Perception and Evaluation of Polish Cultural Femininity in Poland, the United States, Finland, and the Netherlands

Abstract

Culture perception was examined in the domain of gender roles. Three video clips containing an example of typically Polish gender role behavior (displaying much respect and courtesy of men toward women) were shown to female and male university undergraduates in Poland ( n = 88), the United States ( n = 91), Finland ( n = 60), and the Netherlands ( n = 60). The Polish group was more accurate than all other groups in its recognition of the time and place of video recording; they also rated these video clips as higher in typicality for their own culture. The Dutch revealed the lowest scores in evaluation and in identification with gender roles. The question was examined to what extent the cross-cultural differences could be accounted for by some relevant cultural characteristics. It was found that by using Schwartz’s country-level measures on conservatism and mastery and the Chinese Culture Connection’s human heartedness, all differences on evaluation and identification with gender roles were statistically wiped out; heartedness in particular was a powerful predictor.