COMM 1800 Top 5 Presentation Clemson University

1. Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture:
Power Distance
COMM 1800
Clemson University
Lancelot Aiken
Top 5 Things to Know About

2. Power distance is the extent to which less powerful members of
institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that
power is distributed unequally.
-Hofstede
How a culture
deals with
inequalities is the
main focus of
power distance
studies.

3. In high
power distance culture
people are expected to
display respect for
those of higher
status.
Countries ranking high
in power distance
include Malaysia,
Mexico, West Africa,
and Arab countries.
Hofstede believed power distance is learned at home. In low
power distance cultures more emphasis is placed on treating
everyone as equals than obedience to authority.
Countries ranking low in power distance include Austria, Israel, Sweden, and
New Zealand

4. Mitigated
/’midƏ,gāted/
verb, past participle
less severe, serious, or painful.
(a.k.a. “sugarcoating”)
This term describes deferential or indirect speech
when communication occurs between people of
perceived high power distance.

5. Two indicators of power distance
are wealth and income distribution.
Areas where income is unequally
distributed tend to be high in
power distance.
Areas where wealth is highly
concentrated among few people tend
to be high in power distance, but
this is not always the case. Sweden
and Switzerland break this rule,
for example.

6. Currently the United States ranks relatively
low in power distance, but times are
changing.
taken from the end credits of The Other Guys (2010)

7. Hofstede made the following
assumptions
Higher latitudes and greater national
wealth are associated with lower
power distance.
Areas with large populations and
countries with Confucian cultural
inheritance or Romance languages
instead of Germanic languages are
associated with high power distance
levels.
kraft
puissance

8. In Summary
1. Power distance is how a culture deals with
inequalities.
2. In high power distance cultures people are
expected to display respect for those of higher
status.
3. Mitigated speech is indirect or deferential speech.
4. Unequally distributed income in an area will likely
lead to high power distance.
5. High latitudes, low population, great national
wealth, and Germanic languages are all
associated with low power distance.