Indulgence versus Restraint in 10 minutes Geert Hofstede

Indulgence versus Restraint in 10 minutes Geert Hofstede January 2015

Origin of the terms “Indulgence” versus “Restraint” • Coined by Michael Minkov for covering certain societal differences revealed by the World Values Survey (WVS), and unexplained by Hofstede’s other five dimensions • Mainly related to national levels of subjective happiness and life control • Based on 1995 -2004 WVS data for representative samples of the population in 93 societies

Indulgence versus Restraint as a societal culture dimension • Indulgent societies allow relatively free gratification of basic and natural human desires leading to enjoying life and having fun • Restrained societies suppress gratification of needs and regulate it by means of strict social norms

Indulgent societies • People feel healthier and happier • A perception of personal life control • Leisure ethic • Optimism, positive attitude • More extraverted personalities • Having friends very important • Active participation in sports • Less moral discipline • Looser sexual mores Restrained societies • People feel less happy and less healthy • What happens to me is not my doing • Work ethic • Pessimism, cynicism • More introverted personalities • Having friends less important • Less sports participation • Stricter moral discipline • Stricter sexual mores

How is a society’s degree of indulgence vs. restraint measured? • There is no absolute standard for the degree of Indulgence versus Restraint • What we can measure is differences between societies • The position of societies relative to each other is expressed in an Indulgence versus Restraint Index score (IVR) • IVR values have been plotted on a scale from 0 to 100; scores close to 0 stand for a more restrained, scores close to 100 for a more indulgent society

Some Indulgence versus Restraint (IVR) scores, out of 93 Indulgent 97 Mexico 84 Nigeria 78 Sweden 71 Australia 69 Britain 68 Netherlands 68 U. S. A. 59 Brazil Restrained 48 France 42 Japan 40 Germany 30 Italy 26 India 24 China 20 Russia 04 Egypt

Some examples of what these IVR scores correlate with Indulgent societies • Freedom of speech for all is rated as very important • Higher crime rates, smaller police force • In countries with educated population, higher birthrates • In wealthy countries, more obesitas • Higher approval of foreign music and films Restrained societies • Maintaining order in the nation is rated as very important • Lower crime rates, larger police force • In countries with educated population, lower birthrates • In wealthy countries, less obesitas • Lower approval of foreign music and films

Long/Short Term Orientation x Indulgence/Restraint INDULGENT, SHORT-TERM INDULGENT, LONG TERM NIGERIA, SOUTH AFRICA SWEDEN, NETHERLANDS SOUTH AMERICA AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND USA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA POLAND, PORTUGAL ZIMBABWE, BURKINA FASO ISLAMIC COUNTRIES RESTRAINED, SHORT-TERM BRITAIN, BELGIUM ITALY, GERMANY EASTERN EUROPE JAPAN, INDIA, CHINA RESTRAINED, LONG-TERM

Don’t the IVR scores change over time ? • The scores reflect values transferred from parents to children, that rarely change in later life • Research by Sjoerd Beugelsdijk comparing answers to the same questions by two successive generations 30 years apart shows a modest worldwide shift towards more indulgence • However, the position of countries relative to each other remained the same; and this is what the scores are based on • So, the scores can be assumed to be stable over time