What is it about?
Comparisons before and after 9/11 in two different US samples (collected with unrelated purposes) show that, after the terrorist attacks, there was a measurable increase in power distance, and a decrease in cosmopolitanism, but no change in collectivism. Authors found support for hypotheses linking threats with acceptance of authoritarianism and parochialism.
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Why is it important?
This offers empirical support to the theory that, when Americans feel threatened, they are less likely to question authority and more likely to accept impositions from their leaders. Also, the study did not find an effect of threats on individualism, which suggests that this feature in Americans is somewhat immune to threats.
Perspectives
This study grew from a discussion in a doctoral seminar. I came across a model predicting the effects of threats (like the 9/11 terrorist attacks) on society and asked Anne-Wil and Scott to help me test it as I knew they had been collecting measures of cultural features early in 2001. We found support for two of our hypotheses and presented the results to the Academy of Management before publishing the study here!
Miguel R Olivas-Lujan, PhD
Pennsylvania Western University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: September 11, 2001, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, August 2004, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1470595804044750.
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