But in general, high UAI cultures tend to be those that are beginning to modernize and are characterized by a high rate of change. Conversely, low UAI cultures tend to have reached the level of modernization and have more stable or predictable in their rate of change. High UAI cultures tend to develop many rules to control social behaviors. Low UAI cultures need few rules to control social behaviors. Individualism-Collectivism describes the degree to which a culture relies on and has allegiance to the self or the group.
Wealthy cultures tend to be individualistic, whereas poor cultures tend to be collectivistic.
Cultures in colder climate tend to be individualistic, whereas cultures in warmer climates tend to be collectivistic. Hofstede found a strong negative correlation between a culture's scores on the power distance index and its scores on the individualism-collectivism index. High PDI cultures tend to be collectivistic, whereas low PDI cultures tend to be individualistic. Collectivistic cultures tend to be group-oriented, impose a large psychological distance between ingroup and outgroup members and ingroup members are expected to have unquestioning loyalty to their group. In a conflict situation, members of the collectivistic cultures are likely to use avoidance, intermediaries, or other face-saving techniques.