Why are People in Luxembourg Happy? Language as an Identifier of Culture in the Grand Duchy by Dr Ursula Schinzel 00352.621.322.543 [e-mail]

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Why are People in Luxembourg Happy?Language
as an Identifier of Culture in the Grand
DuchybyDr Ursula Schinzel 00352.621.322.543ur
sula_schinzel_at_yahoo.com 
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Research Question

• The purposes of this study
• to explain where Luxembourg fits in on Hofstedes
  7 dimensions of culture
• to explain Luxembourg peoples high scores on the
  measure of happiness

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Methods

• Review of the Literature
• Participant Observation (Primary Data)
• Interviews (Primary Data)
• Questionnaires (Primary Data)

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Literature Review

• The era after Hofstede
• Triandis, Harry
• Smith, Peter, B.
• Schwartz, Shalom
• Trompenaars, Fons Hamden-Turner, Charles
• De Mooij, Marieke
• Inglehart, Ronald
• The GLOBE, House, Robert Hanges, Paul
• Schein, Edgar
• Bond, Michael, Harris
• Mintzberg, Henry
• Minkov, Michael
• Hofstede, Gert Jan
• McSweeney

• The era before Hofstede
• Maslow, Abraham
• McClelland, David
• Herzberg, Frederick
• Rockeach, Milton
• Hall, Edward
• Kluckhohn, Florence and Strodtbeck, Fred

• The era besides Hofstede
• Scholz, Christian Böhm, Hans
• Lewis, Richard D.
• Spizzo, Daniel

• The era beyond Hofstede
• Aaker, Jennifer
• Briley, Donnel
• Nakata, Cheryl
• Kirkman, Hong, Benet-Martínez, Leung, Hermans,
  Kempen.

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Culture Theories

• The era before Hofstede (- 1980)
• Abraham Maslow
• David McClelland
• Frederick Herzberg
• Milton Rockeach
• Edward Hall
• Florence Kluckhohn
• Fred Strodtbeck

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Culture Theories

• Hofstedes Era (1980-2000)
• Christian Scholz
• Hans Böhm
• Richard D. Lewis
• Daniel Spizzo

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Culture Theories

• The era after Hofstede (2000 - )
• Harry Triandis,
• Peter B. Smith,
• Shalom Schwartz,
• Fons Trompenaars Charles Hamden-Turner,
• Marieke De Mooij
• Ronald Inglehart
• The GLOBE Robert House, Paul Hanges
• Edgar Schein,
• Michael Harris Bond,
• Henry Mintzberg
• Michael Minkov
• Gert Jan Hofstede,
• McSweeney

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Culture Theories

• New theories
• Jennifer Aaker
• Donnel Briley
• Cheryl Nakata
• Kirkman, Hong, Benet-Martínez, Leung, Hermans,
  Kempen.

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Geert Hofstede (1928- )

• What did he do?
• Born in the Netherlands in 1928
• IBM HRM research in the 1960s
• 116,000 questionnaires
• Identified 4 cultural dimensions, later added
  more
• IDV/COLL, UAI, PDI, MAS/FEM,
• LTO, IVR, MON.
• Dared to contradict Maslow, Herzberg, McClelland
• Brought cultural research from the US to Europe
• Emeritus Professor at Maastricht University
• http//www.geerthofstede.nl/
• Start at 236

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Culture is measured in terms of all of the
following symbols, heroes, rituals, values,
practices, norms, beliefs, self-perceptions,
cognitive ability and behaviours.
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Heroes are persons that serve as model, i.e.
S.A.R. Grand-Duc Henri, Jean-Claude
Juncker, AndyFranck Schleck, Charly Gaul, Obama,
Merkel, Hollande
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Symbols are words, gestures, pictures or
objects, i.e. jargon, dresses, hairstyle, flags
or status symbols.
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Rituals are collective activities
(Schouberfouer), ways of greeting (Moien),
social and religious ceremonies (Octave).
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Values are broad tendencies, feelings that come
in pairings like evil versus good, dirty versus
clean, dangerous vs safe, forbidden vs permitted,
moral vs immoral, ugly vs beautiful, unnatural vs
natural, irrational vs rational.
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• Hofstedes Dimensions of Culture

