Cultural Dimensions And Work Motivation In The European Union

For decades, the field of work motivation was moulded mainly by the cultural constraints. The present scientific paper is a theoretical research which aims at identifying various motivational patterns which might be used in the EU countries. In order to illustrate these differences, we will use three Hofstedeâ€(tm)s cultural dimensions: individualism, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity. Each of these cultural dimensions presents particularities which exert an influence on the way of thinking, on the abilities and behaviours of the individuals in a certain society, but we will refer only at the influence on the attitude towards work. For the identification of the motivational patterns, we will have as starting points, on one side, the particularities of the cultural differences and results of the relevant research performed so far; on the other hand there is Maslowâ€(tm)s hierarchy of needs. Hence, we can consider that safety and security prevails upon other needs where uncertainty avoidance is strong (Greece, Romania and so on). The need of belongingness will prevail upon the need of esteem in the feminine cultures (such as Sweden, Latvia), but in the masculine cultures esteem need is stronger (such as in the case of Hungary). In masculine countries with an increased collectivism (Greece), the opportunities for improvement, recognition and extra incomes will have an increased importance, while in feminine countries (Holland, Sweden) personal time, freedom and need for belongingness will be more important. Without claiming to be an exhaustive presentation of the motivational patterns, the purpose of the present paper is to underline the necessity that the motivation theories are to be considered valid only in the cultural environment where they were conceived. The transfer and the application of the motivation theories and patterns from one culture to the other, implies the testing of their validity in the new context.