Improving national cultural indices using a longitudinal meta-analysis of Hofstede's dimensions

This meta-analysis offers an updated set of national cultural scores along the dimensions of Hofstede's cultural framework. The meta-analytic national cultural indices have two advantages. First, they are based on a larger and more representative sample than that used in Hofstede's or any other cross-cultural comparison study. The data come from 451 empirical studies representing over 2000 samples comprising over half a million individuals from 49 countries and regions. Second, cultural change is addressed by offering separate sets of indices for different decades. This would be helpful in longitudinal studies of the interplay between culture and other phenomena. The meta-analytic indices are validated against a set of external criteria. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.