Being the daughter of a Cuban immigrant, the culture of Cuba resonates in my home and in my heart. Cuba, officially called República de Cuba, is an island located south of the Tropic of Cancer at the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea (brit). It is comprised of around 11 million people of which 50% classify as mulatto, a mixture of African and European descent (every). Spanish is the principle language spoken by the Cubans (Knight, 2015). Cuba is a communist nation with a totalitarian government. The government exercises direct control over most aspects of Cuban life (Knight, 2015). The Cubans are so oppressed by the government that the maximum living wage is $20 a month for almost every job in the country (Somin, 2014). The culture in Cuba causes its citizens to value certain things and view the world from a unique perspective (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Five dimensions to analyze cultural taxonomy was developed by Geert Hofstede: individualism/collectivism, power distance, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and long- or short- term orientation (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). As a result of these cultural factors, people learn different values and preferences (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Cuba is a collectivistic, feminine, and short-term oriented culture with high power distance and uncertainty avoidance.
The Cubans can be considered an allocentric, or collectivistic-oriented, culture. Collectivistic cultures like to do what is best for the group even if it means putting aside personal goals (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). A main indicator that Cuba is an allocentric culture is the communist government that instills in the citizens an urge to better the state and the wellbeing of society (Brumfield, Carpenter, & Sloan, n.d.). People are forced to work together for the greater good of the country. Together, the Cubans share great pride in their countries’ independence (Brumfield, Carpenter, & Sloan, n.d.). The social experiences in Cuba are structured around social groups which cause the culture to be allocentric (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012).
Cuba is a feminine culture. A culture can be feminine or masculine depending on the values they place on their work goals (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Cuba places its work values on social goals mainly because of its communism. Advancement and competition is not really possible for the Cubans when everyone works for the good of the country (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Cuba’s femininity only increased when women gained integrity upon the signing of the “Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women” (Brumfield, Carpenter, & Sloan, n.d.). Though some may argue, Cuba is ultimately a feminine culture.
Not only is Cuba collectivistic and feminine, it is also short-term oriented. A short-term oriented culture focuses on the present and its immediate rewards (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Cubans ultimately leave their futures up to the government, so they are forced to focus on the here and now (Ziegel-Meyer, 2013). The people live day to day and cannot plan for future economic or political change, because it is essentially against the law (Brumfield, Carpenter, & Sloan, n.d.). Like their collectivistic dimension, the short-term orientation of Cubans seems to be a result of the country’s communism and dictatorship.
Finally, Cuba is high in both power distance and uncertainty avoidance. A high power distance indicates that a culture typically accepts inequalities based on factors like power, wealth, and laws (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). High uncertainty avoidance, in turn, indicates how well a culture accepts ambiguity (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Again, communism is an important factor in determining the level of these dimensions (Brumfield, Carpenter, & Sloan, n.d.). The dictatorship of Cuba emphasizes a high power distance, because it has complete control over almost every aspect of its citizens’ lives like religion, small group organizations, and communication (Brumfield, Carpenter, & Sloan, n.d.). In addition, Cuba’s caste system contributes to its high power distance by placing people in one of two categories: rich and powerful or poor and disregarded (Ziegel-Meyer, 2013). Regarding its high uncertainty avoidance, this is also due to the fact that the dictator strictly enforces rules to avoid change in the countries’ structure (Brumfield, Carpenter, & Sloan, n.d.). If a citizen does not abide by the law, there is a good chance that they will be imprisoned or even put to death. As a result, Cuban citizens have high uncertainty avoidance because they do not have a lot of control over what is going to happen in their lives and are accustomed to many things being planned out by others (Ziegel-Meyer, 2013). As a result of its high uncertainty avoidance, Cubans take few risks and are careful to follow the laws (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012).
The beautiful island of Cuba has a unique culture that stems from its communist government. Collectivism permeates the Cuban outlook on society. Cuba is considered a feminine culture because of the values it places on the workforce. The short-term orientation of Cuba causes them to focus on the present rather than the unforeseeable future. Cuban culture has very high power distance and uncertainty avoidance. Living in Cuba is very different than living in the United States because of its cultural taxonomy.
Resources
Knight, F.W. (2015). Cuba. In Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/place/Cuba
Somin, I. (2014). Life Under Cuban Communism. In The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/05/13/life-under-cuban-communism/
Brumfield, B., Carpenter, L., & Sloan, L. (n.d.). Cuba. Retrieved from http://acad.depauw.edu/~mkfinney/teaching/Com227/culturalPortfolios/CUBA/Typologies.html
Ziegel-Meyer, D. (2013, September 18). Cuba and Hofstede’s Value Dimensions [Web log comment]. Retrieved from https://dziegelmeyer.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/cuba-and-hofstedes-value-dimensions/