Lecture 7 - Values
What is a summary of this whole lecture?
- Values serve as broad motivational orientations - Important to distinguish individual values from cultural values - Schwartz's model, initially based on a theory of basic human motivations, has the potential to bridge the two levels - People within countries share values, but there is much agreement across countries too ➔ country differences are subtle - Cultural values have meaningful relations with other culture-level variables - Distinct world regions, consistency across value models
What are some examples of how values guide our behavior?
1) Helping: - Self-transcendence (benevolence/ universalism) - sinosoid shape - across cultures 2) Political Preferences: - security/power neg corr to the left - benevolence/universalism pos corr to the left - sinosoid shape (opposites) 3) Speech Patterns: - values are reflected in speech - e.g., Obama's speech (achievememt, security, power, then only benevolence and universalism) 4) Well-being: - Well-being affect on values: affects life satisfaction and self-esteem more (than vice versa)
Why is Schwartz's model good for cross-cultural comparison?
3 reasons: 1) the structure of the values has been replicated across cultures ->> the values are similar across cultures ->>Construct equivalence (although not perfect) ->>Agreement across cultures on relative importance (benevolence & universalism highest, power & stimulation lowest) 2) The hierarchy of values is quite consistent across cultures ->> Agreement across cultures on relative importance (benevolence & universalism highest, power & stimulation lowest) 3) The two models (comparing cultural and individual values) are comparable ->> possible to relate the individual and cultural models to each other
how do values differ from attitudes beliefs, traits and norms: Schwartz?
A crucial way in which each of these concepts differs from values is that it varies on another scale, so it is measured differently: - Attitudes are evaluations of objects as good or bad, desirable or undesirable. - Beliefs are ideas about how true it is that things are related in particular ways. - Norms are standards or rules that tell members of a group or society how they should behave.
what does the article ersonal values Across Cultures - Sagiv and Schwartz (2022) say?
A more recent paper by Schwartz, essentially same content with a more nuanced model of value relations based upon a comprehensive meta-study: - Review research conducted in various societies and note whether findings generalize across cultures. - Discuss what values are and how they are similar to and different from other constructs. - Present theory and findings regarding the content and structure of values across cultures and discuss measurement issues. - Implications of values for attitudes and behavior. new model: 4 higher order values, 10 basic values, 19 refined values with motivational goals - Studies from well over 500 samples from nearly 100 countries provide findings to assess the theory of basic values across cultures. - 17-19 values in almost every sample provide evidence for the near-universal understanding of the meanings and circular order of the 10 or 19 basic values. the role of cultures for values: Culture powerfully affects value socialization. At the societal level, there is a substantial pan-cultural similarity in value priorities. - Self-transcendence values are the most important and power values least important in almost every society. Self-transcendence values as being due to their critical role in cooperation, smooth functioning, and solidarity within the family and society. And the low priority of power values reflects their potential for disrupting social relations. - Processes of value change: Five processes through which values may change: 1) identification, 2) adaptation, 3) priming, ->> involves increasing value accessibility, thereby enhancing the likelihood of subsequent attitudes or behaviours that are consistent with that value. (Only changes the accessibility to the value, not its importance, so its effects are short lived) 4) consistency maintenance, 5) direct persuasion. - Values develop early in life as hierarchies of priorities and remain relatively stable as guiding principles through the life course
What is Schartz's value structure?
A value structure that proposes that individuals hold a set of basic values that guide their behavior and attitudes. Schwartz identified ten universal values that are present in all cultures and societies, although the importance and expression of each value may vary between cultures and individuals.
What is an example of the ecological fallacy?
Divorce rates and well-being: - Countries that have a higher divorce rate have a higher well-being: positive correlation between well-being and divorce rate at COUNTRY LEVEL whereas negative correlation at INDIVIDUAL LEVEL ↓due to: 3rd variables on the country level that different as opposed to the factors on individual level THUS: the values in the Schwartz model might not have the same relation on cultural level → We should not assume that values have the same relationship between each other for individuals as they have for cultures → cannot take this for granted > HOWEVER moderate correspondence
What is Hofstede's model on cultural values?
Hofstede's model on cultural values is a framework for understanding cultural differences across countries and societies.
What does Hofstede say about cultural values?
Individualism vs. Collectivism: The extent to which individuals priorities their personal goals vs. their group goals Individualism vs. Collectivism within the same country: - Cultural values vary between but also within countries. In China, for instance, predominantly rice-growing regions (south) showed more collectivistic responses than predominantly wheat -growing regions (north). - positively related with social capital High vs. Low Power distance: - The extent to which inequality between individuals is accepted in a society (by less powerful members) Uncertainty tolerance vs. avoidance: - The amount of tolerance for ambiguity and the need for formal rules. Masculinity vs. Femininity: - The extent to which social gender roles are distinct and emphasis is placed on feminine vs. masculine values Long-term vs. Short-term orientation: - The extent to which individuals direct their actions on future rewards vs. present (& past) rewards Indulgence vs. Restraint orientation: - The extent to which society allows free gratification of basic human drives related to enjoying life
Why are the relations between values different at different levels?
It might be the case that there are some methodological factors For some countries, it might be functional to combine the values → humble AND value authority at the country level, but not connected on the individual level
Fischer: do these two models really march to different beats?
Level of agreement between two models is higher than what you would get if you took two random countries, these two countries would have lower similarity than individual and cultural level → two random countries will have lower similarities than the individual and cultural level from the same country it is possible to relate the individual and cultural models to each other
Are the values always opposed to one another?
