All contents Freakonomics. Freakonomics is a groundbreaking collaboration between Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, an award-winning author and journalist. Latin countries tend to be more collectivistic, especially Spain and Portugal not so much Italy and France. Well, because theyre really smart. HOFSTEDE: In an individualistic society, a person is like an atom in a gas. 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. SFU will never request our users provide or confirm their Computing ID or password via email or by going to any web site. Historically, politically, and yes culturally. The U.S. also has a small power distance 40 on a scale of 100, which puts it among the lowest in the world. HOFSTEDE: In a cultural sense, no, I dont think so. And the rest is history, if you like. The third measures masculinity versus femininity in a given culture. When Americans did this experiment, a third of them conformed and gave an obviously wrong answer. They make sure that there is no violation of any ritual. HENRICH: We dont like people telling us what to do. Its all the levels in the organization. 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 that makes you feel . And they often dont even realize theyre being acted upon. Its an experiment developed in the early 1980s by, among others, the German economist Werner Gth . Im like, Were going to go to Singapore if you people dont behave.. GELFAND: The U.S. is one of the most creative places on the planet. Educated. Why Does the Most Monotonous Job in the World Pay $1 Million? Multilevel Research of Human Systems: Flowers, Bouquets and Gardens, The Interaction Between National and Organizational Value Systems, 11 A. M. Sunday Is Our Most Segregated Hour,, The U.S. Is Just Different So Lets Stop Pretending Were Not (Ep. Individualism once . And thats helped to produce the looseness that exists to this day. SuperFreakonomics was the follow-up in 2009. It was there, and later on in travels in the Middle East, and working on a kibbutz, and elsewhere, that I started recognizing this really powerful force of culture that was incredibly important but really invisible. Joe Henrich again: HENRICH: In some societies, people really attend to scent, and they have a complex set of language terms that have the equivalent of basic color categories for scents. Yes, the United States of America. Bush made clear to Iraqs Saddam Hussein that this wouldnt stand. Twenty states rewarded individual schools for good test scores or dramatic improvement; thirty-two states sanctioned the schools that didn't do well. There, its really important to maintain that humility, to be focused on your privacy, but not trying to one-up other people. The American model is among the most successful and envied models in the history of the world. The sixth dimension is called indulgence vs. restraint.. HOFSTEDE: And this is before the 60s, before the 70s. Its waiting to happen because people in this individualistic, indulgent society, they want to be merry. Tightness may create compliance; but looseness can drive innovation and creativity. Insight, for the authors (economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner) is all about explaining behaviour in terms of the incentives and dis-incentives (rewards and penalties) that drive it. Tightness and compliance would seem to go hand-in-hand. HOFSTEDE: This is actually a little bit of an unfortunate name. And I was interested in this, and I thought maybe it would tell us something about an innate human psychology for reciprocity or something like that. So I would be very interested in knowing whether theres any data on the ethnic component of homicide and suicide. And if there are crumbs in the sheets, theyll get in your pajamas. If youre a constrained sort of person, you wont go far in the U.S. Stephen DUBNER: Im curious whether youve ever been accused of political incorrectness in your study of national cultures. 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. It means I did it my way.. The average U.S. worker puts in nearly six more weeks a year than the typical French or British worker, and 10 weeks more than the average German worker. So how much would you offer? There is a strong desire to be more feminine. GELFAND: I also teach negotiation. As we heard, the first four dimensions originated with the I.B.M. So this is not about, Is world peace important?, HOFSTEDE: For instance, Is it important for you to have a good working relationship with your boss? Or Is it a good idea for people to maybe have more than one boss?. Around this time, he started doing some teaching at the Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. HOFSTEDE: Well, if you want an honest answer, I think mainly our own curiosity. Also, the people who settled in different areas in the U.S. brought with them their own cultural norms and values, and set the stage for different levels of tight-loose within the nation. My uncles like, Hey, I have something to show you. My first day in America, he showed me the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. So you see these eye movements that are very different. The U.S. patent database goes back into the 18th century and what a number of studies in economics as well as work in my lab has shown is that openness to other people so, trust in strangers, an inclination towards individualism, a desire to stand out, to be the smartest guy in the room fosters more rapid innovation because people are more likely to exchange ideas, theyre more interested in distinguishing themselves. 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 thats only the first study. But one has arrows going out and one in? Oh say, can you see, the home run I just hit. That is something that fundamentally many whites dont understand, right? So you can see that in an individualistic society, after becoming a world champion in a sport or certainly after winning a major war, people do not fight one another, but they admire one another. DUBNER: I find that people who dont load dishwashers carefully are usually pretty loose with the planning. This is a pretty interesting result: one stranger giving away roughly half their money to another stranger when, theoretically, 10 or 20 percent would keep the second player from rejecting the offer. We often look to other countries for smart policies on education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. Historically, politically, and yes culturally. The book takes the form of six chapters. But then the experimenters confederates come in. 