measures. Thus, unlike other psychometric measures, information on the test-retest reliabilities of some cross-
cultural measures is not available. In addition, when the unit of analysis is society, changes in test scores over
time could reflect social change rather than low reliability of the measures.
Some individuals internalize the popular cultural characteristics in their culture, and some do not. Some cross-
cultural measures try to measure the extent to which members of a society have internalized a certain set of
values and beliefs (VSM, SVS, WVS, HVIC, & CPAI). Other measures assess preferences attributed to others in
their culture (perceived preferences; GCV, COS). Still, other measures assess the perceived popularity of a variety
of beliefs about the social reality (SAS, T&LS).
In short, culture is a multi-faceted phenomenon. No simple measure can capture the full complexity of a cul-
ture. The collection of measures reviewed here illustrates the diversity in perspectives on how psychological pro-
cesses are supposed to differ across societies.
Value System Module (VSM)
(Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010; Hofstede & Minkov, 2013 ).
Variable
Hofstede (2001) defined culture as ‘the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of
one group or category of people from another.’ (p. 9). To Hofstede (2001) , a value expresses the preference for a
certain state of affairs over others, and a system of values represents the core element of a culture. The VSM was
constructed to identify society-level differences in work-related values. The unit of analysis in most VSM studies
is society or geographical region; within-society variations are of secondary importance in these studies.
Description
The original measure was constructed based on cross-national surveys of IBM employees, and subsequently
revised based on results from other cross-national surveys. As such, several versions of the VSM are available
(Hofstede, 2001; Hofstede, et al., 2010 ). The items, the response format and the scoring methods vary across ver-
sions (VSM 2013 is the latest version).
The VSM measures seven dimensions that can be used to distinguish the major value systems in the world:
Power Distance, Individualism /C0Collectivism, Masculinity /C0Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long-Term
Orientation, Indulgence vs. Restraint, and Monumentalism ( Hofstede et al., 2010 ). Power Distance (PDI) is ‘the
extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that
power is distributed unequally’ ( Hofstede et al., 2010 , p. 61). Individualism (IDV) is the extent to which ties
between individuals in the society are loose, such that everyone is expected to look after oneself and one’s imme-
diate family. Collectivism, the opposite of individualism, refers to the extent to which ‘people from birth onward
are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in
exchange for unquestioning loyalty’ ( Hofstede et al., 2010 , p. 92). Masculinity (MAS) is the extent to which the
society has clearly differentiated emotional gender roles, with men expected to be assertive, tough, and focused
on material success, and women modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life. In contrast, Femininity is
the extent to which the society’s emotional gender roles overlap, such that both men and women are supposed to
be modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life. Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) is the extent to which the
members of a culture find ambiguous or unknown situations to be threatening. People in cultures with high UAI
have a preference for structure that can reduce the ambiguity, although they do not always avoid risks.
Long-Term Orientation (LTO) refers to ‘the fostering of virtues oriented toward future rewards /C0in particular,
perseverance and thrift’ ( Hofstede et al., 2010 , p. 239). In contrast, Short-Term Orientation refers to ‘the fostering
of virtues related to the past and present /C0in particular, respect for tradition, preservation of “face”, and fulfill-
ing social obligations’ ( Hofstede et al., 2010 , p. 239). Indulgence (IVR) refers to ‘a tendency to allow relatively free
gratification of basic and natural human desires related to enjoying life and having fun’ ( Hofstede et al., 2010 ,
p. 281). Restraint, being the opposite of Indulgence, refers to the ‘conviction that such gratification needs to be
curbed and regulated by strict social norms’ (Hodstede et al., 2010, p. 281). Monumentalism (MON) refers to the
tendency for the society to characterize the human self to be like a proud and stable monolith. The opposite of
Monumentalism is Flexhumility, which refers to the tendency for a society to promote humility, flexibility and
adaptability to changing circumstance. MON was removed in the VSM2013 ( Hofstede & Minkov, 2013 ).623 OVERVIEW OF THE MEASURES
VI. SOCIOCULTURAL INTERACTION AND CONFLICT