4.7 Low vs. High Power Distance

The first of Geert Hofstede’s original dimensions of national cultures was power distance, or the degree to which those people and organizations with less power within a culture accept and expect that power is unequally distributed within their culture. To determine power differences within a culture, Hofstede originally was able to examine cultural value survey data that had been collected by IBM. Over the years, Hofstede and his fellow researchers have regularly collected additional data from around the world to make his conceptualization of six cultural differences one of the most widely studied concepts of culture. When it comes to power distances, these differences often manifest themselves in many ways within a singular culture: class, education, occupations, and health care. With class, many cultures have three clear segments low, middle, and upper (See Note).

However, income is just one indicatory of power distance within a culture. Others are who gets educated and what type of education they receive, who gets health care and what type, and what types of occupations do those with power have versus those who do not have power. According to Hofstede’s most recent data, the five countries with the highest power distances are: Malaysia, Slovakia, Guatemala, Panama, and the Philippines (Hofstede et al., 2010). The five countries with the lowest power distances are Austria, Israel, Denmark, New Zealand, and Switzerland (German-speaking part). According to Hofstede’s data, the U.S. is 16th from the bottom of power distance, so we are in the bottom third with regards to power distance.

We highlight some differences between workplaces in small and large power distance societies as it relates to the structure of organizations, and the roles of managers and employees (Hofstede et al., p. 76). Small power distance organizations tend to be decentralized with fewer supervisory personnel. Centralization is popular in larger power distance organizations with more supervisory personnel present. In large-power-distance countries managers rely on their own experiences and on subordinates because subordinates expect to be consulted. In large-power-distance countries, managers rely on superiors and on formal rules, and subordinates expect to be told what to do.

Note

However, the concepts of what is low, middle, and upper can have very large differences. For example, the median income for the average U.S. household is $74,580 in 2022 (Census.gov, 2023). According to a 2023 report from the U.S. Census department (using income data from 2022), here is how income inequality in the U.S. looks: Households in the lowest quintile had incomes of $30,000 or less in 2022. Households in the second quintile had incomes between $31,001 and $58,020, those in the third quintile had incomes between $58,021 and $94,000, and those in the fourth quintile had incomes between $94,001 and $153,000. Households in the highest quintile had incomes of $153,001 or more. The top 5 percent had incomes of $295,000 or more.

This section is adapted from Cultural Characteristics and Communication in Interpersonal Communication Copyright © by Jason S. Wrench; Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter; and Katherine S. Thweatt available at Interpersonal Communication – Simple Book Publishing licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.