No, example: Someone high on achievement and high on benevolence Some social roles ask to combine values that are on different sides → opposites but highly salient for the same person
How strongly do individuals within a country agree in their value endorsement
On average, about 60%: moderate agreement - not everyone agrees on ordering, hence values have different levels for individuals
How much of the variance is between countries (as opposed to between individuals within each country)?
On average, less that 12% of variance is between countries ➔ individuals' values vary much more than countries' values do values are not a unified, monolithic concept allowing us to distinguish between one culture and another
Where are the values that are individual focused?
On the left ->> more individually focused - younder people on the right ->> more community focused - older people
What are two dimensions of the circular model?
Openness to change VS Conservation ■ Openness to change → self-direction, hedonism, stimulation ● Self direction: curious and open → determining your own fate ■ Conservation → tradition, conformity, security Self-enhancement VS Self-transcendence ■ Self-enhancement → achievement, power, hedonism ■ Self-transcendence → universalism, benevolence
What are the different models of cultural level values?
Schwartz: - Embeddedness - Intellectual Autonomy - Affective Autonomy - Hierarchy - Egalitarianism - Mastery - Harmony Hofstede: • Individualism/Collectivism • Power Distance • Uncertainty Avoidance • Masculinity/ Femininity • Long/ Short-term Orientation • Indulgence/ Restraint Inglehart: • Traditional vs. Secular-rational values • Survival vs. Self-expression values
What are the values related to personal growth?
The values on the top (openness + self transcendence) The values on the bottom are particularly salient when they are challenged (self enhancement + conservation)
What does Schwartz theory of value's say?
Values are motivational in that they represent broad goals that apply across contexts and time six main features - values are beliefs linked inextricably to affect - values refer to desirable goals that motivate action - values transcend specific actions and situations - values serve as standards or criteria - values are ordered by importance - the relative importance of multiple values guides action - values are distinguished by one another by the type of goal or motivation that it expresses - most likely to be universal bc they are grounded in one or more of 3 universal requirements (1) needs of individuals as biological organisms (2) requisites of coordinated social interaction (3) survival and welfare needs of groups - the basic social function of values to motivate and control the behaviour of group members two mechanisms are critical: (1) values serve as internalised guides for individuals; they relieve the group of the necessity for constant social control (2) people invoke values to define particular behaviours as socially appropriate, to justify their demands and to elicit desired behaviours
How much do cultures differ in values?
Values are seen to be central features of culture ->> they provide a shared meaning for values to function like this: 1) people need to agree on what their most important values are 2) there need to be systematic cross-cultural differences both of these are not very strongly supported
What is the organizational principle of the circular model?
Values that are on the opposite ends are conflictual, the ones represented next to one another are more likely to be highly values by the same person
How do values relate to behavior?
We want to predict behavior from the values that they have Example: We want to see whether a value affects helping behavior: - A value such as power may be opposed to this behavior - hence we try to see a relationship Study: completing questionnaires but lost questionnaires and asked them to come back and measured helping behavior - high self-transcendent (benevolance) values mean an increased likelihood to come up and help VS. high on self-enhancement mean decreased likelihood of helping Values guide our behavior
Why did Schwartz develop two separate models for values measured at the individual vs cultural level?
because values do not have the same relationship between each other for individuals as for cultures
What are individual values?
broad desirable goals that motivate people's actions and serve as guiding principles in their lives. They affect people's perception, cognition, and behavior over time and across situations - Cognitive representations, beliefs about what is important in life - Motivational orientations toward desirable goals and ways to attain them - Ordered in terms of relative importance
How do values compare on country level data?
countries that are geographically close together or that share historical cultural features, tend to be clustered together
How do we develop these measures of cultural values?
from the individual to cultures Cultural-level values are computed by aggregating the responses of individuals (getting the mean) and then compared between countries LIMITATION: ->> ecological fallacy: assuming that theoretical relationships are valid among individuals simply because they can be found at the level of cultures, and the other way around - Schwartz developed different (moderately correlated) circular model for cultural values - both have similar correlations with SDO and Global Peace Index
What does Inglehart-Welzel Cultural Map say?
is a framework that classifies countries and societies based on their values and beliefs. Why cultural values differ is based on two dimensions: 1) Traditional vs Secular Values ->> compared to conformity vs openness to change 2) Survival vs. Self-Expression Values - compare to two poles in Schwartz' model: anxiety vs growth-oriented values - Example: self-expression: more tolerance for differences, homosexuality etc. how the map develops: - general trend shows that greater the values differ according to economic development
Are values more individual or cultural?
most evidence shows that values differ per person
Why do values not cluster in the same way for cultures than for individuals?
the relationship between the values are different because of methodological and subsistence factors example: Authority and humble - authority ->> power (individual) - humble ->> tradition (individual) For cultures people who are humble tend to value authority hence they can be categorized together
What does Schwartz say about the importance of values?
they are all important but to a different degree for different people
Do values affect the well-being of individuals and vice versa?
yes, Values affect well-being the same as well-being affects values They way people feel has stronger effect on their values a few years later, than their values having effect on their well being → values are adaptable, values respond to self situations across time
Are values adaptable?
yes, if we see that there is something wrong in our lives, it serves as a signal that we should change our values (well-being therefore adapts values) So: it is not that you live by your values and that's why you are happy, but you rather are happy and you adjust your values to be happy.
What are 3 dimensions of cultural level values?
● Egalitarianism - hierarchy ● Mastery - harmony ● Intellectual autonomy - embeddedness
