Family Customs• Proud of their nation and its accomplishments and local patriotism
is important. • Respect privacy and are very polite • Family life is important • Mutual respect between children and adults is nurtured at an early age. • 90% of children live with their mother and father, who may or may not be married. • 29% of girls and 26 % of boys aged 13-15 play a musical instrument in their spare time. • Everyone is encouraged to take up sport, and 68 % of 13-15 year olds are members of a sports club. • Children are not raised to believe that they are any more special than any other child. • The rights afforded to Swedish families to ensure that they are able to adequately care for their children are some of the best rights in the world. Ex: Each parent gets 480 days paid parental leave per child, which must be claimed before the child turn eight. Seasonal Family Customs |
Communications CustomsSwedish people are very humble and reserved. They would never boast and almost prefer to listen to other people. When they do speak, they speak very soft and calmly. Rarely would they show anger or any strong emotion in public. They rarely take hospitality and kindness for granted and give lots of thanks. It would be a
rather negative thing to not say thank you. People of Sweden are often thought of as being shy, but in reality they just like to listen before they speak. Citizens of Sweden tend to avoid face-to-face conflict, so when they have a problem or complaint with someone they are more likely to leave a note in their mailbox rather than bringing it up in conversation. This is sometimes seen as being passive-aggressive, but in reality they just don't want to start a face-to-face argument. Swedes believe in taking everything in moderation. They are not flashy or boastful. People try to take the middle road often. So more or less they work hard, but not too hard, and they let loose without doing anything too extreme. Competition is not encouraged and children are raised to believe they are not any more special than other children. The family values are extremely important and the children have lots of rights to protect them. Special rights are awarded to families to ensure the kids are raised as well as possible. Those rights are as follows: Either the mother or father is entitled to be absent from work until their child reaches 18 months old. Either parent has the right to reduce their workload by 25% until their child reaches 8 years old (and is formally ready for school). A parental allowance is paid for 480 days, which is intended for both parents. Sixty of these days must be used by the ‘minority’ parents. For this reason, this element of the allowance is often known as ‘Daddy’s months’. You have the right to up to 60 days off per year to care for a sick child. A number of people in Sweden however, challenge the degree to which these rights are truly positive as statistics suggest that women often fall way behind their male colleague in respect to position in pay. Anyone travelling to Sweden will notice the family friendly environment of most restaurants and other such establishments. Even trains have a toy and play area! Business Personnel in Sweden are typically fairly reserved and as such it is important that all dealings are formal and serious until it is deemed acceptable by the respective Swedish personnel to allow events to become more relaxed. Key suggestions to assimilating with the culture are as follows: Ensure that, maintaining eye contact coupled with a firm handshake, you shake hands with all attendees on both arrival and departure. Ensure that you address your hosts with either their professional title or their honorific title and their surname - Mr. - Herr or Mrs. -Fru. Younger people are likely to move more quickly to a first name basis than older people. Personal space is important in Sweden and as such it is recommended that you maintain an awareness of someone’s personal space and that you do not invade it. Avoid any unnecessary touching. |
Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions
Power Distance
- Low Power Distance
- Power is decentralized, teamwork is emphasized
- Control is disliked
- Direct communication
- First-name basis
- Individualistic
- Take care of themselves and immediate family only
- Promotions are merit-based
- Employer/Employee relationship is a contract based on mutual advantage
- Feminine society
- Good balance of life and work
- Make sure all are included
- "Lagom" society: Everything in moderation
- Low Uncertainty Avoidance
- Relaxed attitude
- No more rules than necessary
- Flexible schedules
- Short Term
- Great respect for traditions
- Strong social pressure to "keep up with the Joneses"
- Strong concern for establishing the truth
http://geert-hofstede.com/sweden.html