Cultural Differences of Federal Districts in Russia: Evidence from World Value Survey

This paper empirically compares regional differences in the work-related values of Russian employees, using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Which seeks to explore how much attention should be paid to differences within a country and how this affects the overall culture by using data from the World Value Survey (WVS). In terms of individualism vs. collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity vs. femininity, statistically significant differences were found across regions. To analyze regional differences within the Russian Federation, 4 federal districts were studied – Northwestern, Southern, North Caucasian and Far Eastern. The results obtained can contribute to the study of socio-cultural problems in the development of regions. Among the determining factors, climatic and religious and economic development factors had a greater influence on the cultural differences between regions. Northwest federal district scored higher on individualism and uncertainty avoidance than did Southern and North Caucasian federal districts. The score of femininity in the Far East federal district is higher than in the Southern federal district. To summarize, this study shows how the regional cultural differences within one country can be different or similar to the cultural differences of another country.