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.