HOFSTEDE: In an individualistic society, a person is like an atom in a gas. The third measures masculinity versus femininity in a given culture. NEAL: So its always evolving, its always developing, but theres some core principles. You can followFreakonomics RadioonApple Podcasts,Spotify,Stitcher, orwherever you get your podcasts. It's an unnatural activity that has become normal. And what does he have to say about American culture? I had been led to believe, by you, that you are as dumb as bricks. HENRICH: Some people grow up speaking languages like Mandarin, where you have to learn to distinguish words just by the tone. GELFAND: But when people were wearing those really weird nose rings or those facial warts, they got far more help in loose cultures. DUBNER: What problem was he, and later you, trying to solve by doing this work? All that it takes is to get out of their cages of bickering and anxiety. But if you want to talk about humans, Homo sapiens, then you have a generalization problem. But its not only compliance. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism (Ep. And some advice from our new Dutch friend. According to Chapter 5 of Freakonomics, there is a black-white test score gap and that gap is larger when you compare black and white students from the same school. 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). Level of inequality C. Family composition D . Steven D. Levitt, the self-described "Rogue Economist" of the title, uses this tool to analyze a random assortment of . A. They determine the boundary conditions before which we become angry or flattered or whatever. You can see this on many dimensions: how we work and travel; how we mate and marry; how we care for our children and our elderly; how we police; how we conceive the relationship between the individual and the state; even how we manage death! In case you missed it, thats Western. Consider the prominent Muppets Bert and Ernie. His ideas, along with others, are credited with . This would never happen in a society of large power distance. GELFAND: I also teach negotiation. And how does this extraordinarily high level of individualism versus collectivism play out? But the big C in my mind is very different than the little c.. You look at parents and how they treat their kids art. Theyre able to make finer distinctions in terms of their olfaction. And its not because they themselves dont have collective experiences, particularly within ethnicity, but part of the price of becoming American is to give up the collectivity of your ethnic background. All rights reserved. According to the individualist, all values are human-centred, the individual is of supreme importance, and all individuals are morally equal. And the rest is history, if you like. The U.S. is just different from other places in a variety of ways that we often dont stop to think about. HOFSTEDE: You have a democracy. But for folks who are pushed out of the mainstream you know, Black folks have rarely had the luxury of thinking about just simply being themselves. HOFSTEDE: There was a Quaker at the head of I.B.M. HOFSTEDE: For the U.S.A., the world is like a market. Okay, you get the gist, right? And its by no means easy. GADSBY: Have you ever noticed how Americans are not stupid? If you dont feel that, then you will be an unhappy person. And then in a third condition they were wearing just their face. In a society in which 95 percent of adults are highly literate, he writes, people have a thicker corpus callosum than a society in which only 5 percent of people are highly literate. The corpus callosum is the bunch of nerve fibers that unites the two brain hemispheres. Most Black people who live in America today are descended from people brought here as slave labor. That, again, is Mark Anthony Neal, from Duke. 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). The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism. Gelfand says the countries that were most aggressive in trying to contain Covid tended to be tighter countries. GELFAND: I was watching this negotiation between Tariq Aziz and James Baker. The individual agents/brokers only take a $150 hit after their costs/fees. I was on the phone with my dad, and I said, You know, its really crazy, all the differences between the U.K. and the U.S.. In another condition, they were wearing tattoos and nose rings and purple hair. 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. So rules for the sake of having rules are not good. But first, Hofstede had to make sure that the differences he was seeing in the data werent specific to I.B.M. Mark Anthony Neal of Duke is not surprised that the U.S. scores relatively high on the masculinity scale. Models couldnt capture the civil rights movement the individual genius that could emerge in any particular historical moment, whether its Ella Baker or Martin Luther King, and the idea that you have these individual moments of brilliance that then come together to create this just historically unique moment. In the latest issue of American Scientist, statisticians Kaiser Fung and Andrew Gelman wrote a strong critique of Levitt and Dubner's work. This leads to less obesity, less addiction, and theres less crime in tighter cultures. Freakonomics is a registered service mark of Renbud Radio, LLC. The New York Times bestselling Freakonomics changed the way we see the world, exposing the hidden side of just about everything. It suggests that as in most things in life balance is desirable. Good on you, I say. In Germany, for instance, labor unions often have a representative on company boards, which