UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE
The dimension Uncertainty Avoidance has to do with the way that a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen? This ambiguity brings with it anxiety and different cultures have learnt to deal with this anxiety in different ways. The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these is reflected in the score on Uncertainty Avoidance.
At 75 Italy has a high score on Uncertainty Avoidance which means that as a nation Italians are not comfortable in ambiguous situations. Formality in Italian society is important and the Italian penal and civil code are complicated with clauses, codicils etc. What is surprising for the foreigner is the apparent contradiction between all the existing norms and procedures and the fact that Italians don’t always comply with them. But in a bureaucratic country one learns very soon which the important ones are and which are not, in order to survive the red tape. In work terms high Uncertainty Avoidance results in large amounts of detailed planning. The low Uncertainty Avoidance approach (where the planning process can be flexible to changing environment) can be very stressful for Italians.
In Italy the combination of high Masculinity and high Uncertainty Avoidance makes life very difficult and stressful. To release some of the tension that is built up during the day Italians need to have good and relaxing moments in their everyday life, enjoying a long meal or frequent coffee breaks. Due to their high score in this dimension Italians are very passionate people: emotions are so powerfully that individuals cannot keep them inside and must express them to others, especially with the use of body language.