At a recent meeting, Mike Gould, one of my editing colleagues (I should perhaps say competitors – but we work in quite different fields) gave SENSE members a talk about cultural fluency. He also introduced us to a web site where we could test how closely our personal values are aligned to those of the country in which we live.
The programme has four parameters – power distance (which measures the extent to which the least powerful accept the unequal distribution of power within society), individualism, masculinity and avoidance of uncertainty.
I found that Norway was the country where social values most closely match my own, followed by the Netherlands. The only noticeable difference was in Power Distance – where I have less acceptance of the unequal distribution of power than the average Dutch person (the country that came out top on this criteria was Denmark).
This of course left me wondering how much I have absorbed Dutch values – or how much they have always been there and drew me here in the first place. I quite clearly remember making career decisions that would help me spend a long time here in 1992 (although they were thwarted by a change of exchange programme). My fondness for all things North European was strengthened when I was spent a semester at the University of Copenhagen four years later (when the city was cultural capital of Europe no less).
But after five years of living here there are a few things that I miss. I was kind of hoping that the survey might suggest a country with wide open spaces, unspoilt nature, a little architectural dereliction here and there, a good climate and a food culture as my ideal match. Far from it – the top eight matches for me on the programme apart from here were the Scandinavian and Baltic countries. So perhaps I will have to go truly Dutch, work hard in a safe, well organised and (reasonably) socially equitable environment for 44 weeks a year and spend the rest of the time taking off for wide open and uncluttered spaces with a nice climate.
So which country would you fit best in? Is it the one you live in now?
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3 comments:
Interesting: I did the test this morning and I got the Netherlands first (delta 8) followed by Norway and Sweden (9 and 10, respectively).
I had greater individuality and 'future orientation', a lower tendency to accept unequal power distribution, and a higher tolerance for uncertainty. I was dead on in masculinity: the biggest delta was my tolerance for uncertainty.
Some of the differences are American traits; some come with being a scientist or businessman, I assume? Still, it's surprising overall that I match the Dutch so well (British and US deltas were twice my delta for the Dutch).
As you say, did we find a home, or did our home make us into someone different?
I got the NL first too! USA was about 10th down on the list. Delta 6.
AB welcome - thanks for your comments. I was Delta 5 for the NL. Delta 18 for the UK. I am wondering what scores any Dutch redaers might get....
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