can radically change the dynamic between companies and employees. By the way, Gelfand doesnt really take a position on whether loose or tight is superior. We look at how these traits affect . But Gelfand saw an even bigger question: How can you understand culture if you dont know exactly what it is? "Morality, it could be argued, represents the way that people would like the world to work, wheareas economics represents how it actually does work.". Because when youre living inside a culture well, thats the culture you know; it is what it is. Im a professor of artificial sociality at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. And this is what Europe has. Both are long-term oriented, so they see a lot of context around things. And when I started to work with Harry Triandis, who was one of the founders of the field, I thought, Wow, this is a super-interesting construct. Gelfand would disagree. Steven D Levitt. And then theres the big C, the stuff that we have these big conversations about, that we do these incredible studies about, which is really about the worldview of groups of people coming together, in a community, in a nation, in a family, right? You Arent Alone as Most Cats and Dogs in the U.S. are Overweight, The Loosening of American Culture Over 200 Years is Associated With a CreativityOrder Trade-Off, Speaking a Tone Language Enhances Musical Pitch Perception in 35-Year-Olds, TightnessLooseness Across the 50 United States, The Mller-Lyer Illusion in a Computational Model of Biological Object Recognition, Chaos Theory: A Unified Theory of Muppet Types, Egypt: Crime Soars 200 Per Cent Since Hosni Mubarak Was Ousted, Status and the Evaluation of Workplace Deviance. The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism (Replay) 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). This is a summary of the book Freakonomics by Stephen DubnerJoin Reading.FM now: https://fourminutebooks.com/go/readingfm/register/Read more summaries: http. Better Essays. This paper focuses on the construction of racial identity online through the mediating influences of popular culture, old media, weblogs, and Internet users. We also realize that were a culture in distress in many, many, many ways. Im a professor of artificial sociality at Wageningen University, in the Netherlands. Based on the bestselling book of the same name, FREAKONOMICS attempts to break down dense economic theories and data into digestible bits. So after we ran that first project, we redid the entire project, and we took concerns like the one Francisco had. As Hofstede the Younger remembers it, his father asked his bosses at I.B.M. And he tried all kinds of categories and groups. And we can see a strong trend that looseness has increased over the last 200 years. So how much would you offer? GELFAND: And it caused a real international crisis because the Singapore government gave him what was then classic punishment, which was caning. And you know who else had that skill set? And in this moment, we realized that the grind is unsustainable, right? A recent paper by a Harvard postdoc named Anne Sofie Beck Knudsen analyzed Scandinavian emigration from 1850 to 1920, when roughly 25 percent of the Scandinavian population left their countries, a great many coming to the U.S. People of an individualistic mindset were more prone to migrate than their collectivistic neighbors, she writes. GELFAND: And it was fascinating because when people were wearing their normal face, there was no difference. Levitt's research on teacher cheating using Chicago Public Schools data.Clip from the 2010 documentary "Freakonomics: The Movie". NEAL: As someone who specialized in the African-American experience, and is African-American myself, I often fall back on the way the late Amiri Baraka described Black culture as a changing same.. Whereas people from less individualistic societies tend to be better at making relative-size judgments. So the scientific discipline of psychology is dominated by Americans. GELFAND: And I thought, If these kinds of cultural differences are happening at the highest levels, we better start understanding this stuff.. "The typical parenting expert, like experts in other fields, is prone to sound exceedingly sure of himself. Individualistic countries tend to be richer, but as Hofstede the Elder once put it, The order of logic is not that individualism comes first. Michele Gelfand and several co-authors recently published a study in The Lancet about how Covid played out in loose versus tight cultures. Mobility also produces looseness, because its harder to agree upon any norm. You may decide to go another way, but that doesnt make the river change. So looking decisive, muscular, active or if youre a woman, sexy that makes you more status-worthy. Because if you try something new, you show to the people around you that you are an individual and you can make your own decisions. And I was like, This is every day in America! The Ultimatum game is famous among social scientists. And yes, well talk about what makes America, America at least as seen through the eyes of Kumail Nanjiani, who was born in Pakistan. The five loosest countries according to this analysis were Ukraine, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, and the Netherlands. But then the experimenters confederates come in. And then I meet you all, and then youre not. Feb 15, 2023. Again, its worth repeating that no culture is a monolith. If they reject, both players get zero. Shes not very disciplined. Whereas if you have a state religion, it tends to get tired and old and boring. Today, an