Kazakhstani Culture Through Hofstede’s Theory

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Cultural Similarities and Differences
Acculturation Challenges and Helpful Behaviors
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions
Adaptation Plan
Conclusion
References

Introduction

This paper is based on an interview with a person who grew up in Kazakhstan. The purpose of the research paper is to discuss cultural similarities and dissimilarities, challenges of acculturation, helpful patterns of behavior, and look at the featured culture through the prism of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. Moreover, this research will describe the adaptation plan for movement into the interviewee’s country of origin. This information will be provided with relevant scholarly support and organized into separate yet cohesive paragraphs.

Cultural Similarities and Differences

Two countries are almost opposite regarding many objective criteria – geographically, they are situated in the different hemispheres and belonged to opposing geopolitical blocks. Moreover, the countries cannot even be compared in terms of the length of their independent history, as Kazakhstan received its independence from the Soviet Union in its current form only in 1991. These objective differences explain the cultural distinctions between the nations that are notable and significant.

Regarding the cultural differences, there are three main ones. Firstly, the Kazakhstani culture is collective rather than individual – families and even distant relatives play an immense role in the lives of Kazakhstan’s citizens. In comparison with Americans, Kazakhstanis live much longer with their parents, rely more on family ties in career development, and therefore invest considerable resources into their kith and kin throughout their lives. Even on the political level, clans, tribes, and families play a specific role. This is confirmed in the study by Minkov et al. (2017), who created a new national index for 56 countries on Hofstede’s individualism-collectivism dimension, which includes both the US and Kazakhstan. The nations are in the opposite parts of the resulting index. The US occupies 20th place with a positive score of 33, while Kazakhstan holds the 49th position with a negative score of 106 (Minkov et al., 2017). This implies that the US is skewed noticeably toward individualism, while Kazakhstani society is much more collective.

Secondly, there is a substantial religious difference, as a majority of Kazakhstan’s citizens perceive themselves as Muslims. However, Islam is not an official religion of the country, and religion, in general, is under strict governmental control in the country. This is confirmed by scholarly sources – according to Roman Podoprigora (2018, p. 599), “the State has a wary attitude toward religion in general.” The author explains that this approach is the legacy of the Soviet system that was eradicating religion for decades. This also influences other spheres of life; for instance, in contrast to the US, it is uncommon for politicians in Kazakhstan to publicly demonstrate any attributes of faith.

Moreover, it was pointed out that while it is socially acceptable to demonstrate adherence to the norms of Islam, the majority of the self-proclaimed Muslims of Kazakhstan do not strictly follow most religious traditions. For instance, “80% of those who identify with Islam do not pray five times a day; further, 44% of those surveyed rarely perform religious rituals while 31% never do” (Sharipova, 2020, p. 15). Furthermore, there are two major religions in Kazakhstan – Islam, and Christianity, with 67% of religious people identifying with the former and 27% with the latter (Sharipova, 2020). This also contrasts with the United States, the country where 74% of the population identifies themselves as Christians (Newport, 2016). Overall, it can be said that Kazakhstan is relatively diverse when it comes to religion, as Kazakhstanis also widely celebrate an ancient holiday associated with the spring equinox and rooted in Zoroastrianism. Therefore, it can be said that in terms of the religious aspect of culture, the difference between countries is substantial.

The third important dimension of cultural difference considers conservatism – Kazakhstani culture is significantly more traditionalist than American in many aspects, including gender roles, sexual education, rights and freedoms of minorities, and others. There are subjects in the curriculum of schools in Kazakhstan that focus on the “moral” education of students and promote traditional ideas about gender roles (Arystanbek, 2021). While it can be argued that certain states within the US are exceptionally conservative considering the mentioned topics compared to the rest of the country and other developed nations, Kazakhstan is more traditionalist on average.

Regarding the cultural similarities, it is necessary to emphasize the difference between generations in the Kazakhstani society – most of the previous points are not relevant to the Kazakhstani youth from metropolitan areas. This socio-economic group is much closer to Western culture and values, speaks English well, and studies in universities based on the American model. Some of these people tend to emigrate, but those who stay introduce new aspects to the local culture, business, and lifestyle. Therefore, while it is almost impossible to come up with significant similarities between cultures in general, some socio-economic groups in Kazakhstan have a lot in common with Americans in terms of their values and lifestyle.

