| Governments of Middle Eastern countries have underdeveloped economies despite material wealth. The current quantitative correlational research examined the relationship between 7 dimensions of national culture and 2 measures of economic development in the Middle East using national culture data collected in 2009 and economic development data from 2006. Using Hofstede's Values Survey Module 2008, data were collected from 353 employees of a regional organization. The employees represented national cultures for 16 Middle Eastern countries. A correlational design was used to examine the relationship between national culture dimensions and the economic measures of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and the Human Development Index (HDI). While few relationships between economic measures and dimensions of national culture were revealed, moderate relationships included the association between economic measures and individualism/collectivism, monumentalism/self-effacement, and masculinity/femininity. The current study provided a base-line, missing from the literature, for additional research of 21st century economic development in the Middle East and factors related to national culture. |