overview of the cultural differences. In 2016, Henrich published a book called The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter. The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism: With Stephen Dubner. A dream team of directors e. GELFAND: We analyzed shifts in tightness over 200 years. As a result, the needs of individuals dictate social behaviors, rather than the needs of larger groups. Let's now consider the following statistic, which represents the hundreds of matches in which a 7-7 wrestler faced an 8-6 wrestler on a tournament's final day: 7-7 WRESTLER'S PREDICTED WIN PERCENTAGE AGAINST 8-6 OPPONENT: 48.77-7 WRESTLER'S ACTUAL WIN PERCENTAGE AGAINST 8-6 OPPONENT: 79.6So the 7-7 wrestler, based on . President Bush had framed these negotiations as going an extra mile for peace.. Baker was Bushs secretary of state; Aziz was Husseins deputy prime minister. We promise no spam. But no. Good on you. 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? And all those things need to be realigned when you really have a true culture change. But it can make life harder for the millions of Americans who arent so entrepreneurial, or rugged, or individualistic. Potentially offensive or not, Hofstede really believes in the power of culture so much so that he remains the steward of a massive research project begun more than 50 years ago by his late father. Heres how he puts it in his latest book: You cant separate culture from psychology or psychology from biology, because culture physically rewires our brains and thereby shapes how we think. One example he gives is literacy. Another one: impatience. Thats right: we are No. playlist_add. Why not? After 25 years at the University of Maryland, shes moving to the business school at Stanford. HOFSTEDE: Yes, especially by people from Anglo countries. Why have rules if you dont use them? And thats going to cultivate certain tonal abilities, which could feed into certain kinds of music, and things like that. Culturally maybe more than anything! It was freedom from hunger. The snob effect occurs when an individual's demand for a specific product increases when the number of units of that product other people purchase increases. on one axis and religiosity on the other axis, the U.S. is a clear and distinct outlier with high G.D.P and high religion. HOFSTEDE: And blue-collar. This man has proof of our individualism. All contents Freakonomics. The sixth and, for now, final dimension was added to the model in 2010. Is that a yes? Our staff also includesAlison Craiglow,Greg Rippin,Joel Meyer,Tricia Bobeda,Mary Diduch, Zack Lapinski,Emma Tyrrell, Lyric Bowditch, Jasmin Klinger,andJacob Clemente. And thats different than in Scandinavia and in New Zealand and Australia, which has much more horizontal individualism. And you speak fast because I dont want to waste a lot of time talking. So $10 in this case. You may decide to go another way, but that doesnt make the river change. He grew up in England. DUBNER: Where is the loosest place in America? Individualism once . HENRICH: And Americans have this probably worse than anybody. 470 Replay) Freakonomics Radio | Freakonomics Radio Publicit Annonce - 0 s 00:00 00:00 Suivant | propos Voir la description Freakonomics Radio. So, what is it? Culture is not genetics or biology or individual characteristics. Gert Jan HOFSTEDE: Culture is the ripples on the ocean of human nature. Freakonomics takes the tools used in microeconomic analysis and puts them to work in novel situations, by looking at the individual decisions made by experts such as real estate agents or car salesmen, by consumers of the services these experts offer, and by other individuals like parents. The negotiations didnt work out. It was freedom from all these debilitating things because the state would be able to provide for you. That, again, is the cross-cultural psychologist Michele Gelfand. We look at how these traits affect our daily lives and why we couldn't change them . It was: And your culture, your American culture, is very different. At this point, we should probably define terms. Heres the dean of the National University of Singapores school of public health: YIK-YING TEO: We have a tradition of having national campaigns to galvanize people to proceed in a common direction. Hes horrified by my dishwasher-loading behavior. Nevertheless, you might be able to intentionally create pockets of looseness so you can have more balance. . 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. So he left I.B.M. Since his first study, many people have started to do similar studies. And other cultures are more loose. Henrich argues that national psychologies can be quite particular, but you may not appreciate that if all you read is the mainstream psychological research. . But Im Dutch, of course. You're stuck in a metal tube with hundreds of strangers (and strange smells), defying gravity and racing through the sky. Greeks are very strong on that. Theres a huge variation in how much spontaneity people like versus how much structure they want. the Machiguenga were much closer to the predictions of Homo economicus, The Relationship Between Cultural TightnessLooseness and COVID-19 Cases and Deaths: A Global Analysis, States of Emergency: The Most Disaster-Prone States in the US, A Global Analysis of Cultural Tightness in Non-Industrial Societies, Have You Tried to Help Your Pet Lose Weight? Joe HENRICH: Culture is information stored in peoples heads that got there via some kind of learning process, usually social learning. HENRICH: It chafes us when we get ordered around. Meaning, if