Acculturation Challenges and Helpful Behaviors

Due to the mentioned facts, the representatives of Kazakhstani urban youth should not have problems accommodating in the United States, and their typical behavioral patterns do not need to be adjusted. However, regarding the representatives of other Kazakhstani socio-economic groups, there are numerous challenges that they can face when emigrating to the United States. Firstly, the culture of individualistic competition is far more pronounced in the US compared to Kazakhstan, and it can be problematic for emigrants to get used to it in the beginning. Secondly, the US culture is more informal due to the lower power distance in the society, which is characteristic of many Western cultures, while Kazakhstani culture is rather formal (Cortina et al., 2017). Finally, it is essential for emigrants from Kazakhstan to take into account that the US culture is much more sensitive regarding any personal offences based on race, culture, gender, and other factors. Therefore, it would be beneficial for Kazakhstani emigrants to be more informal, more cautious about any potential offences, and prepare themselves for a tougher competition culture.

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

Considering the external sources, there are conflicting points of view on Kazakhstani culture regarding Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. For instance, according to the Hofstede Insights company (n.d.), Kazakhstan scores high on Power Distance, low on Individualism, average on Masculinity, high on Uncertainty Avoidance, high on Long Term Orientation, and low on Indulgence. At the same time, according to Kainazarov’s research (2013), Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Individualism are diametrically opposed to the data of Hofstede Insights. Finally, a paper by Nezhina and Ibrayeva (2013) confirms high Uncertainty Avoidance, high Power Distance, and low Individualism scores, thus agreeing with the data from Hofstede Insights. Therefore, these will be the parameters of Kazakhstani culture within Hofstede’s cultural dimensions accepted for this paper. Moreover, they generally align with the interviewee’s opinion, pointing out relatively high hierarchy and collectivism levels. However, at the same time, the interviewee clarified that while this may be a standard for the majority of Kazakhstanis, the youth (especially in metropolitan areas) is very different. This stark contrast may, to some extent, explain the difference in the assessment between the mentioned papers.

Adaptation Plan

This adaptation plan implies moving to Kazakhstan’s biggest and most populated city – Almaty, situated at the foot of the mountains. Firstly, an English speaker can live in this city without learning Kazakh or Russian, as most of the necessary infrastructure can be accessed in English (Ahn & Smagulova, 2022). However, it can be recommended to learn at least some of the most common phrases in Russian as it will make communications more convenient. Secondly, one can be advised to look for culture is rather formal (Cortina et al., 2017). Finally, it is essential for emigrants from

accommodation closer to mountains as during the winter period the air in the lower parts of the city is polluted due to the coal-burning central heating plants. Thirdly, there are numerous international companies and organizations in the city where a foreigner can work without speaking Kazakh or Russian. Finally, as was mentioned earlier, most of the youth in the city speak English well, which means it is possible to find people to spend time with.

Conclusion

Overall, the interview demonstrated a set of significant dissimilarities between the studied countries and provided numerous insights considering the Kazakhstani culture. The most notable contrasts included religion, the levels of individualism, collectivism, and traditionalism. As could be expected, currently, Kazakhstani society is much more collective and conservative on average compared to the US. This is confirmed by numerous studies that used Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Nevertheless, the research also showcased that there are always people in every culture that belong to a more globalized society regardless of general cultural differences. For such people, cultural barriers are low, and they can help the nations exchange ideas, concepts, and resources. Moreover, the presence of such people can also make relocations of others easier, as was demonstrated by the adaptation plan for movement to Kazakhstan featured in this paper.

References

Ahn, E.S., & Smagulova, J. (2022). English language choices in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.World Englishes, 41, 9 – 23.

Arystanbek, A. (2021). Sex education (or the lack thereof) in Kazakhstan: Heteronormative propaganda in the curriculum of Özin Özi Tanu/Samopoznanie. Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research, 22(2), 11–27.

Cortina, K.S., Arel, S., & Smith-Darden, J.P. (2017). School belonging in different cultures: The effects of individualism and power distance. Frontiers in Education, 2.

Hofstede Insights. (n.d.). Country comparison.

Kainazarov, F. (2013). Cultural dimension differences related to international management – Kazakhstan vs. Europe [Master’s dissertation]. University of Porto.

Minkov, M., Dutt, P., Schachner, M., Morales, O., Sanchez, C., Jandosova, J., Khassenbekov, Y., & Mudd, B. (2017). A revision of Hofstede’s individualism-collectivism dimension: A new national index from a 56-country study, Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, 24(3), 386-404.

Nezhina, T. G., & Ibrayeva, A. R. (2013). Explaining the role of culture and traditions in functioning of civil society organizations in Kazakhstan. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 24(2), 335–358.

Podoprigora, R. (2018). School and religion in Kazakhstan: No choice for believers. Journal of School Choice, 12(4), 588-604.

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