Measurement Of National Culture: A Multiple Source Latent Variable Approach

There has been much debate about the relative merits of the GLOBE and Hofstede measures of national culture, both in terms of the methodological approach and the conceptual support for the specific dimensions measured. In this paper we propose a multiple indicator approach using latent variable path modeling that incorporates measures from both GLOBE and Hofstede. A multiple indicator, latent variable approach allows us to use information from both GLOBE and Hofstede in measuring national culture while attenuating for measurement error inherent in both sets of measures. This approach also allows us to assess the convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity of both sets of measures. We find strong convergent and criterion validity for GLOBE and Hofstede’s measures of power distance and individualism/collectivism. However, we also find a lack of discriminant validity between these two dimensions. We find little or no convergent validity between the GLOBE and Hofstede measures of uncertainty avoidance and masculinity/femininity.