Self and Personality Cultural Values: · Every cultural group deals with ultimately the same problems · For each problem there is a set of solutions · Every group has access to these solutions · Every group will prioritise certain solutions · These solutions are cultural values - the guiding principles that help us interact with our social and physical environment Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's Value Dimensions 1. Time Orientation: Where in the chronological timeline do people focus on? · Solutions: past orientation, present, or future orientation . Past: focus on traditional practices, beliefs and teachings (e.g. ancestral worship) · Present: focus on here and now, but not commonly documented · Future: anticipating the future (especially in European American culture) 2. Nature Orientation: · What is humanity's place in the cosmos - how is it meant to interact with the environment? · Solutions: subjugation to, harmony with, or mastery over nature · Subjugation: feeling of helplessness, nothing we can do to change the environment (documented prominently in those who experience homelessness) · Harmony: people are a part of nature (seen in Anishinaabe people) · Mastery: exerting control over nature (E.g. industrialisation - deforestation etc.) 3. Human Nature Orientation: · What is the nature of humanity? (Asked by religious groups a lot) · Solutions: are we good, evil, or a mix of both? · Good: idea that humans are good in nature (Korean religious ideal (Neo-Confucianism) that states we are inherently pure and moral) · Bad: belief that human are sinful (baptism to wash away sins at birth) · Mix: adopted by modern societies, we are born with propensity to be both good or evil 4. Relational Orientation: · How do we navigate our social relationships? · Solutions: collateral, lineal, individualistic · Collateral: needs of group outweigh needs of individuals · Lineal: social hierarchy where those at top have more status or power · Individualistic: decisions are made by people by themselves and for themselves
Hofstede's Value Dimensions We all differ on a spectrum of each of these dimensions 1. Power Distance · Whether people in a group, particularly those who are at the bottom of society, accept or expect unequal distributions of power in society · Low: low rates of corruption in government, equal distribution of wealth and income, children given more autonomy (Western European, English speaking) · High: rampant corruption, political scandals common, uneven distribution of wealth and income, children taught to respect authority (Eastern European, Asian countries) 2. Uncertainty Avoidance · Whether people in a group are comfortable with ambiguity and unstructured interactions · Low: tolerate different opinions and viewpoints, dislike rules and norms, teachers may say "I don't know" (English speaking, Nordic) · High: different opinions seen as dangerous, emotional need for rules, clarity and structure, teachers supposed to have all the answers (East Asian, South American) 3. Masculinity . Whether men and women in a group have differentiated gender roles (i.e. men should be more assertive and ambitious, women should be more modest and caring) · Feminine: minimum