What about Malta's Culture?

Let's explore the culture of Malta through the lens of Hofstede's 6-D Model, we can get a good overview of the deep drivers of its culture relative to other world cultures.

Power-distance:

Malta scores high on this dimension (score of Protected content means that it is a hierarchical society. This means that people accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. Hierarchy in an organisation is seen as reflecting inherent inequalities, centralization is popular, subordinates expect to be told what to do and the ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat.

Individualism:

Malta, with a score of 59 is an Individualistic society. This means there is a high preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate families only. In individualistic societies offence causes guilt and a loss of self-esteem, the employer/employee relationship is a contract based on mutual advantage, hiring and promotion decisions are supposed to be based on merit only, management is the management of individuals.

Masculinity:

Malta scores 47 on this dimension, as this is an intermediate score no clear cultural tendency is shown.

Uncertainty Avoidance:

Malta scores 96 on this dimension and thus has a preference for avoiding uncertainty. Countries exhibiting high uncertainty avoidance maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. In these cultures there is an emotional need for rules (even if the rules never seem to work) time is money, people have an inner urge to be busy and work hard, precision and punctuality are the norm, innovation may be resisted.

Long Term Orientation:

This dimension describes how every society has to maintain some links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future, and societies prioritise these two existential goals differently. Normative societies who score low on this dimension, for example, prefer to maintain time-honoured traditions and norms while viewing societal change with suspicion. Those with a culture which scores high, on the other hand, take a more pragmatic approach: they encourage thrift and efforts in modern education as a way to prepare for the future.
With an intermediate score of 47, a cultural tendency cannot be determined for this dimension.

Indulgence:

One challenge that confronts humanity, now and in the past, is the degree to which little children are socialized. Without socialization we do not become “human”. This dimension is defined as the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses, based on the way they were raised. Relatively weak control is called “indulgence” and relatively strong control is called “restraint”. Cultures can, therefore, be described as indulgent or restrained.
The high score of 66 shows that Malta's culture is one of indulgence. People in societies classified by a high score in indulgence generally exhibit a willingness to realize their impulses and desires with regard to enjoying life and having fun. They possess a positive attitude and have a tendency towards optimism. In addition, they place a higher degree of importance on leisure time, act as they please and spend money as they wish.

Do you agree?

Hofstede in Malta:

Mr David P O’Shaughnessy is Associate Partner and exclusive provider of Hofstede’s world renowned suite of intercultural consulting services in Malta. He specializes in training Expatriate’s on how to optimise their intercultural experiences in Protected content across the Globe. He can be contacted on Protected content .