ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 is aptly titled Corruption and Socialization: A Cultural Hypothesis. It addresses specific questions regarding whether there are cultural factors that induce corruption or the proclivity to engage in corrupt behavior? By illustrating how individuals and society in general become socialized over time into habits or norms that may lead to as well as reinforce corruption, the chapter also explains how particular norms and behaviors can be taken for granted once they become routinized, institutionalized, and then normalized. Using data from the Geert Hofstede Index of National Cultures, the culture-corruption hypothesis is tested exclusively for Nigeria. The findings also validate the fact that specific cultural habits or practices (such as Power Distance and Individualism/Collectivism) do facilitate corruption and, in the larger scheme of things, could be used to explain some of the reasons why Nigeria has consistently been ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
