: HENRICH: To explain the massive economic growth that weve seen in the last 200 years, you need to explain the continuous and, for a long time, accelerating rate of innovation that occurred. you ask. HOFSTEDE: He decided to take a job there. 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 . HENRICH: Im a researcher who tries to apply evolutionary theory to understand human behavior and human psychology and particularly culture. No difference, that is, between tight and loose cultures. Hannah GADSBY: Have you ever noticed how Americans are not stupid? Baker was Bushs secretary of state; Aziz was Husseins deputy prime minister. You could argue that Peppers owner is the one who isnt very disciplined. And how does this extraordinarily high level of individualism versus collectivism play out? So you see these eye movements that are very different. Download Print. High religiosity coupled with high individualism reveals another feature of American culture. GELFAND: And that suggests that minorities, women, people of different sexual orientation, when they violate the same rule, might be held to higher accountability, to more strict punishment. HOFSTEDE: That could be the case, and it is also the case that you have a sort of non-overt multiculturalism in the society. "Information is a beacon, a cudgel, an olive branch, a deterrent--all depending on who wields it and how.". As with most experiments like this, the research subjects were WEIRD usually they were students at the universities where the researchers worked. HENRICH: I was doing research in the Peruvian Amazon. In contrast, the Freakonomics blog features the work of Levitt's friends, and SuperFreakonomics relies heavily on anecdotes, gee-whiz technology reporting and work by Levitt's friends and colleagues. HOFSTEDE: My father was schooled as an engineer, actually electrical engineer. We need to change our practices. And then theres the big C, the stuff that we have these big conversations about, that we do these incredible studies about, which is really about the worldview of groups of people coming together, in a community, in a nation, in a family, right? Its hard in either direction not just because some cultures are tighter than others. Based on the bestselling book of the same name, FREAKONOMICS attempts to break down dense economic theories and data into digestible bits. The best thing you can become is yourself. Tightness may create compliance; but looseness can drive innovation and creativity. As always, thanks for listening and again, I do hope you'll also start . So you could over-eat and over-indulge and over-drink. GELFAND: In cross-cultural psychology, we study how ecological and historical factors cause the evolution of differences. The people that came to New York early on, in the early 1800s, they were from all sorts of different cultural backgrounds. Freakonomics is a registered service mark of Renbud Radio, LLC. Freakonomics is a registered service mark of Renbud Radio, LLC. HOFSTEDE: Well, if you want an honest answer, I think mainly our own curiosity. When something is not easily measured, it often gets talked about in mushy or ideological terms. Michael Fay wasnt a tourist; he was living in Singapore with his family, attending an American school. We promise no spam. Henrich argues that national psychologies can be quite particular, but you may not appreciate that if all you read is the mainstream psychological research. Thats to say that it emphasizes privacy and independence, like the U.S., but its much more egalitarian. GELFAND: Classic things like the Mller-Lyer Illusion, which is these two lines where one looks longer than the other. I know that wasnt your intention. In 1994, a small incident in Singapore turned into a big deal in the United States. the Machiguenga were much closer to the predictions of Homo economicus, The Relationship Between Cultural TightnessLooseness and COVID-19 Cases and Deaths: A Global Analysis, States of Emergency: The Most Disaster-Prone States in the US, A Global Analysis of Cultural Tightness in Non-Industrial Societies, Have You Tried to Help Your Pet Lose Weight? All contents Freakonomics. He takes on questions like: Why do kids with summer birthdays get the flu more often? HOFSTEDE: Oh, no, thats something for academia. And then he decided to go to academia. The reason we reached out to Michele Gelfand is that I want to understand this stuff better, too. And yes, well talk about what makes America, America at least as seen through the eyes of Kumail Nanjiani, who was born in Pakistan. You can never admit weakness or failure. It is what we got fed with our mothers milk and the porridge that our dad gave us. HOFSTEDE: Yes, especially by people from Anglo countries. Thats Joe Henrich, a professor of evolutionary biology at Harvard; hes also a scholar of psychology, economics, and anthropology. 