Hofstede's Dimensions of Culture - Explained
Easily http//www.youtube.com/watch?v6gJzRS0I7t
Afeaturerelated
Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV)
Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI)
Power Distance Index (PDI)
Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS)
Long-Term versus Short-Term Orientation(LTO)
Indulgence versus Restraint (IVR)
Monumentalism (MON)
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Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV) defined
as people looking after themselves and their
immediate family only, versus people belonging to
in-groups that look after them in exchange for
loyalty.
Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) defined as the
extent to which people feel threatened by
uncertainty and ambiguity and try to avoid these
situations.
Power Distance Index (PDI) defined as the extent
to which less powerful members of a society
accept and expect that power is distributed
unequally.
Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS) defined as
the dominant values in a masculine society are
achievement and success the dominant values in a
feminine society are caring for others and
quality of life.
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Long-Term versus Short-Term Orientation(LTO) defin
ed as the extent to which a society exhibits a
pragmatic future-orientated perspective rather
than a conventional historic or short-term point
of view.
Indulgence versus Restraint (IVR) defined as
Indulgence stands for enjoying life and having
fun. Restraint stands for regulation of these by
strict social norms.
Monumentalism (MON) defined as veneration of
heroes by buildings, songs, music, celebrations.
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Luxembourg

• Unitary parliamentary democracy and
  constitutional monarchy
• Grand Duke Henri
• Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker
• Official languages Luxembourgish, French, German
• Capital Luxembourg (90,000 inhabitants)
• Size 2,586 km2
• Population total 511,000
• Motto Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn We want
  to remain what we are
• Anthem Ons Heemecht Our Homeland

Queen Mary II and Marie-Astrid
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Data Analysis ParticipantObservation
Femmes Leaders Luxembourg
LPRA Luxembourg Professionals Recruiters
Association
HRone
University Luxbg
BEE SECURE
PaperJam Business Club
Fairs Foires
European Commission
American Chamber of Commerce
Libreria Italiana
Brasseries, Restaurants,Hotels, Bars.
Chamber of Commerce and Sacred Heart University
Luxembourg
POG Personnel Officers Group
Luxembourg prefers Meeting in person, in a Hotel
or Bank. Over Cocktail with Champagne/ Lunch or
Dinner
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Culture Calculation Formulas

• PDI 35(mQVAL7 mQVAL2) 25(mQVAL23 mQVAL26)
  C (pd)
• UAI 40(m QVAL20 mQVAL16) 25(mQVAL24
  mQVAL27) C (ua)
• IDV 35(mQVAL4 mQVAL1) 35(mQVAL9 mQVAL6)
  C (ic)
• MAS 35(mQVAL5 mQVAL3) 35(mQVAL08 mQVAL10)
  C (mf)
• LTO 40(mQVAL18 mQVAL15) 25(mQVAL28
  mQVAL25) C (ls)
• IVR 35(mQVAL12 mQVAL11) 40(mQVAL19
  mQVAL17) C (ir)
• MON 35(mQVAL14 mQVAL13) 25 (mQVAL22
  mQVAL21) C (mo)