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. And yes, well talk about what makes America, America at least as seen through the eyes of Kumail Nanjiani, who was born in Pakistan. And in a restrained society, theres going to be suicide. Michele Gelfand has another example of how culture shapes perception. Dubner speaks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, intellectuals and entrepreneurs, and various other underachievers. When youre trying to understand the nature of something, an outside view can be extremely helpful. OLIVER: When was that moment when America became the most American America it could possibly be? You could argue that Peppers owner is the one who isnt very disciplined. The spirit of competition of what Michele Gelfand calls vertical individualism seems to permeate every corner of American society. We owe much of our freedom to that influence. Why the business school? Freakonomics Radiois produced by Stitcher and Renbud Radio. And in this moment, we realized that the grind is unsustainable, right? And you dont need them for ritual reasons. We visit the world's busiest airport to see how it all comes together. 702 Episodes. How do racial and ethnic minorities fit into the American looseness? A loose country, like the U.S., tends to do well in creativity and innovation; in tolerance and openness; in free speech and a free press. U.S. President George H.W. One of the defining features of Americanism is our so-called rugged individualism. You might even call it wild individualism. Am I really going to tell my kid how special they are about everything?. The first one measures the level of individualism in a given culture, versus collectivism. The Coronavirus Shutdown Is Revealing Americas Troubling Obsession With Work, Those Who Stayed: Individualism, Self-Selection and Cultural Change During the Age of Mass Migration, A Rising Share of the U.S. Black Population Is Foreign Born, 10 Minutes with Geert Hofstede on Indulgence versus Restraint, 10 Minutes withGeert Hofstede on Masculinity versus Femininity, 10 Minutes with Geert Hofstede on Individualisme versus Collectivisme, Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context, A Re-Inquiry of Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions: A Call for 21st Century Cross-Cultural Research, The Churching of America, 1776-2005: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy, Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Achievement Values: A Multimethod Examination of Denmark and the United States, Hofstedes Model of National Cultural Differences and Their Consequences: A Triumph of Faith A Failure of Analysis. Categories like age, gender, job type, job seniority, and so on. So keep your ears open for all that. Michele GELFAND: The people that came to New York early on, they were from all sorts of different cultural backgrounds, and thats helped produce the looseness that exists to this day. Now, California is a real interesting exception because it has a lot of threat. Each week, Freakonomics Radio tells you things you always thought you knew (but didn't) and things you never thought you wanted to know (but do) from the economics of sleep to how to become great at just about anything. He takes on questions like: Why do kids with summer birthdays get the flu more often? In the end, he resorted to making small plywood boxes with a slot cut into . We visit the world's busiest airport to see . DUBNER: Can you give me a good example of an idea or a theory that I might come across in a Psych 101 textbook that would just be so American that it wouldnt really be useful if you actually care about humans? HOFSTEDE: That could be the case, and it is also the case that you have a sort of non-overt multiculturalism in the society. More feminine societies tend to have less poverty and higher literacy rates. So I am actually optimistic. Scholars in this realm have a general agreement on what culture is and what its not. And we see that the combination of high individualism, high masculinity, and high short-termism can produce some chaos, at the very least. The second player is given a choice between accepting or rejecting. Thats Joe Henrich, a professor of evolutionary biology at Harvard; hes also a scholar of psychology, economics, and anthropology. So, Japan has been hit by Mother Nature for centuries. Here are some things that tend to thrive in highly individual societies: human rights, a free press, divorce, and a faster pace of life. There is some overlap between these six dimensions and some of the ideas we talked about in last weeks episode particularly the notion that some national cultures tend to be tight and others loose. But can a smart policy be simply transplanted into a country as culturally unusual (and as supremely WEIRD) as America? Episode 470 The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism. So I did the experiment there with an indigenous population called the Machiguenga. 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? Levitt's research on teacher cheating using Chicago Public Schools data.Clip from the 2010 documentary "Freakonomics: The Movie". You may decide to go another way, but that doesnt make the river change. Loose cultures tend to be found in English-speaking countries as well as Latin-American, Latin-European, and formerly Communist cultures. It is still the case that you did have the summer of love. HOFSTEDE: But it turned out that lumping them by nationality was the best thing to do. 