Culture Typing versus Sample Specific Accuracy: An Examination of Uncertainty Avoidance, Power Distance, and Individualism for Business Professionals in the U.S. and Canada

Comparative cultural closeness between Canada and the U.S. established in part by the Hofstede (1980) study continues to influence some business research efforts that assume cultural parity between the two nations. Sampling business professionals, evidence emerges that cautions assuming cultural parity between Canada and the U.S. based on typical and selected Anglo culture type dimensions. Contributing as an updated empirical test of the Anglo culture type assumption between the two nations, uncertainty avoidance was higher in the U.S. sample and varied more by country than by individual characteristics or by an indication of professional discipline type.