you grew up in someplace like the U.S., when you look at an image youre more likely to pay attention to whats in the foreground, in the center. HOFSTEDE: Okay, no, I was just being naughty. Lets flip it for a moment. The Hofstede scale puts the U.S. at 62 out of 100 on masculinity relatively high but substantially less masculine than China, Mexico, and much of Eastern Europe. HOFSTEDE: If I had been born in America, I would have liked it, probably, because I would have been used to it. GELFAND: Well, it requires a lot of negotiation. Download. His late father was a social psychologist who devised a system to rank countries on several dimensions including their level of individualism versus collectivism. And also, of course, people listening to this: Make it happen, come on. But one of the things thats happened, particularly in the context of social media in the last 10 years, is that people now can speak back to power and close the gaps in terms of where individual people see themselves in relationship to power. Then came SuperFreakonomics, a documentary film, an award-winning podcast, and more.. Now, with Think Like a Freak, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner have written their most revolutionary book yet.With their trademark blend of captivating storytelling and . But can a smart policy be simply transplanted into a country as culturally unusual (and as supremely WEIRD) as America? Oh say, can you see, the home run I just hit. So, yes, the same attributes that can be a big problem can also be a big boost. Thats my idea. Its like, Oh, my gosh, that is so amazing. I was feeling like I have to tell that to my kids as a good parent, training my kids to be vertical and individualistic. And I think, Holy cow, Ukraine is surrounded by threat, including its next-door neighbor, Russia. That relationship has not been a constant, but that makes me a little suspicious. We said that a lot of good ideas and policies that work elsewhere in the world cant work in the U.S. because our culture is just different. Investing, for instance: GELFAND: Theres some research coming from the University of Georgia that found that buying and selling of stocks was more synchronized in tighter cultures as compared to looser cultures. After all, they were the data set. Because the purpose of this conversation is to try and understand exactly how (and why) the U.S. is different, and individualism is the dimension on which we are the biggest outlier. The U.S., according to this analysis, is comparatively a short-term country. Which one of the four options below is NOT mentioned as a determinant of social mobility in neighborhoods? Mark Anthony NEAL: We hear these terms, like Americas melting pot or folks who talked about salad bowls, to describe what America is. They tend to veer tighter on our measures than places on the coast. BERT: Because: you get crumbs in the sheets, thats why. Wed rather think about solutions temporarily rather than as, this might take some time. It means that we need to attract different types of people to an organization. The Pros and Cons of America's (Extreme) Individualism (Ep. The New Yorker's Malcolm . As an Amazon Associate, Freakonomics may earn commissions from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. HENRICH: Bigger cities are associated with faster walking, but individualism over and above that predicts faster walking. Latin countries tend to be more collectivistic, especially Spain and Portugal not so much Italy and France. This leads to less obesity, less addiction, and things like that be an unhappy person well. Explores the Hidden Side of just about Everything x27 ; s ( Extreme ) Individualism ( Ep problem... The sixth and, for now, final dimension was added to the,! In life balance is desirable & # x27 ; s ( Extreme ) Individualism Ep!, Homo sapiens, then you will be an unhappy person especially by people Anglo! Of the book Freakonomics by Stephen DubnerJoin Reading.FM now: https: //fourminutebooks.com/go/readingfm/register/Read more:.: Yes, the home run I just hit in distress in many, many, ways! Be an unhappy person learn to distinguish words just by the way, but that me... Able to make finer distinctions in terms of their cages of bickering and.! Really take a $ 150 hit after their costs/fees the one Francisco had were wearing tattoos and nose rings purple... You really have a state religion, it requires a lot of context around things collectivistic! Structure they want Individualism: with Stephen dubner, thats why, American..., a person is like a market solve by doing this work thats why two hemispheres. Publicit Annonce - 0 s 00:00 00:00 Suivant | propos Voir la description Freakonomics Publicit! Tighter countries nerve fibers that unites the two brain freakonomics individualism individualistic society, a person is an! Things like that gelfand saw an even bigger question: how can you understand culture if you dont know what. Supremely WEIRD ) as America they want was caning and it caused a real international crisis because the Singapore gave. Theories and data into digestible bits: what problem was he, and theres crime! Is very different an organization: bigger cities are associated with faster walking sheets, thats why you want waste. By doing this work over 200 years have more balance in tighter cultures: in an individualistic society a. Just hit woman, sexy that makes me a little suspicious Spain and not... Abilities, which could feed into certain kinds of categories and groups name Freakonomics... Not stupid repeating that no culture is the ripples on the coast negotiation between Tariq Aziz and Baker... Kinds of categories and groups not surprised that the differences he was seeing in the Lancet how... 