Feedback & code review
フィードバックとコードレビューREV
How criticism travels between engineers: code review, pull request decisions, and how disagreement is voiced.
39 claimsWell attested 3Attested 21Thin 15
Related scales
These scales describe national averages that bear on this theme. They place countries relative to one another; they say nothing about any one engineer.
- Culture MapEvaluatingDirect negative feedback ↔ Indirect negative feedbackHow bluntly criticism is delivered.
- Culture MapDisagreeingConfrontational ↔ Avoids confrontationWhether open disagreement is seen as productive or as damaging to the relationship.
Japan日本JP4 claims
South Korea韓国KR2 claims
The "Pn rule", which marks each review comment from P1 (must fix) to P5 (minor opinion), started at Banksalad and has been adopted by Woowa Brothers, Daangn and others.
Attested2 sources2024kr-feedback-1
One Woowa Brothers team has a rule that reviewers leave a comment praising the author even when they have nothing to correct.
Well attested1 source2022kr-feedback-2
China中国CN3 claims
Explainers of Meyer's Culture Map place China on the high-context side and describe negative feedback as tending to be indirect, especially when it could cost someone face.
Thin2 sources2026cn-feedback-1
Empirical studies of Chinese workplaces find that employees stay silent more when they perceive their supervisor's coercive power as strong and when they work under authoritarian leaders. Face (mianzi), guanxi and the doctrine of the mean (zhongyong) are discussed as factors that suppress speaking up.
Well attested3 sources2025cn-feedback-2
In Rastogi et al. (ESEM 2018), which analyzed GitHub pull request acceptance by country, pull requests from China fell in the lower-acceptance group. The cause of the gap was not identified; nationality bias and English proficiency are possible factors.
Attested1 source2019cn-feedback-3
IndiaインドIN2 claims
An article summarizing Meyer's eight scales places India toward the high-context end and on the side that avoids confrontation.
Attested1 sourcein-feedback-1
Rastogi et al. (ESEM 2018), analyzing about 70,000 GitHub pull requests, found that in 16 of 17 countries, pull requests were more likely to be accepted when the submitter and reviewer were from the same country. India was the exception: acceptance fell by 7.4% when the maintainer was also from India.
Attested1 source2019in-feedback-2
United StatesアメリカUS3 claims
According to Meyer, Americans are often taught to wrap negative messages in positive ones (the feedback sandwich). For this reason she places the United States in the middle of the scale for delivering negative feedback.
Attested1 source2014Datedus-feedback-1
A blog explainer on Meyer's evaluating scale notes a common mismatch: Dutch and German colleagues take American praise at face value, while Americans find Dutch and German criticism too harsh.
Thin1 source2016us-feedback-2
A study of more than 70,000 GitHub pull requests from 17 countries (Rastogi et al., 2018) found that pull requests were more likely to be accepted when the reviewer and the submitter were in the same country.
Well attested1 source2018us-feedback-3
United KingdomイギリスUK3 claims
Meyer writes that the British deliver negative feedback less directly than Americans and far less directly than the Dutch. She describes frequent understatement using downgraders such as "a bit" and "slightly."
Attested1 source2014Datedgb-feedback-1
The Anglo-Dutch translation guide that Meyer cites reads "With all due respect" as "I think you are wrong" and "Very interesting" as "I don't like it." The guide is half a joke, and its authorship is disputed.
Attested2 sources2014Datedgb-feedback-2
A study of 44,000 pull requests across 20 projects that compared acceptance rates with the developer's country HDI (Furtado et al., 2020) placed UK developers in the group with the highest acceptance rates.
Attested1 source2020gb-feedback-3
GermanyドイツDE3 claims
The Culture Map (2014) places Germany on the direct side of Evaluating. Meyer describes this as a tendency to deliver negative feedback without softening it.
Attested1 source2014Datedde-feedback-1
One book review explains that Germany is on the confrontational side of Disagreeing, but that German disagreement is objective and emotionally restrained, unlike the expressive confrontation found in France.