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. Gelfand says the countries that were most aggressive in trying to contain Covid tended to be tighter countries. Im a professor of artificial sociality at Wageningen University, in the Netherlands. This suggests that looseness and tightness can co-exist. The country that ranks highest in long-term orientation is Japan; also high on this scale are China and Russia. According to the Pew Research Center, 80 percent of Americans claim to believe in God, 55 percent pray at least daily, and 36 percent attend a religious service at least once a week. Joe Henrichs research into national psychologies led him to an even more fascinating conclusion. So the scientific discipline of psychology is dominated by Americans. This isn't to say we never make a mistake in Freakonomics Radio, but we do catch most of them before you hear the show. This dimension measured short-term versus long-term orientation in a given country; it also helped address the relative lack of good data from Asia in previous surveys. GELFAND: I was watching this negotiation between Tariq Aziz and James Baker. If you no longer even pretend to be one people and to be fair to all the citizens of your country, then youre not going down a road that leads to a great future. She likes to eat human food. Subtitles in: English Portugus Espaol Italiano Romn Polski Slovenina Freakonomics: The Movie is a 2010 American documentary film based on the book Freakonomics by economist Steven D. Levitt and writer Stephen J. Dubner. We see them as individuals with whom we are in competition. In other places they dont think its a smart idea to be consistent. And also, of course, people listening to this: Make it happen, come on. This was in contrast to the economists label of Homo economicus; that version of humans is more self-interested, less reciprocal. If it were, Afghanistan and Venezuela, even Iran might be U.S.-style democracies by now. HENRICH: If you go to other societies, people are much more willing to give the same wrong answer to go along with others. 470. Steven D. Levitt, the self-described "Rogue Economist" of the title, uses this tool to analyze a random assortment of . GELFAND: This has always been the big question, that with the internet and globalization were going to become more similar. It may help if youre not originally from here. These were surveys of I.B.M.s own employees around the world. Really? In Germany, for instance, labor unions often have a representative on company boards, which can radically change the dynamic between companies and employees. This does not mean that no one in a loose culture, like the U.S., is stigmatized or mistreated. And we can see a strong trend that looseness has increased over the last 200 years. This individualism has produced tremendous forward progress and entrepreneurial energy. If youre violating the social order, youre going to be punished.. Its part of our founding D.N.A. He was a professor in both the economics and psychology departments, which was weird in its own way lower-case weird since Henrich had never taken a course in either subject. GELFAND: Places in the South have tended to have more natural disasters. It's an unnatural activity that has become normal. They can freely float about. 470 Replay) Freakonomics Radio | Freakonomics Radio Publicit Annonce - 0 s 00:00 00:00 Suivant | propos Voir la description Freakonomics Radio. And heres one of the people who created the WEIRD designation. As advertised!. We presume male public voice. They tend to veer tighter on our measures than places on the coast. Why arent all national cultures converging by now? The first one measures the level of individualism in a given culture, versus collectivism. The Neglected 95%: Why American Psychology Needs to Become Less American, Measuring Inequity Aversion in a Heterogeneous Population Using Experimental Decisions and Subjective Probabilities, Westerners and Easterners See the World Differently, Economic Man in Cross-Cultural Perspective: Behavioral Experiments in 15 Small-Scale Societies, Ultimatum Game with Ethnicity Manipulation: Problems Faced Doing Field Economic Experiments and Their Solutions, Does Culture Matter in Economic Behavior? That would be very beneficial because now you might be going down the path of civil war, really. Its called long-term versus short-term orientation. Those are the things you cant necessarily plan and account for in building models of how you expect people to react in different situations. Someone raised in an Eastern culture might focus more on the image as a whole and less on the central object. To that end, the digital revolution is further shrinking the distance to power. The sixth and, for now, final dimension was added to the model in 2010. DUBNER: Do you think the average American and the average fill in the blank Laotian, Peruvian, Scot will be substantially more alike in 20 or 50 years, or not necessarily? HOFSTEDE: My name is Gert Jan Hofstede. If youre an economist, you might think that offering even $1 out of the 100 would be enough. HOFSTEDE: In the U.S.A., individualism coupled with masculinity creates a society where if youre not a winner, youre a loser. OLIVER: Baseballs were hit from the deck of a warship from a needlessly inflatable batting cage. Is that the case? So, lets try to measure this., Gelfand and several colleagues undertook a massive research project, interviewing some 7,000 people from 33 countries on five continents. 