Summary
Highlights
The study of cultural differences between nations faces criticism because nations are often not culturally homogeneous. Many nations consist of diverse cultural, racial, and ethnic groups, such as South Africa, the United States, and Malaysia. Japan is cited as one of the few culturally homogeneous countries. Despite internal diversity, national environments tend to create more similar values and beliefs among their inhabitants than differences between different groups within the same nation. For example, Egyptian Muslims and Christians share more cultural similarities than Egyptian Muslims and other Muslims outside Egypt.
While individual differences can be greater than national differences, this does not invalidate the study of nations as units of analysis. Nations possess clearly defined identities, and people are interested in understanding why their nations differ from others in areas like wealth, poverty, corruption, education, and crime. This justification forms the basis for using nations as analytical units in cultural studies.
Hofstede's model of national culture, despite its widespread use, has faced controversies and issues when scholars attempted to replicate or apply it. A recent study, five years prior, aimed to update and improve this model. Sponsored by Mediacom and Hofstede Insights, the study recognized the implications of cultural differences for international business. It involved interviewing approximately 53,000 respondents from 56 countries. The samples were probabilistic and representative of national demographics, with data collected mostly online during 2015 and 2016.