Professor Geert Hofstede has developed a theory about culture and its likely impact on individual people. One feature of this theory is the Power Distance Index. This index measures how much people accept the unequal share of power in society. In a culture with a high-Power Distance Index people accept that power is shared unequally, whereas members of a culture with a low Power Distance Index expect it to be shared evenly.
Countries with a high index generally have centralised authority, with many levels which people respect. People tend not to question the decisions that people in authority make. However, in countries with a low index there are fewer levels of authority and people respect individualism more than authority. Furthermore, decisions made by people in authority are regularly questioned.
Germany has an index of 35. Compared to many Arab, Latin, African and Asian countries, where the power distance is high (70-80), and Austria, where it is very low (11), Germany is somewhere in the middle. Germany does not have a large gap between the wealthy and the poor and there is a widespread belief in equality for each citizen. Germans have the opportunity to rise in society. On the other hand, the power distance in the United States scores a 40 on the cultural scale. The US has a more unequal distribution of wealth compared to German society.
The Power Distance Index has been used in research in the fields of sociology, psychology, international management and cross-cultural communication because it can significantly affect both verbal and written forms of communication across cultures.