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Hofstedes Cultural Dimension Interviews and
Questionnaires Results in Collaboration with
Lindab Buildings Diekirch
Table 1 Comparison Luxembourg Luxembourg with
Luxembourgish nationality (Lux. Nat.)
Hofstedes estimates on Luxembourg (on a scale
from 1-100, 1 being the lowest and 100 the
highest score)
Luxembourg Lux. Nat. Hofstedes estimates on Luxembourg
PDI 36 29 40
UAI 97 95 70
IDV 51.5 34 60
MAS 47 54 50
LTO 69 65 64
IVR 53.5 55 56
MON 10 24 -
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Table 2 Cultural dimensions in Luxembourg -
Lux. Nat. France Germany UK Belgium FR
Belgium NL Italy the Netherlands NL China
USA Japan (on a scale from 0-100) (0lowest,
100highest)
Luxbg Lux.Nat. France Germany UK Belgium FR Belgium NL Italy NL China USA Japan
PDI 36 29 68 35 35 68 61 50 38 80 40 54
UAI 97 95 86 65 35 93 97 75 53 30 46 92
IDV 51.5 34 71 67 89 71 78 76 80 20 91 46
MAS 47 54 43 66 66 60 43 70 14 66 62 95
LTO 69 65 63 83 51 82 82 61 67 87 26 88
IVR 53.5 55 48 40 69 57 57 30 68 24 68 42
MON 10 24 16.5 9.9 35.4 - - 35.2 11.9 0 57.2 4.0
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Logistic Regression
What is Logistic Regression?
Logistic regression allows prediction of group
membership, for example, prediction of whether
someone is a belly dancer based on gender,
occupational category, preferred type of reading
material and age. Logistic regression allows to
evaluate the odds (the probability) of membership
in the group of belly dancers based on the
combination of values of the predictor variables,
25 year old female sports professor, teaching
hip-hop and reading dance books.

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Logistic Regression
Definition Logistic Regression is a statistical
method used to model the relationship between a
qualitative dependent variable like for example
happiness and a combination of independent
variables like for example taking risk, free
time for life, level of education job level
manager or non-manager, state of health,
religion.
Logistic Regression is calculated in SPSS. SPSS
is a computer program from IBM. SPSS means
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.
Between 2009 and 2010 it was called PASW
Predictive Analytics SoftWare.

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Logistic Regression
Table Logistic regression Being happy
Regression coefficient and Odds Ratio
Regression Coefficients Odds Ratios
Taking Risk 0.931 2.538
Free Time for Life 0.974 2.647
Level of Education -0.930 0.394
Contradict boss 1.096 2.993
State of health 1.485 4.416
Importance of Religion 0.677 1.969
Constant -0.628 0.534

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Correlation Matrix
Taking Risk Free Time for Life Level of Education Contradict boss State of health Importance of Religion
Taking Risk 1.000 -
Free Time for Life 0.214 1.000
Level of Education 0.054 -0.213 1.000
Contradict boss -0.149 0.126 0.182 1.000
State of health 0.105 0.006 -0.279 -0.233 1.000
Importance of Religion 0.195 -0.101 -0.122 -0.065 0.086 1.000

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Constant -0.628
For a person who takes risks (0.931)x1
And who takes free time for himself/herself (0.974)x1
Who has a high level of education (-0.930)x1
Who dares to contradict the boss (1.096)x1
Whose state of health is good (1.485)x1
For whom religion is important (0.677)x1
e 3.605
z 3.605 36.7817 1 37.7817 logit p with z with the constant p p p 0.97 The probability for this person to be happy is 0.97. This is a very high probability, near 1. z 3.605 36.7817 1 37.7817 logit p with z with the constant p p p 0.97 The probability for this person to be happy is 0.97. This is a very high probability, near 1.


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Logistic Regression The probability of
Luxembourgers of being happy
Who takes risk
Who takes free time for life for him/herself
Probability of being happy 0.97
Person 1
Who has a high level of education
Who dares to contradict the boss
Whose state of health is good
For whom religion is important
Who does Not take risk
Person 2
Probability of being happy 0.94
Who takes free time for life for him/herself
Who has a high level of education
Who dares to contradict the boss
Whose state of health is good
For whom religion is important
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• Correlation among all variables in SPSS

N134 plt.05 plt.001
PDI UAI IDV MAS LTO IVR MON HAPPY GENDER AGE EDUCATION
PDI -
UAI -.021 -
IDV .135 -.011 -
MAS .206 -.060 .517 -
LTO .138 .059 .030 .000 -
IVR .031 .043 .318 .272 .042 -
MON .068 .023 .245 .129 -.089 .244 -
HAPPY .038 .160 .045 .014 .268 .293 .001 -
GENDER -.030 .073 -.041 -.012 .004 -.029 -.105 .029 -
AGE -.117 .031 -.059 .022 -.076 .108 -.312 .040 -.128 -
EDUCATION .037 -.155 .106 .094 .119 .112 .060 .082 .120 -.025 -
RANK . .230 .210 -.001 .016 .080 -.043 .090 .006 .162 -.490 -.084
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Conclusion
LONG-TERM ORIENTATION
LOW POWER DISTANCE
HIGH UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE

• Luxembourgers are
• highly uncertainty avoidant
• take their language as identifier
• long-term oriented
• have low power distance
• highly collectivist
• and are happy

LANGUAGE AS IDENTIFIER
HIGH COLLECTIVISM/ LOW INDIVIDUALISM
HAPPY
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Explanations

• PDI (Power Distance Indicator) in Luxembourg is
  low with 36/100.
• Lux.Nat. have an even lower PDI of 29, compared
  with China (80) and France (68)
• Luxembourg being small, hierarchy is not felt
  that much, boss and employees meet in the same
  sport clubs, supermarkets, bars, evening events

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Explanations

• UAI (Uncertainty Avoidance Indicator) is high,
  near 100 in Luxembourg (97) and Lux.Nat.(95)
• Uncertain and unknown situations are avoided,
• Secure, regulated, clear life without surprises,
  is preferred

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Explanations

• IDV (Individualism versus Collectivism) is medium
  (51.5) in Luxembourg and diverges from Lux.Nat.
  (34).
• Lux.Nat. are highly collective people, preferring
  the well-being of the group and country
• This is contrary to people in USA (91) and Italy
  (76), where people take their time for themselves
  or their immediate family

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Explanations

• MAS (Masculinity versus Femininity) is medium
  (47) for Luxembourg and Lux.Nat. (54)
• This shows a country where the characteristics of
  a masculine dominant country competition and
  success, and those of a feminine dominant country
  caring for others and quality of life, are
  equally distributed
• The most masculine countries are Japan (95),
  Austria and Venezuela, the most feminine are
  Sweden, Norway and The Netherlands

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Explanations

• LTO (Long-Term Orientation versus Short-Term
  Orientation) is high in Luxembourg (69) and
  Lux.Nat. (65)
• Long-term is characterized by foreseen, and
  planned events and by perseverance and thrift
• Contrary to USA (26) where short-term decisions
  are taken.
• Germany with score of 83 on LTO is the example
  for a highly long-term oriented country

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Explanations

• IVR (Indulgence versus Restraint) is medium in
  Luxembourg (53.5) and Lux.Nat. (55)
• In general people in Luxembourg indulge on life,
  they love profiting from the benefits of life,
  they enjoy life
• Italy has an IVR of 30, where religion,
  traditions and social rules limit personal
  enjoying of life

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Explanations

• MON (Monumentalism) is low in Luxembourg (10) but
  more than the double for Lux.Nat. (24).
• Lux.Nat. love their national traditions and
  nationality, the Grand Ducal family, National
  Day, National Hymn and are living their national
  identity.
• The USA (54.2) are living a strong MON, contrary
  to Japan (4) US people love symbols, banner,
  heroes, their president, elections

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Language as Identifier
After World War I the need was to assure the
national identity, to give value to the concept
of citizenship, why it is important to be
Luxembourger and the advantages that come with
the citizenship. When Nazism (World War II)
engulfed small Luxembourg, because for Germans
this small land seemed to be German, the
Luxembourgish language attained its importance,
the discriminating factor to distinguish between
who is able to benefit from Luxembourgish
citizenship and its advantages, and who not.
Luxembourgish language defines the in-group. In
order to benefit from all of the advantages of
the Luxembourgish nationality, one has to be able
to speak Luxembourgish. Luxembourgish is not only
a dialect, but the key giving access to the
advantages of the rights of the citizenship.
French is for bureaucratic problems, German for
religious ceremonies, Luxembourgish to define the
in-group (Spizzo, 1995).
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Hofstedes Dimensions of Culture in Luxembourg
Why are people in Luxembourg happy?

• Luxembourgers are happy because they
• are highly uncertainty avoidant
• take their language as identifier
• are long-term oriented
• have low power distance
• are highly collectivist

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Thank you for your attention