Universal values.

Rokeach (1973) was a pioneer in investigations of values and their relationships to human behavior. His theory examined values from two perspectives values: as desirable end states that in turn were reached by means of instrumental values. Schwartz and Ross (1995) identified seven values thought to be present in all cultures. These included embeddedness which defines the importance that cultures place on maintaining the status quo and on behavior considered proper. Embeddedness involves avoiding actions that might disrupt harmony or the solidarity of the group and fostering respect for social institutions, for traditions, and for promoting social expectations of self-discipline. This universal value seems especially salient in Asian societies, and other traditional cultures. Hierarchy is a universal value describing how cultures reinforce the legitimacy of hierarchical roles in expressions of social power and the use of authority and wealth. Mastery is a value that encourages individuals to get ahead by self-assertion and by dominating the natural and social environments. Mastery as a universal value promotes personal ambition, risk taking, and achievement of competence.

Intellectual autonomy describes the magnitude of cultural support for cognitive independence and the ability of individuals to pursue individually based self-direction. This value seems essential to scientific curiosity and to creative efforts. Affective autonomy is a hedonistic value that describes the degree to which cultures support the effort of people to have positive experiences, to find pleasure and excitement in life. Egalitarianism measure the extent to which cultures support the common welfare by means of equality and social justice. Egalitarian societies support honesty in dealing with others, social responsibility and individual freedom. Finally, the seventh universal value harmony values the ecological environment by supporting the protection of the environment, and by promoting beauty and unity with nature.

Recent research (Schmitt, Allik, McCrae, & Benet-Martinez 2007) have demonstrated a ubiquitious personality structure that support universal values and traits. A five-dimensional personality structure was discovered confirming previous research on a broad cross-cultural scale. This universal personality model was related in a predictable way to traits like self esteem, sexuality and national personality profiles. Some regional variation retains an important role for cultural variation. That argument is also supported by the homogeneity in trait expression between neighboring countries sharing a cultural history. On the other hand trait heterogeneity is larger in European and North American countries. As we shall see strong arguments have also been presented in favor of indigenous psychology building on unique cultural values, for example Chinese cultural research on Confucian relationism (Hwang, 2012; Hwang, Kim, Kou-Shu, 2006).

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 1077