Hofstede’s (1980) fourth dimension is uncertainty avoidance, the extent to
which people in a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations.
Hofstede explains that this feeling is expressed through nervous stress and in a
need for predictability or a need for written and unwritten rules (Hofstede,
1997). In these cultures, such situations are avoided by maintaining strict codes
of behavior and a belief in absolute truths. Cultures strong in uncertainty avoidance
are active, aggressive, emotional, compulsive, security seeking, and intolerant;
cultures weak in uncertainty avoidance are contemplative, less aggressive,
unemotional, relaxed, accepting of personal risks, and relatively tolerant (see
Table 7.4).
Students from high uncertainty avoidance cultures expect their teachers to be
experts who have all the answers. And in the workplace, there is an inner need
to work hard, and there is a need for rules, precision, and punctuality. Students
from low uncertainty avoidance cultures accept teachers who admit to not
knowing all the answers. And in the workplace, employees work hard only
when needed, there are no more rules than are necessary, and precision and