Up to modern times, a thorough understanding of the influence of the national cultural background towards tourist’s and individual’s behavior have become prominent as compared to the past. The theoretical concept of Hofstede’s power distance has extensively been used in many cross-cultural studies to compare various cultures among countries. Torelli and Shavitt (2010) argue that power is the fundamental force when it comes to the social relationship. In this case, an individual perception about influential people is linked to selfish actions that are motivated towards increasing personal objectives, ideas, and needs. In effect, power distance can be defined as the extent to which an individual can determine the behavior of another, vice versa and that the difference between a boss and subordinate is only determined by the hierarchy level (Hofstede, 2011). Additionally, it can be assumed as the practice supported by two different class individuals supported by their social environment that is to be determined by their national culture. It is for this reason that the concept of power distance is prevalent explaining cultural differences and the results seem to be intuitively understood and accepted (Hofstede, 2011).
Consequently, Hofstede maintains that power distance is the ability in which low-class individuals within the nation expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. In his argument, Hofstede posits that in high power distance countries, the wealthy person tends to get almost 50 percent of the national income as compared to low power distance countries where rich individual pockets in 22 percent of the national income (Blodgett, Bakir, and Rose, 2008). The validity of power distance is even more apparent when it comes to the large power distance situation. In such situation, Ly (2013) argues that powerful and subordinates consider one another as existentially unequal in which the hierarchical system is grounded upon this existential inequality. For example, high power distance cultures expect their children to be raised with a large emphasis on respecting the elders, while in low power distance cultures, inequality is not perceived.
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Brazil in Comparison with the United States
In the above graph, Brazil has a scoring power distance index of 69. This shows that Brazil embraces high power distance cultures in that the society that hierarchy should be respected and inequalities among people are accepted. Moreover, status as a symbol of authority is significant in showing the social position and communicates respects. Additionally, the hierarchy is, therefore, perceived as reflecting characteristic inequalities and the subordinates are expected to be directed on what to do while the ideal leader in the organization is a compassionate autocrat (Hofstede). The United States, on the other hand, shows lower rankings of power distance index. In effect, US believes that inequalities among people should minimize and a sense of fair play should drive a belief that everyone is equal and should be treated equally (Hofstede)
The results of the comparison
Following the above findings, Brazil represents a high-power distance culture while the US accounts for a low power distance culture. In this case, children raised in Brazil are expected to adopt values of respect towards their seniors. Besides, respect is considered as cultural identification and hierarchy is valued in most of the organization in Brazil. On the other hand, the US society does not believe in inequality and perceives that everybody should be treated in an equal manner. In this case, within an organization, the hierarchy is not perceived, and the leader should be democratic in nature. This provides an employee with a chance to participate in decision-making process. Hence culture varies not only concerning the commonness of power for communicating widely shared values but also the nature of association with power that is used to communicate these values. Therefore, for an individual who is an expatriate in Brazil must learn, understand, and adopt the cultural power values in Brazil. This is because Brazil is a high-power distance nation unlike the US that believes in equality. The behavior will, therefore, be influenced by different values that are perceived in Brazil.
References
Hofstede, G. Brazil in Comparison with United States. Item International. Available fromhttps://geert-hofstede.com/brazil.html
Blodgett, J., Bakir, A., & Rose, G. (2008). A Test of the Validity of Hofstede’s Cultural Framework. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 25:6; 339-349. DOI 10.1108/07363760810902477
Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context. Online Readings inPsychology and Culture, 2 (1). http://dx.doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1014
Ly, A. (2013). A Critical Discussion of Hofstede’s concept of Power Distance. NHH Norwegian School of Economics. Available from https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2393819/Ly_28.pdf?sequence=1
Torelli, J. C. &Shavitt, S. (2010). Culture and Concept of Power. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99:4; 703-723. DOI: 10.1037/a0019973