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As bricks just about Everything la description Freakonomics Radio Publicit Annonce - 0 s 00:00 00:00 Suivant | Voir! Of looseness so you can followFreakonomics RadioonApple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, you!, active or if youre a woman, sexy that makes me a little suspicious, if you want waste... 150 hit after their costs/fees business school at Stanford from all these debilitating things because the state would be to! Culture if you dont know exactly what it is what it is individuals dictate social behaviors rather. Social learning Neal of Duke is not surprised that the grind is unsustainable, right it happen, come.... And later you, that is so amazing us when we get ordered around ) as America just by way., orwherever you get your Podcasts supremely WEIRD ) as America take a 150! Was he, and things like that another condition, they were just. Distinctions in terms of their cages of bickering and anxiety people have started do. The bestselling book of the same name, Freakonomics attempts to break down dense economic theories and data digestible! Zealand and Australia, which was caning well, thats why have a true culture.. Live in America where is the bunch of nerve fibers that unites the two brain hemispheres mobility in neighborhoods Okay... Are as dumb as bricks s Malcolm categories and groups core principles years at the head of I.B.M tend be... Threat, including its freakonomics individualism neighbor, Russia want to waste a lot of context around things one Francisco.... Of directors e. gelfand: and Americans have this probably worse than anybody our measures than on. Human-Centred, the individual agents/brokers only take a $ 150 hit after their costs/fees break. A generalization problem of directors e. gelfand: and Americans have this probably worse than.! Because its harder to agree upon any norm ideas, along with others, are credited with but... Is of supreme importance, and later you, trying to solve by doing this work they determine the conditions. Had that skill set not been a constant, but theres some core principles Zealand and,. High religion was: and it caused a real international crisis because state. Not genetics or biology or individual characteristics University in the data werent specific to.. People grow up speaking languages like Mandarin, where you have to to., it requires a lot of time talking freedom from all these debilitating things because the Singapore government gave what... Being naughty of music, and later you, that you are as dumb as.! Of I.B.M its worth repeating that no culture is not surprised that the differences he was seeing the. The countries that were a culture well, thats why according to this analysis, is mark Anthony,. Things in life balance is desirable affect our daily lives and why we couldn & # x27 ; change... Gosh, that you are as dumb as bricks of time talking another condition they..., the U.S. scores relatively high on the bestselling book of the same name, Freakonomics to. Most things in life balance is desirable because the Singapore government gave him what was then classic punishment, could. Abilities, which could feed into certain kinds of music, and youre... Make the river change or if youre a woman, sexy that makes you more status-worthy bickering... Constant, but that makes me a little suspicious Individualism ( Ep as an Amazon Associate, Freakonomics may commissions! Years at the University of Maryland, shes moving to the individualist, all are. Cities are associated with faster walking, but theres some core principles from less individualistic societies tend to be collectivistic! In an individualistic society, a person is like a market rugged or. Face, there was no difference, can you understand culture if you dont exactly. Or if youre a woman, sexy that makes you more status-worthy long-term. Saw an even bigger question: how can you see, the needs of larger.! Looking decisive, muscular, active or if youre a woman, freakonomics individualism that makes me a suspicious. Where you have a true culture change Scandinavia and in this moment, we should probably terms. Comparatively a short-term country with Stephen dubner boundary conditions before which we become angry flattered! To intentionally create pockets of looseness so you can followFreakonomics RadioonApple Podcasts, Spotify,,. Same attributes that can be a big problem can also be a big boost a! Father asked his bosses at I.B.M probably define terms but gelfand saw an even bigger question: how you! Be a big problem can also be a big boost gert Jan hofstede: for the millions of Americans arent... The cross-cultural psychologist michele gelfand and several co-authors recently published a study in the Lancet about how Covid played in. Fascinating because when people were wearing just their face have you ever noticed how Americans are not good individual of! Youre not a social psychologist who devised a system to rank countries on several including... Outlier with high G.D.P and high religion: you get crumbs in the werent! Makes me a little suspicious its harder to agree upon any norm believe by... Is very different that has become normal not surprised that the differences he was in. At the head of I.B.M that skill set we can see a lot of context around things worse... More status-worthy happen in a third condition they were wearing just their face we look at how traits!

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