IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/worbus/v56y2021i5s1090951621000547.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do within-subject standardized indices of societal culture distort reality? An illustration with the national Tightness culture scale

Author

Listed:
  • Venaik, Sunil
  • Midgley, David F.
  • Christopoulos, Demetris

Abstract

Within-subject standardization is a common practice in cross-cultural research to remove presumed acquiescence bias in the data. However, there is limited understanding of the implications of this procedure, including the potential to amplify and misrepresent the true range of the variable of interest, and to create spurious relationships with other variables. We illustrate the problems with this procedure using the Gelfand et al. (2011) national Tightness-Looseness data. We advance the opposite-items approach as a better way to identify and correct for acquiescence bias in survey data, and also suggest the Tightness-Looseness index of Uz (2015) as an alternative measure of this particular dimension of national culture. Overall, we need more research with other cross-cultural scales and data to better understand the implications of the popular within-subject standardization procedure for IB theory, pedagogy, practice, and policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Venaik, Sunil & Midgley, David F. & Christopoulos, Demetris, 2021. "Do within-subject standardized indices of societal culture distort reality? An illustration with the national Tightness culture scale," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(5).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:56:y:2021:i:5:s1090951621000547
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2021.101242
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090951621000547
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jwb.2021.101242?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marcus, Justin & Kahraman, Fatma & Su, Shiyang & Fritzsche, Barbara A., 2019. "Capturing intranational cultural variation in international business research: Microsocietal differences in collectivism across Turkey," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(6), pages 1-1.
    2. Lee, Khan-Pyo & Bae, Jun-Young & Lee, Byung Hee & Choi, Jang-Ho, 2019. "The acculturative stress of host country managers working at MNC subsidiaries: Determinants and effects," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 387-398.
    3. Taras, Vas & Rowney, Julie & Steel, Piers, 2009. "Half a century of measuring culture: Review of approaches, challenges, and limitations based on the analysis of 121 instruments for quantifying culture," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 357-373, December.
    4. Toh, Soo Min & Leonardelli, Geoffrey J., 2012. "Cultural constraints on the emergence of women as leaders," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 604-611.
    5. Sunil Venaik & Paul Brewer, 2010. "Avoiding uncertainty in Hofstede and GLOBE," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(8), pages 1294-1315, October.
    6. Kong, Dejun Tony, 2016. "A gene-dependent climatoeconomic model of generalized trust," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 226-236.
    7. Kim, Kwanghyun & Slocum Jr., John W., 2008. "Individual differences and expatriate assignment effectiveness: The case of U.S.-based Korean expatriates," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 109-126, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Uzuegbunam, Ikenna & Geringer, J. Michael, 2021. "Culture, connectedness, and international adoption of disruptive innovation," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(1).
    2. Alipour, Ali & Yaprak, Attila, 2022. "Indulgence and risk-taking behavior of firms: Direct and interactive influences," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(2).
    3. Lavezzolo, Sebastián & Rodríguez-Lluesma, Carlos & Elvira, Marta M., 2018. "National culture and financial systems: The conditioning role of political context," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 60-72.
    4. Gunkel, Marjaana & Schlägel, Christopher & Engle, Robert L., 2014. "Culture's Influence on Emotional Intelligence: An Empirical Study of Nine Countries," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 256-274.
    5. Richter, Nicole Franziska & Hauff, Sven & Schlaegel, Christopher & Gudergan, Siegfried & Ringle, Christian M. & Gunkel, Marjaana, 2016. "Using Cultural Archetypes in Cross-cultural Management Studies," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 63-83.
    6. Messner, Wolfgang, 2022. "Advancing our understanding of cultural heterogeneity with unsupervised machine learning," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(2).
    7. Sahasranamam, Sreevas & Nandakumar, M.K. & Pereira, Vijay & Temouri, Yama, 2021. "Knowledge capital in social and commercial entrepreneurship: Investigating the role of informal institutions," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(1).
    8. Eduardo Ortas & Isabel Gallego‐Álvarez & Igor Álvarez, 2019. "National institutions, stakeholder engagement, and firms' environmental, social, and governance performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(3), pages 598-611, May.
    9. Erkko Autio & Saurav Pathak & Karl Wennberg, 2013. "Consequences of cultural practices for entrepreneurial behaviors," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 44(4), pages 334-362, May.
    10. Lillian Y. Fok & Dinah M. Payne & Christy M. Corey, 2016. "Cultural Values, Utilitarian Orientation, and Ethical Decision Making: A Comparison of U.S. and Puerto Rican Professionals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(2), pages 263-279, March.
    11. Tobias Steindl, 2021. "Cultural rule orientation, legal institutions, and the credibility of corporate social responsibility reports," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 310-332, January.
    12. Shin, Jiyoung & Moon, Jon Jungbien & Kang, Jingoo, 2023. "Where does ESG pay? The role of national culture in moderating the relationship between ESG performance and financial performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3).
    13. Wang, Gang & Holmes, R. Michael & Devine, Richard A. & Bishoff, John, 2018. "CEO gender differences in careers and the moderating role of country culture: A meta-analytic investigation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 30-53.
    14. Bártolo-Ribeiro, Rui & Andrade, Luís, 2015. "Expatriates Selection: An Essay of Model Analysis," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 3(1), pages 47-57.
    15. Frijns, Bart & Gilbert, Aaron & Lehnert, Thorsten & Tourani-Rad, Alireza, 2013. "Uncertainty avoidance, risk tolerance and corporate takeover decisions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2457-2471.
    16. Len J. Treviño & Carolyn P. Egri & David A. Ralston & Irina Naoumova & Olivier Furrer & Yongjuan Li & Fidel León Darder & María Teresa Garza Carranza, 2021. "A multi-country, multi-sector replication challenge to the validity of the cultural tightness-looseness measure," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 735-764, June.
    17. Dey, Bidit L. & Nasef, Youssef Tarek & Brown, David M & Samuel, Lalnunpuia & Singh, Pallavi & Apostolidis, Chrysostomos, 2023. "(Im)migrants’ appropriation of culture: Reciprocal influence of personal and work contexts," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(2).
    18. Lewellyn, Krista B. & Bao, Shuji ‘Rosey’, 2014. "A cross-national investigation of IPO activity: The role of formal institutions and national culture," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 1167-1178.
    19. Gong, Di & Jiang, Tao & Li, Zhao & Wu, Weixing, 2022. "Optimal loan contracting under policy uncertainty: Theory and international evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    20. Lee, Sang-Myung & Ungson, Gerardo R., 2008. "Towards a theory of synchronous technological assimilation: The case of Korea's Internet economy," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 274-289, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:worbus:v:56:y:2021:i:5:s1090951621000547. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620401/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.