With all the pomp and pageantry this past weekend brought with the crowning of King Charles III as the new British monarch (God save the king…!), I thought it would be fitting to do a deep dive into UK culture. Believe it or not, there’s more to the ceremony than jewels and tiaras. It was a celebration of the monarchy’s culture that has stood the test of time through centuries.
Photo: BBC News Getty Images
First, let’s establish something here. The United Kingdom and Great Britain are not interchangeable. Great Britain is the official collective name of England, Scotland, and Wales and their associated islands, while the UK includes these three countries and Northern Ireland. The UK is the land of four countries and their cultures and a melting pot of other cultures, with nearly 17% of the population born outside its borders (according to the UK Office of National Statistics).
As a jumping-off point, we will look at the UK’s ranking in Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions: Power Distance, Masculinity, Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long Term Orientation, and Indulgence.* (Please review the article “Hofstede’s Six Cultural Dimensions”.)
Power Distance:
The UK ranks at 35. This ranking demonstrates that UK society generally believes that inequalities among people should be minimized. They are more egalitarian, believing people should be treated more like equals than countries with higher power distance rankings. This score can seem contradictory to the UK’s established and historical class system. The Hofstede Insights’ research shows that, interestingly, the power distance index is “lower amongst the higher class in Britain than amongst the working classes”. In other words, upper-class citizens view others as more equal, while working-class citizens perceive a greater societal hierarchy. In fact, this demonstrates a tension felt throughout UK culture as historical tendencies pull one to emphasize the importance of birth rank while deep-rooted democratic tendencies pull the same person to believe that your birth rank should not diminish and limit your ability to achieve a more extraordinary life than you may have been born into.
Individualism:
The UK ranks at 89. This is an incredibly high score! Yet, it is third highest, outscored by Australia and the USA. Ironically, I’m not surprised. It tracks since these two countries are theoretically spawns of the former great empire. The UK society values individualism, and with this comes the inherent preference for privacy. In such an individualistic society, it is common for young individuals to be encouraged to discover their own purpose in life- what can they do that is highly unique to them? They are pushed by elders to seek ways in which only they can uniquely contribute to society. In all this, they must learn to think for themselves to survive and excel in an individualistic society. As a result, a common, though perhaps unspoken belief across society, generally speaking, is that personal fulfillment leads to happiness. For those from more collectivist cultures, the emphasis on “I” and “me” can be rather alarming.
Masculinity:
The UK ranks at 66, meaning that it is a masculine society. In other words, Uk citizens tend to be driven and focused on achieving success. It is common for individuals from nations that rank high in masculinity to perceive living as a means to work. They live to work, desiring to have successful careers only to be achieved through immense dedication and discipline. This perception of the need to achieve seems to align quite nicely with their high Individualism ranking. Competitive societies often put the achievement of a goal or task over nurturing a relationship. Hofstede Insights notes that foreigners can be greatly confused by “the apparent contradiction between the British culture of modesty and understatement, which is at odds with the underlying success-driven value system in the culture”. In other words, the British are not as “in your face” when it comes to competition and success as Americans. They tend to communicate their competitiveness through indirect communication, which requires “reading between the lines” because what they say is not explicitly what they mean. They could be talking smack to or about you in a competitive spirit without you, as a foreigner, realizing, while other Brits could be accusing each other of their lack of modesty! So, watch out!
Uncertainty Avoidance:
The UK ranks at 35, meaning they do not try to avoid uncertain situations. They are content with going with the flow, being spontaneous with their plans throughout the day, and adjusting their actions to whatever information comes their way. In other words, they are not stressed by ambiguity, expressing this with their unique term of “muddling through”. You can perceive their low ranking on uncertainty avoidance expressed through their behavior, humor, willingness to try new, innovative products, and the growth of creative industries. Societies that rank low on the uncertainty avoidance scale do well without many rules or detailed instructions for accomplishing a task or goal. This can be frustrating for those who rank higher in uncertainty avoidance, working for leaders with low uncertainty avoidance. The steps for achieving a goal will be flexible and changing with the environment. This gives space for innovation and creativity to flourish.
Long Term Orientation:
The UK ranks 51, pretty much right in the middle of the spectrum. With such a ranking, it is difficult to make grand generalizations about the UK’s preferences to focus on past traditions or future pragmatic approaches when addressing goals.
Indulgence:
The UK ranks at 69. With such a ranking, British culture is considered an indulgent one. This means they are not socially conditioned as young children to control or constrain their desires or impulses. In fact, the British behave quite oppositely, prioritizing leisure time and spending on small indulgences. You’d be hard-pressed to find a Brit that doesn’t routinely enjoy indulging in sharing a pint with some friends or colleagues at a local pub.
Additional Cultural Values
Since the discovery of Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions, researchers have added a couple more traits to the cultural values list. These cultural values are: Direct vs. Indirect Communication Styles, Being vs. Doing, Universalism vs. Particularism, Expressive Vs. Non-expressive, and Linear vs. Non-linear. Now, each country has no clear numerical rankings for each of these newer cultural values. In fact, countries are put into clusters based on their similarities in specific cultural value preferences. Ten clusters represent the ten largest cultural global groupings, and each cluster falls within one point of the cultural values spectrum. Since the UK falls within the Anglo cluster, we will present the cultural value preferences of the Anglos.
Photo By: CultureCo
When it comes to communication, Anglo cultures tend to prefer low-context communication. This means that they are direct with their words. Their words are intentionally chosen for explicit communication. However, the British people are pretty notorious for some of their sayings that require reading between the lines. Learn some of their lingo so you don’t get lost in translation.
In alignment with much of what has been said, it should be no surprise that Anglo cultures, including the British, are more of a “doing” culture, emphasizing being busy and meeting goals more than enjoying life. This aligns with their competitive and individualistic tendencies. However, I think that the British have enough European influence that allows them to sit back and enjoy life a tad bit more than Americans can (but that is a personal observation, not backed by scientific research).
As mentioned when discussing power distance, Anglo cultures are universalistic rather than particularistic. They prefer that the same standards apply to everyone, meaning that rules and general treatment towards others do not change based on relationships. This cultural value demonstrates a very egalitarian approach and is reflected in the democratic tendencies that guide the behaviors of the British.
Anglo cultures can neither be classified as neutral/non-expressive nor affective/expressive when it comes to expressing emotions and communicating feelings. They fall somewhere right in the middle. I tend to think that British people are less expressive than Americans. However, this perception is likely because I do not fully understand British communication styles compared to my American ones. I’m likely unable to read between the lines when they discuss their emotions and feelings and, thus, perceive them as more of a neutral culture. This, of course, is my personal bias due to my unique upbringing and a need to continue working on my CQ Knowledge!
Finally, the last cultural values are monochronic/linear versus polychronic/non-linear. The British are a linear or monochronic culture, emphasizing one thing at a time. Work is one thing, and life is another separate thing. Punctuality is greatly valued. Everything is compartmentalized and kept separate. In other words, blending work and your personal life is frowned upon. Work and play are two different things, and multitasking is not valued. In some ways, this sort of compartmentalization ensures that behaviors that stem from particularistic values do not creep in. If anything, this cultural value and universalism vs. particularism seem to go hand in hand.
More To Come
Believe it or not, this was just an introduction to the foundation of British culture. As you can see, there is much to unpack when analyzing a country’s culture and discovering what “makes them tick”. The next time we look at the UK, we will delve into the social norms and behaviors that stem from these established cultural value preferences.
I know that this was a large load of information, so please feel free to comment and ask questions or add your own insights from personal experiences. As always, Like. Comment. Share. Subscribe.