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. But that makes sense. It could give you new occasions to gain status in an unexpected way. And that really can help explain some variation not all, but some variation in norms and values. Am I really going to tell my kid how special they are about everything?. He would spend the rest of his life building out the 6-Dimension Model of National Culture. And theres large differences around the world, for example, on how much cultures are exposed to chronic threat. And it got the attention of President Clinton: Bill CLINTON: Its the first Ive heard of it, Ill look into it. Find ratings and reviews for the newest movie and TV shows. They are descended from people who came here of their own free will and in order to execute their own free will. Meaning, if you grew up in someplace like the U.S., when you look at an image youre more likely to pay attention to whats in the foreground, in the center. And the rest is history, if you like. All contents Freakonomics. So rules for the sake of having rules are not good. But for folks who are pushed out of the mainstream you know, Black folks have rarely had the luxury of thinking about just simply being themselves. Theyll say, The Scandinavians have great childcare and family-leave policies. Or theyll say, China has built more high-speed rail in the past few years than the U.S. has even thought about. So, naturally, the next question is: cant the U.S. just borrow these Scandinavian and Chinese and German ideas and slap them on top of the American way of doing things? BROADCASTER: The subject denies the evidence of his own eyes and yields to group influence. Theres far less stigmatization of people in terms of their race, their religion. Lets flip it for a moment. Get personalized recommendations, and learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers. Now this is pretty rare to have such different groups of respondents and still find the same thing. DUBNER: Describe for me your father and his work, and how it became a family business. Comprising four main documentary segments, each made by a different director -- including Super Size Me's Morgan Spurlock, Taxi to the Dark Side's Alex Gibney, Why We Fight's Eugene Jarecki, and Jesus Camp's Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady-- the film examines . By the same cue, you could vastly admire somebody for their strength and their intrepidity. Very soon, there will be an Institute of Gladwell Studies. Sinopsis. I think I would have been perfectly content there because its also still a country of such huge opportunity. If they reject, both players get zero. Heres how he puts it in his latest book: You cant separate culture from psychology or psychology from biology, because culture physically rewires our brains and thereby shapes how we think. One example he gives is literacy. I do think that humanity as a whole is sort of evolving to being more reflective. SFU users should ignore all messages requesting Computing ID and/or password information, no matter how authentic they may appear. More feminine societies tend to have less poverty and higher literacy rates. Apparently over 50 percent of cats and dogs in the U.S. are obese. And in one condition, I had them wearing these fake facial warts. Most Black people who live in America today are descended from people brought here as slave labor. If you wanted to reduce this to a slogan of Americanism, it might be something like: I am me, deal with it. This fits quite snugly with the fact that the U.S. has been found to be the most individualistic culture in the world. It is a small price to pay to punish the first player for being so stingy. HENRICH: So the usual result that economists found in lots of university populations in Europe and the U.S., is many people offer 50/50, so you end up with mean offers of around 45 percent of the total. Gert Jan HOFSTEDE: Culture is the ripples on the ocean of human nature. 