3. Conservatism versus optimism. This value reflects a preference for a cautious approach to measurement that enables one to cope with the uncertainty of future events, as opposed to a more optimistic, risk-taking approach. Gray linked Conservatism with Hofstede’s dimensions of Uncertainty Avoidance, Masculinity, and proposed the hypothesis: the higher a country ranks in terms of Uncertainty Avoidance and the lower it ranks in terms of Individualism and Masculinity, the more likely it is to rank highly in terms of Conservatism.
