Country Comparison Using Hofstede Dimensions: Nigeria and US
Directions for Final Project
The final project is a chance for you to explore another culture by interviewing someone who now lives in America, but is originally from another country. It is an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to understand and apply course concepts, theory and scholarly works (both from our course readings and external and credible sources) in a meaningful way. This project satisfies all 5 learning outcomes listed in your syllabus.
You will be expected to conduct an in-person interview with a person from another country. If you feel it is just not possible to find someone to interview, reach out to your instructor for guidance. You will find instructions for the interview below. You will be submitting your Interview Questions by the end of week 5 for approval.
Information gathered from the interview will be used to write a 5 to 7 page paper. Your paper should cover the specific elements described below and rely on at least 3 scholarly articles. Be sure to look at the grading rubric before starting the project.
What needs to be covered in the paper?
Important Elements:
This interview should be a back and forth conversation between you and the interviewee.
* Specific Questions to answer in your paper:
Introduction
Who did you interview? What is the purpose/goal of your interview? What is their native country? Is it Western/Non-Western, Individualistic/collectivistic?
Similarity/differences in psychology features (e.g., values, identity, emotion, cognition, perception, personality, morality, mental illness)
Discuss the major similarities/differences between your interviewee's native country and America. Does this align with what we've discussed in class? Be sure to use scholarly resources (in addition to textbook references) here to support your observations.
Country Comparison using Hofstede Dimensions
Include the chart for country of interviewee. To what extent does this align/not align with the information from the interviewee?
Development/Parenting
What differences in parenting or attitudes about children did your interviewee discuss? Why do these differences exist between their native country and America? How do these relate to the parenting theories we learned about? Be sure to use scholarly resources (in addition to textbook references) here to support your observations.
Interviewee acculturation challenges and helpful behaviors
Describe the experience your interviewer had trying to adjust to America? What made this easier? What made this harder? Did they experience prejudice and/or discrimination? Does their experience/thoughts align with the research on acculturation? Be sure to use scholarly resources (in addition to textbook references) here to support your observations.
Plan to Adapt for your move to interviewee’s country of origin
What advice did the interviewee give you on adapting to a move to their native country? What challenges do they anticipate you will face? If you were spending time in their native country, how would you adjust your attitudes and behaviors in order to get along and have a positive experience?
Influence of system and structure on acculturation
How do the distinct systems and structure of each culture make the acculturation process easier or more challenging. Be sure to include specific reference to education, economics, opportunity, or safety.
Conclusion/summary
What do you feel are the highlights of your learning in conducting this interview and writing this research paper? What did you learn about your own culture while looking through the lens of someone new to it?
*My week 5 interview questions are also attached.
Important Notes:
The paper should be 5 to 7 pages in length (actual writing), essay format, using APA style. Include a title page, be double–spaced, 12 font, and include an APA reference section at the end.
You must include research from at least 3 scholarly journal articles to support your work. Heine should also be cited often.
Scholarly work should be utilized substantively throughout this paper to explain the experience of the interviewee and to connect with course content and relevant research/theory. This is a critical element in the paper that is attached to a large number of points as indicated by the rubric.
Include proper in-text citations. Cite your interview as such (Smith Interview, 2018) for example. All other citations should be APA style.
Section headings are welcomed, as clear organization is expected.
Do not include questions or answers from your interview in this paper as direct quotes. Information from the interview should be utilized to create a cohesive paper that addresses the criteria stated in the assignments guidelines and rubric.
While you do need to address all of the elements outlines above, you can certainly add other interesting findings from your interview! You are not limited to the topics above, they are just the baseline requirements.
A plagiarism checking tool has been enabled for this submission. Once you submit your work, you will see a similarity report detailing possible areas of concern. Please review this report when submitting your work and contact your instructor with questions/concerns if necessary. Your instructor will also get these reports and will review them for possible plagiarism.
Remember, you must either paraphrase the words of others or use quotations to tell the readers the words are not yours. If you fail to do either of these, it is plagiarism, even if you provide a legitimate source.
Interview Report
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation
Course Code and Name
Instructor’s Name
Date Submitted
Interview Report
The person interviewed is an engineer currently living and working in America. The individual interviewed is a male, aged 48 years old, who moved to America 15 years ago from the West African part of the continent. The purpose of the interview was to help understand how the interviewee perceives America and compare his native country and America in terms of cultural aspects. The interview also helped to understand the changes the interviewee underwent since he joined the United States of America. The interviewee is from Nigeria, generally regarded as a collectivistic country. A collectivistic nation is one where solid values and emphasis are placed on establishing communal relationships, promoting group cohesion, and individuals interconnecting with family members. These are significant values in Nigeria, hence why it is considered a collectivistic country.
It is interesting to note that in Nigerian culture, community and family ties play significant roles in shaping the identities of individuals as well as developing their behaviors in society. People in this country often prioritize the needs of their family members or community over their aspirations, with concepts such as communal responsibility being advocated for, people being taught to respect their elders, and working on promoting social harmony.
Similarities and differences between Nigeria and the United States of America
The significant similarities between Nigeria and the United States of America are in emotions, cognition, and personality. On emotion and expressiveness, it is worth highlighting that both Nigeria and the USA individuals can display a wide array of emotional expressions depending on whether it is a sad or a happy situation. When it comes to cognition, both Americans and Nigerians take part in complex cognitive processes. Individuals also participate in critical thinking and ensure better problem-solving in challenging situations. Lastly, there is a similarity in personality both in the United States of America and Nigeria. Like how the interviewee displayed a personality in the interview, it emerges that individuals in Nigeria and the United States display diverse personalities.
Differences are in values and world views because, for Nigeria, they tends to have a traditional and collectivist approach. The family and community are central, while in the United States, emphasis is placed on individualism, personal achievements, and autonomy (Fouka et al., 2022). There is also a difference in identity because, in Nigeria, their identity is tied to ethnicity, community, and culture. In the United States, it is more diverse based on aspects like nationality, race, and ethnicity, among others.
Country Comparison using Hofstede Dimensions
Dimensions
Nigeria
United States of America
Power Distance
High
Medium
Individualism/Collectivism
Collectivist
Individualistic
Masculinity/Feminity
Moderately Masculine
Moderately Masculine
Uncertainty Avoidance
High
Low
Long Term Orientation
Low
High
Indulgence vs. Restraint
Indulgent
Indulgent
From the above chart, Nigeria and the United States are similar in masculinity vs. feminity and indulgence vs. restraint.
Development/Parenting
The interviewee highlighted a difference in parenting between America and Nigeria. For America, parents use more of an individualistic approach to parenting where the values instilled in a child are to become independent, and there is little to no physical punishment. However, in Nigeria, the interviewee stated that physical punishment is parenting, especially when the child makes a mistake. The values taught are also different as more emphasis is on the child obeying the elderly and seeing value in the community. Regarding attitude towards children, the interviewee highlighted that adults in Nigeria are encouraged and needed to have children for clan continuity. Still, it is different in America, where one decides whether to have children, even if they are married. These differences exist between the two countries because of the civilization and cultural differences. America is a developed country with a different view on matters than Nigeria (Fouka et al., 2022), a developing c...