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 . Most sociologists agree that individualistic cultures value individual choice, personal freedom, and self-actualization (Kemmelmeier 2002). Whereas looking away in a very egalitarian society is seen as a sign of deceptiveness. BERT: Because: you get crumbs in the sheets, thats why. The first one measures the level of individualism in a given culture, versus collectivism. Thats to say that it emphasizes privacy and independence, like the U.S., but its much more egalitarian. And the Machiguenga were much closer to the predictions of Homo economicus, where youd make low offers and never reject. HOFSTEDE: Yes. GELFAND: Groups that are of lower status tend to live in tighter worlds. The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism (Ep. But it was serious. This would never happen in a society of large power distance. You realize, you want a black or white value judgment. No difference, that is, between tight and loose cultures. She was majoring in pre-med. We look at how these traits affect our daily lives and why we couldnt change them even if we wanted to. The second one measures what's called "power distance." (Don't worry, we'll explain the name . 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. The U.S. is overall relatively loose. For some Americans, at least, working hard is a badge of honor. DUBNER: So weve done a pretty good job of beating up on the U.S. thus far. HENRICH: We have a kind of religiosity equivalent to somewhere like Kuwait. Then he tried a coffee can with a money slot in its plastic lid, which also proved too tempting. 1 in individualism. you ask. 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. You might think that these relatively minor differences dont add up to much. So why did someone succeed? All contents Freakonomics. making a claim about his individual experiences and looking for evidence. GELFAND: In the U.S., various newspapers covered the story. Freakonomics, M.D. Freakonomics Science 4.7 932 Ratings; Each week, physician and economist Dr. Bapu Jena will dig into a fascinating study at the intersection of economics and healthcare. This suggests that every time a social scientist runs an experiment whose research subjects are WEIRD thats capital-letter WEIRD the results of that experiment may be meaningful in the U.S. and some other places, but quite likely not in others. But its not only compliance. On many Freakonomics Radio episodes, well hear about some idea or policy that works well elsewhere in the world but hasnt taken root in the U.S. Did you know there is an entire academic field called cross-cultural psychology? GELFAND: And there was discussion in the cross-cultural psychology community about how James Bakers unemotionalcommunication style was received as This is not so serious, in terms of Tariq Azizs understanding of Americans intentions. we're looking out for the best interest of our individual pursuits. When theyre by themselves, the vast majority of people who do this experiment get the right answer, like in this archival tape of an Asch conformity test. Neal sees a strong connection between U.S. masculinity and our appetite for work. We had a lot of struggles with tightening during Covid, clearly. Long Island, New York, is thebirthplace of the American suburb. As for the U.S., Gelfand says the U.S. is not only loose but getting progressively looser. You might want to change, but if you get ostracized, its very difficult to persist. That is one of the main guests in todays episode. Rich. 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 "uncertain. Within countries, there is of course enormous variation. Its more about how individuals are acted upon by the people and institutions around them. His father was Geert Hofstede. 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 that makes you feel better). It also is related to obesity. The two players dont know each other. The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism. Why not? 1, the most individualistic country in the world, 91 out of 100 on the Hofstede scale of individualism. Once he saw that differences were driven by nationality, Hofstede sensed he was on to something big. Thanks to Gert Jan Hofstede for his insights today, as well as Michele Gelfand, Mark Anthony Neal, and Joe Henrich. The U.S. comes in on the indulgent side, at 68. Every action or every fact or every move has a system around it. Now, lets pull back and make an important point: labeling a given country tight or loose is an overall, aggregate measurement. HOFSTEDE: High individualism is correlated with trying new stuff. The five tightest countries are Pakistan, Malaysia, India, South Korea, and our old friend Singapore. You could ask people, What do you like to eat? The more collectivistic they are, the more likely they are to talk about their grandmother and what she made, and theyre less likely to start entirely on their own diet. Freakonomics Summary. employees. The U.S., according to this analysis, is comparatively a short-term country. individualism, political and social philosophy that emphasizes the moral worth of the individual. Most white Americans have an entirely different ancestral history. Chronic threat meaning a country is prone to natural disasters, or disease, or hostile invaders. So, again, if you want to talk about Americans, youre okay. But some cultures strictly abide by their norms. Henrich says yes. Words: 777. I hate to call out Michele Gelfand, but even in the loosest of cultures, dogs dont have unfettered access to food. So, culture is about values, beliefs, absorbed ideas and behaviors. HOFSTEDE: And his special methodological trick was not to do what is now called a pan-cultural analysis across all the respondents, but first to lump them into groups. Subscribe for more videos like this: http://youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=92YplusThe Best of Freakonomics with Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, m. In the beginning, Feldman left behind an open basket for the cash, but too often the money vanished. Heres how he describes himself these days. NEAL: So its always evolving, its always developing, but theres some core principles. HOFSTEDE: In the U.S.A., individualism coupled with masculinity creates a society where if youre not a winner, youre a loser. It is still the case that you did have the summer of love, no, I think our. 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