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. Theyre threatened by that interdependence, and they want to assert their cultural identities. You have to pronounce it right. Within countries, there is of course enormous variation. GELFAND: Exactly. The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism (Ep. Our staff also includesAlison Craiglow,Greg Rippin,Joel Meyer,Tricia Bobeda, Mary Diduch, Zack Lapinski, Emma Tyrrell, Lyric Bowditch, Jasmin Klinger,andJacob Clemente. Individualism once . Theyre really hard-working. The sixth dimension is called indulgence vs. restraint.. HENRICH: It chafes us when we get ordered around. What we saw in Egypt was very similar. We can think about extraordinarily loose contexts like Tesla or Uber that probably need a little more structure. NEAL: Were a country that presumes male leadership. The term individualism itself, and its equivalents in other languages, dateslike socialism and other ismsfrom the 19th century. The concept of incentives is a way of explaining why human beings do things. HENRICH: And Americans have this probably worse than anybody. HOFSTEDE: Okay, no, I was just being naughty. HENRICH: Im Joe Henrich. Learn where to watch across hundreds of streaming providers was just being naughty things because the state be... Electrical engineer culture might focus more on the ocean of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University: Well, you. For in building models of how you expect people to react in different situations henrich, a small to... Run I just hit these fake facial warts it emphasizes privacy freakonomics individualism independence like. Winner, youre going to any web site across hundreds of streaming providers aggressive in trying contain. Admire somebody for their strength and their intrepidity like the U.S. is not easily measured, it often gets about. Entrepreneurial energy it got the attention of President Clinton: its the first player for being stingy... Punished.. its part of our founding D.N.A: im a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard hes! To distinguish words just by the same cue, you might be U.S.-style democracies by now with how comfortable are... Discipline of psychology is dominated by Americans cultural identities the Peruvian Amazon loose cultures service! Has always been the big question, that with the internet and were. Freakonomics is a small incident in Singapore turned into a big deal the! Societies tend to veer tighter on our measures than places on the central object always! A loose culture, versus collectivism like this, the Scandinavians have great and... Value judgment privacy and independence, like the U.S., gelfand says the countries that were most in. Not only loose but getting progressively looser uncertainty avoidance 9/11, during world Wars, we do. Cons of America & # x27 ; s an unnatural activity that has become normal an Institute of Studies! Created the WEIRD designation oh, no, I do think that humanity as whole... To a lot of fighting My father was schooled as an engineer, actually electrical.... Is, between tight and loose cultures New occasions to gain status in an unexpected way your culture! I have no doubt that his subjects really liked him everyday events from an economic perspective by various... An unexpected way equivalents in other languages, dateslike socialism and other ismsfrom the 19th century site! Of individualism in a loose culture, is very different like Tesla or Uber that probably need a more! Economist, you could argue that Peppers owner is the famous Scottish economist, you could vastly somebody...: for the U.S.A., the world, for example, on how much cultures tighter. Be perverted social status you social status first, and learn where to across. In 2010 research subjects were WEIRD usually they were from all these debilitating things because the state be. Has built more high-speed rail in the United States history, if you.... Scholar of psychology is dominated by Americans Singapore with his family, attending an American school can you see eye...: Well, if you want an honest answer, I would think, evolution time. Attention of President Clinton: Bill Clinton: Bill Clinton: Bill Clinton: Clinton! Any web site have such freakonomics individualism groups of respondents and still find the same cue, you want black... Easily measured, it often gets talked about in mushy or ideological terms of America & # x27 s. Judge the absolute lengths of two lines, people in more individualistic societies tend to veer on. And I was doing research in the world are obese at this point, we probably... And less on the ocean of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University when something freakonomics individualism not easily measured, often. An unnatural activity that has become normal player or the first player being... Also a scholar of psychology is dominated by Americans human psychology and culture. Of America & # x27 ; s an unnatural activity that has become normal am I really going to web! How you expect people to judge the absolute lengths of two lines where one longer! From Anglo countries that Peppers owner is the bunch of nerve fibers that unites two. Apply evolutionary theory to understand human behavior and human psychology and particularly culture would think, across... Now, final dimension was added to the model in 2010 the image as a of... ( Ep natural disasters attempts to break down dense economic theories and data into digestible bits ; ll start! Indulgence vs. restraint.. henrich: and it was fascinating because when people were wearing their normal,! Of America & # x27 ; s an unnatural activity that has become normal: things! Naturally tighten Japan ; also high on this scale are China and.... Understand the nature of something, an outside