Thin1 sourcede-feedback-2
A 2021 review of factors behind pull request decisions cites a study (Rastogi et al., ESEM 2018) finding that pull requests are more likely to be accepted when the submitter and reviewer are in the same country.
Attested1 source2021de-feedback-3
FranceフランスFR3 claims
Meyer writes that the French communicate in a more high-context, implicit way than Americans yet deliver criticism more directly. She treats reliance on context and directness of criticism as separate scales.
Attested1 source2014Datedfr-feedback-1
Meyer's website says that people from the United States, France, and the Netherlands are relatively used to heated, confrontational meetings.
Attested1 sourcefr-feedback-2
One book review explains that French disagreement is emotionally expressive, unlike the restrained style of German disagreement.
Thin1 sourcefr-feedback-3
The Nordics北欧NORD4 claims
On her Evaluating scale, Erin Meyer lists Denmark, alongside the Netherlands and Germany, as an example of a country that gives negative feedback directly.
Attested1 sourcenordics-feedback-1
Carbaugh et al. (Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 2006) describe a Finnish cultural code in which silence and quietude (hiljaisuus) are a positive, natural way of being. Read this way, saying little in a review does not signal agreement.
Attested1 source2006Datednordics-feedback-2
Berry (2011, CercleS) argues that the image of the silent Finn is partly a myth.
Attested1 source2011Datednordics-feedback-3
Lämsä (2010), citing Ekwall and Karlsson (1999), reports that Swedish organizations have been described as avoiding conflict and putting consensus first.
Attested1 source2010Datednordics-feedback-4
NetherlandsオランダNL2 claims
Erin Meyer cites the Netherlands as an example of giving negative feedback directly on her Evaluating scale, and of open disagreement on her Disagreeing scale. Her book says "the Dutch manager learns always to be honest and to give the message straight."
Attested1 sourcenl-feedback-1
Some expat guides link Dutch directness to polder-model consensus building, explaining that speaking your mind freely is a precondition for reaching agreement.
Thin1 sourcenl-feedback-2
IsraelイスラエルIL3 claims
Dugri ("straight talk") is a language ideology that treats bluntness as a sign of courage and sincerity, studied by Tamar Katriel in a 1986 book. Katriel says dugri presupposes mutual trust.
Attested1 source2021il-feedback-1
Katriel describes dugri as the speech style of the European-origin Sabra generation of the 1940s and 1950s, in contrast to musayara, an indirect Arab style. In 1999 she herself noted that dugri was in decline.
Attested1 sourceil-feedback-2
On her Disagreeing scale, Meyer cites Israel as an example of a culture comfortable with open disagreement. A review of The Culture Map also places it among countries that give negative feedback directly.
Attested2 sourcesil-feedback-3
BrazilブラジルBR3 claims
The training company Talaera, citing Meyer, writes that negative feedback tends to be wrapped in warmth and delivered in private, and that public criticism easily damages relationships. The behavioral descriptions rest mainly on the authors' own observations.
Thin1 source2026br-feedback-1
In an HR magazine interview, Erin Meyer names Latin America as one of the "really indirect" parts of the world for negative feedback.
Attested1 source2014Datedbr-feedback-2
Talaera says that instead of a plain "no," phrases such as "we can try" or "I'll do my best" can signal concern or refusal.
Thin1 source2026br-feedback-3
PolandポーランドPL2 claims
According to Talaera, Meyer's Culture Map places Poland on the direct side for negative feedback. The company says criticism that concerns a person's performance tends to be given one-on-one.
Thin1 source2026pl-feedback-1
English written by Polish speakers is said to use few softeners and many imperatives, so it can read as more direct than intended. The evidence comes mainly from studies of learners' English writing.
Thin1 source2026pl-feedback-2
UkraineウクライナUA2 claims
The outsourcing firm N-iX (2019) writes that Ukrainian engineers speak their minds on important technical decisions. This is a seller's claim, and no independent study was found.
Thin1 source2019ua-feedback-1
The recruiting firm unicrew (2026) writes that unless expectations are made explicit, developers may not push back hard on poor technical decisions.
Thin1 source2026ua-feedback-2