A replication of Hofstede’s uncertainty avoidance dimension across nationally representative samples from Europe

Despite the great interest in Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture, some of them have not been replicated with nationally representative samples. In this study, we use 2010 European Social Survey data for 25 European countries and Israel and obtain a close replication of Hofstede’s uncertainty avoidance (r = 0.81, p < 0.001, n = 17) with strong face validity, internal reliability, and similar predictive properties to those of the original measure. The replication and our analysis elucidate the nature of uncertainty avoidance as a dimension of national culture and expose some misconceptions about it.

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