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Power distance is how members of a specific culture view and accept an unequal sharing of power. Geert Hofstede, a Dutch Psychologist, was the first to do a major cross cultural study where power distance came about. '''To measure power distance, Hofstede came up with the Power Distance Index. This is a way of measuring whether a country has high, moderate, or low power distance. In a country with high power distance, someone in a position with a lot of power, is respected and looked up to while in a country with low power distance, someone in a position of power is not viewed or treated with such a high level of respect. "Those with high power distance orientations accept much more unequal distribution of power within an organization than do those with low power distance orientations."'''

'''Hofstede became a leading name in not only power distance, but also in other psychological ideas like individualism/collectivism and uncertainty avoidance. His cross cultural study became the basis of many cross cultural studies that came after his and more research on power distance came from this. Hofstede and power distance also allowed true differences to be found in cultures around the world and helped focus future research on the effects of cultural differences. Power distance is viewed differently around the world and each country has it's own way of distributing and viewing power and authority.'''

Individualism/Collectivism and Power Distance
'''Different cultures have different views on power distance. Something that's related to and overlaps with power distance is individualism vs. collectivism. Geert Hofstede is the scholar behind both power distance and individualism and collectivism. Hofstede defines collectivism as, "...a preference for a tightly knit social framework in which individuals can expect their relatives, clan, or other in-group to look after them, in exchange for unquestioning loyalty" and he defines individualism as, "...a preference for a loosely knit social framework in a society in which individuals are supposed to take care of themselves and their immediate families only." An example of an individualistic country is the United States, so in this country people worry more about themselves and their own well being over the good of the whole group. An example of a collectivist country is China, so in this country people tend to worry more about the overall well being of the group and put that at a higher importance than their personal wants or needs. Individualism and collectivism relate to power distance because they deals with the way a culture behaves in society.'''

'''Individualism/Collectivism and Power Distance can be linked together in different ways. Geert Hofstede has done extensive research on these topics and their relationships. They are typically studied together because overall in scoring, a country that scores with high on the Power Distance Index typically scores high for collectivism and a country that scores low on the Power Distance Index typically scores high for individualism. This is because countries that are individualistic typically are focused on an individual and what they want to accomplish, and power status plays a much less significant role in this, and in collectivist countries the focus is on the collective good, so the group will listen to authority to tell them what is best for the group. Hofstede also found that Individualism/Collectivism and Power Distance are greatly correlated to a nation's wealth. Usually a wealthy country scores high for individualism and low on the Power Distance Index, and a less wealthy country scores high for collectivism and high on the Power Distance Index. This is because in a wealthy country, people want to prosper and grow individually while in a less wealthy country people are more so the same and there is more emphasize on the specific needs of the whole group. The relationship between Individualism/Collectivism and Power Distance can be seen very clearly and accounts for many cultural differences.'''

Examples of High and Low Power Distance Cultures and Its Affects
Power distance affects cultures all over the world and the interactions different cultures have with each other.

For example, Malaysia is a country that scores high on the Power Distance Index. '''Due to high power distance, this is a culture where one may not question someone in power like a manager, a professor, or a government official, because authority is valued and power is not equally distributed. When this country is compared to the United States, a country that scores lower on the Power Distance Index, there are many differences one may come across. The United States, having moderate power distance, allows a person to question a professor or give ideas to a boss.'''

Due to many changes and advances in today's world, companies have taken over on a worldwide level causing workers to go from country to country, students studying abroad and this all calls for cultures mixing in many ways. '''If an American manager travels to Malaysia to manage a company over there, they will run into situations that would be surprising to them. The American manager may ask the workers for their opinions on how to do something or improve something and the Malaysians may just sit still and not speak up because they believe they do not feel as if they have the authority to do so . This is reflective of power distance and the view taken upon it by different cultures.'''

Another example is Egypt which is a country that scores high on the Power Distance Index. '''Students in this country tend to respect their professors and not question them, this country also has exams that determine whether or not a student can continue studying or not. By doing this, a level of authority is created that cannot be surpassed unless done correctly. Students from this country when compared to students in Canada, a country that scores lower on the Power Distance Index, cannot question a professor on a grade so they may want to have very clear guidelines of what is expected of them in order to succeed. Students from Canada for example, are able to question and challenge their professors on why they got a grade.'''