Masculinity and Femininity: The Taboo Dimension of National Cultures

Geert Hofstede

SAGE, May 13, 1998 - Psychology - 238 pages

In 1980, Geert Hofstede published his monumental work CultureÆs Consequences, which laid out four dimensions on which the differences among national cultures could be understood: individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity. Since then much research has been conducted and presented on individualism/collectivism but until now, no single volume has focused on the masculinity dimension of the model. In Masculinity and Femininity, Hofstede has expanded, sharpened, and deepened the discussion of masculinity and femininity. This new volume presents the first thoroughly developed discussion of this dimension and how it can help us understand the differences among cultures. It begins with a general explanation of masculinity and discusses how it illuminates broad features of different cultures. It then applies the dimension more specifically to gender, sexuality, and religion. Finally, the book examines how the masculinity dimension reveals a lot about a cultureÆs expressions of religious ideas, the importance its citizens attach to religion, and the way religious concepts are understood. Intended as a companion volume to KimÆs Individualism and Collectivism, this important volume will be of interest to those teaching courses such as cross-cultural psychology, international social welfare, international business, womenÆs studies, cultural studies, and the psychology of women.

Contents

• Misconceptions About What Masculinity: 18
• Origins and Future of MasFem Differences: 26
• Femininity and Subjective WellBeing: 44
• MasculinityFemininity and Consumer Behavior: 55
• The Cultural Construction of Gender: 77
• Masculinity and Femininity in the Self: 106
• Relationships Between M and MAS Scores: 115
• American Versus Dutch: 130
• American Students: 139
• Individualism and Masculinity Scores: 145
• The Importance of Femininity in Explaining: 179
• Religion Masculinity and Sex: 192
• References: 211
• Author Index: 227
• About the Authors: 235

About the author

Geert Hofstede received a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University at Delft and a doctorate in Social Psychology from the University of Groningen, both in his native Netherlands. His professional career includes experience as a worker, foreman, plant manager, chief psychologist on the international staff of a multinational corporation, academic researcher, director of human resources of another multinational, and university professor. He has been affiliated with IMD (Lausanne, Switzerland), INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France), the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (Brussels, Belguim), IIASA (Laxenburg Castle, Austria), and the University of Hong Kong. He is Professor Emeritus of Organizational Anthropology and International Management of Maastricht University, the Netherlands. He is currently a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Research on Intercultural Cooperation (of which he was a founder) and of the Center for Economic Research, both at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. He has lectured at universities and consulted for institutions and companies around the world. Dr. Hofstede’s books have appeared in seventeen languages, and his articles have been published in social science journals around the world. He is among the top 100 most cited authors in the Social Science Citation Index.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Masculinity and Femininity: The Taboo Dimension of National Cultures; Volume 3 of Cross Cultural Psychology, ISSN 1557-3710; Volume 3 of Masculinity and Femininity; Masculinity and Femininity: The Taboo Dimension of National Cultures, Geert Hofstede
• Author: Geert Hofstede
• Editor: Geert Hofstede
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: SAGE, 1998
• ISBN: 0761910298, 9780761910299
• Length: 238 pages
• Subjects: Psychology / Social Psychology; Social Science / Gender Studies; Social Science / Men's Studies; Social Science / Women's Studies