The French Paradox: Implications for Variations in Global Convergence

A debate divides the cross-cultural community between advocates of global convergence and those foreseeing continued cultural divergence. Given competing evidence, we examine anomalous cultural findings of the ‘French Paradox’ to re-evaluate existing theory on convergence dynamics. By differentiating between the levels of analysis of micro individual values and macro societal practices, we question the regular processes of a top-down-bottom-up model of convergence. In addition, our analysis uncovers power structures interdependency (PSI) between the political and economic elites of a nation as a potential mediator explaining discrepant results.