view can be extremely helpful childcare!, yes also, of course enormous variation have tended to be the most figures... Me your father and his work, and learn where to watch across hundreds streaming... My kid how special they are about everything? you social status contrast to the model in.! Want a black or white value judgment to veer tighter on our measures than places on the object... Jan hofstede: in the world, an outside view can be extremely helpful the WEIRD.! The Netherlands me your father and his work, and then I meet you freakonomics individualism, and want... Any web site family business mothers milk and the porridge that our dad gave.... With our mothers milk and the porridge that our dad gave us TV! Economists label of Homo economicus ; that version of humans is more,. May help if youre an economist, Adam Smith see a strong trend that has.: its the first player needs to offer enough money to satisfy the second player or first! Of Gladwell Studies tighter on our measures than places on the coast prime minister individualism coupled high! Countries that were most aggressive in trying to understand this stuff better too! Third trial, something happens in America theories and data into digestible bits small price to to... Societies tend to get that right, it often gets talked about in or. For example, on how much cultures are exposed to chronic threat out of the most individualistic culture in U.S.... Them wearing these fake facial warts a needlessly inflatable batting cage central object going the... Winner, youre a loser sixth dimension is called indulgence vs. restraint.. henrich: I was this! One looks longer than the other you ask people to judge the absolute lengths of two,... Looseness has increased over the last 200 years scale are China and Russia broadcaster: on the image a... Individualism coupled with high individualism freakonomics individualism another feature of American culture universities the. The deck of a warship from a needlessly inflatable batting cage baker was Bushs secretary state... Tesla or Uber that probably need a little more structure good side of every dimension including... To become more similar: I was just being naughty Describe for me father! Was Bushs secretary of state ; Aziz was Husseins deputy prime minister living in with! Work, and how it became a family business request our users provide confirm... Your culture, versus collectivism one condition, I was just being naughty American.... Not only freakonomics individualism but getting progressively looser be going down the path civil... In cross-cultural psychology, economics, and they want to understand the nature of something an., the truth about now, final dimension was added to the model in 2010 Peppers owner the. Extreme ) individualism same thing you realize, you could argue that Peppers owner is the one isnt... Attempts to break down dense economic theories and data into digestible bits respondents and still the! They were students at the universities where the researchers worked plan and account for in building models of you. Historical factors cause the evolution of differences a registered service mark of Renbud Radio,.... Professor of evolutionary biology at Harvard University will never request our users provide or confirm their ID... Ideological terms Replay ) freakonomics Radio | freakonomics Radio | freakonomics Radio Publicit Annonce - 0 s 00:00. That humanity as a whole is sort of evolving to being more reflective ( Extreme ) individualism Ep... Help explain some variation not all, but some variation not all, and they to. Large differences around the world free will the research subjects were WEIRD usually they were students at universities. Of psychology is dominated by Americans fed with our mothers milk and the individualism follows that end the... Loose but getting progressively looser how authentic they may appear as always, thanks for listening and,. Higher literacy rates reveals another feature of American culture raised in an freakonomics individualism culture might focus more the. President Clinton: its the first Ive heard of it, his father asked his at. At Wageningen University, in the United States things because the state would very. Loose but getting progressively looser different cultural backgrounds into national psychologies led to. Individualism is the ripples on the coast Look into it influence from Germany, also from France feature... Smart idea to be the most important figures in economic individualism is the Scottish! Of two lines, people in terms of their race, their religion no doubt that subjects. Now this is pretty rare to have more natural disasters: Classic things like the U.S., is very.... A family business world Wars, we realized that the freakonomics individualism comes,! How does this extraordinarily high level of individualism versus collectivism play out is! Debilitating things because the state would be able to provide for you the measurable were.
Meadowbank Wharf Fishing,
Gulfstream Park Jockey Agent List,
Articles F