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f. Sixth, attitudes and behavior are typically motivated and driven by
more than one value; that is, multiple values guide social action.
What distinguishes one value from another is the type of goal or
motivation it expresses.
iv. In earlier typologies, Schwartz included an 11th value of spirituality.
v. Studies show that benevolence, universalism, and self-direction are
typically ranked highest, whereas power and stimulation are ranked lowest.
vi. In trying to explain why these 10 values are pancultural (across cultures),
Schwartz points to two factors: (a) human nature and (b) maintaining
societies and social order.
a. Values that conflict with human nature are unimportant across most
cultures.
b. But according to Schwartz, the social function of values is to
motivate and control the actions of group members for the sake of
the group.
c. Two critical points:
d. Universalism (which often ranks second among cultures) also
motivates positive social interactions, especially among those
perceived as different, such as in school, work, or social settings.
e. Self-direction values cultivate creativity and innovation, which
satisfy individual needs without necessarily hurting the group.
F. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s Value Orientations
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i. Every culture has universal problems and conditions that must be
addressed.
ii. The possible solutions are motivated by the values of the culture.
iii. 25 value orientations:
a. Condon and Yousef organized the value orientations around six
dominant themes: the self, the family, society, human nature,
nature, and the supernatural.
iv. The Self:
a. How self-identity is fostered is influenced by the culture’s values.
b. The second variation on the self-continuum is age.
c. The third variation on the self is activity.
v. The Family:
a. Familial relationships differ across cultures.
b. Positional role behavior within families refers to how strictly roles
are prescribed among family members.
• Mike Keberlein argues that machismo is a Spanish concept
that deals mainly with how male and female roles are
performed in the home.
vi. Society:
a. Social reciprocity refers to the mutual exchanges people make in
their dealings with others.
b. What is perceived as a relatively innocuous request in one country
may be interpreted quite seriously in others.
• The group is subordinate to the individual’s needs.
vii. Human Nature: The human nature orientation deals with how cultures
perceive human character and temperament.
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viii. Nature:
a. Much of the education taught in the United States is based on
abstract concepts and constructs.
b. Condon and Yousef maintain that in other cultures, perhaps those
with little formal education, what a person knows about nature is
learned through direct experience.
b. The value orientations presented here are representative of the kinds
of values held by cultures and the differences in those values.
c. They also serve as a starting point for researchers to compare and
contrast the myriad cultures that cohabit the planet.
G. Power Distance
i. Power distance: The extent to which members of a culture expect and
accept that power is unequally distributed.
ii. According to Geert Hofstede, while many cultures declare and even
legislate equality for their members, all cultures must deal with the issue of
human inequality.
a. Although some cultures affirm equality for their members, some
form of inequality exists in virtually every culture.
b. Inequality can occur in areas such as prestige, wealth, power,
human rights, and technology, among others.
iii. Power distance in cultures:
a. Issues of inequality fall within the rubric of what Hofstede calls
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e. Hofstede categorizes cultures as possessing either large or small
power distance.
• The overall educational process is student oriented.
• In organizations, decentralization is popular, and
subordinates engage in participative decision-making.
a. The organizational power hierarchy is mostly for
convenience, since the persons who occupy
powerful roles may change regularly.
b. Workers are expected to try to “climb the ladder of
success” to more power and prestige.
f. Hofstede maintains that in cultures with a larger power distance,
inequalities among people are both expected and desired.
g. Less powerful people should be dependent on more powerful
people.
• In larger power distance cultures, children are expected to be
obedient.
• In many such cultures, there is a strict hierarchy among
family members in which typically the father rules
authoritatively, followed by the eldest son and moving
down the ladder by age and sex.
iv. There appears to be a direct link between power distance and the latitude
of the country.
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a. In a study conducted at 40 universities in the United States, Peter A.
Andersen and his colleagues found a strong correlation between
latitude and authoritarianism.
v. Different types of power:
a. Cultures with large and small power distance may value different
types of power.
b. Large power distance cultures tend to emphasize positional power.
vi. Measuring Power Distance
a. Power distance scale: If we know the position of a culture on the
power distance scale relative to our own culture, then we have a
starting point from which to proceed in our understanding of that
culture.
b. Power distance tells us about dependence relationships in a given
culture:
• In those countries where a small power distance is observed,
dependence is limited and subordinates are confrontational.
• In cultures with large power distances, subordinates are
considerably dependent on superiors and extremely
submissive.
vii. Communication and Power Distance
a. Power distance affects verbal and nonverbal behavior of a culture.
b. Investigation on power distance and communication during conflict:
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• In contrast, those with larger power distance values focused
more strongly on the favorability of their outcomes.
• Tyler, Lind, and Huo suggest that the degree to which
authorities can gain acceptance for themselves and their
decisions through providing dignified, respectful treatment
is influenced by the cultural values of the disputants.
c. Stella Ting-Toomey has examined power distance and the concepts
of face and facework in conflict situations:
• Face represents an individual’s sense of positive self-image
in the context of communication.
• According to Ting-Toomey, everyone, in all cultures, has
face concerns during conflict.
d. Research has investigated how power distance affects reactions to
messages about alcohol warnings by Anna Perea and Michael D.
Slater:
• The messages were manipulated into large and small power
distance appeals by attributing or not attributing them to the
surgeon general, an authority with power.
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e. Student–teacher relationships exist in virtually every culture:
• Generally, teachers possess more legitimate and expert power
than do their students.
• An examination of student–teacher relationships in cultures
with small (i.e., Britain) and large (i.e., China) power
distance, Helen Spencer-Oatey found that Chinese students
reported a larger power differential between themselves
and their Chinese teachers than did the British students
with their British teachers.
f. Response to verbal insults:
• In their comparison of Chinese and U.S. students, Bond and
his colleagues found that the Chinese were less critical of
an insulter as long as the insulter had higher status than the
in-group.
• U.S. citizens, on the other hand, made no distinction as a
function of the insulter’s status.
g. Power distance and nonverbal behavior: Power distance also affects
the nonverbal behavior of a culture.
• In many large power distance cultures, persons of lower
status are taught not to give direct eye contact to a person
of higher status.
H. Uncertainty Avoidance
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i. Uncertainty avoidance: The degree to which the members of a particular
culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations.
a. This may account for why some people avoid interacting with
people from other cultures.
iv. By reducing uncertainty, however, anxiety can be reduced, which, in turn,
facilitates effective and successful communication.
v. Variation across cultures:
a. One’s level of tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity varies across
cultures.
b. Communicative strategies for reducing uncertainty also vary across
cultures.
vi. Shared general orientation toward uncertainty:
a. According to Hofstede, tolerance for uncertainty is learned through
cultural socialization.
vii. It is expressed through nervous stress and as a felt need for predictability
and for written and unwritten rules.
viii. Cultures possess either a weak or strong uncertainty avoidance
orientation.
a. In cultures with a weak uncertainty avoidance orientation,
uncertainty is seen as a normal part of life, in which each day is
accepted as it comes.
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• Precision and punctuality are learned because they do not
come naturally.
• Workers are motivated by their achievements and personal
esteem or belongingness.
• There is also a high tolerance for innovative ideas that may
conflict with the norm.
b. Conversely, cultures with a strong uncertainty avoidance orientation
sense that uncertainty in life is a continuous threat that must be
fought.
• Life can be stressful, where a sense of urgency and high
anxiety are typical.
ix. A Theory of Uncertainty Orientation
a. Uncertainty-oriented individuals have a weak uncertainty avoidance
tendency, while certainty-oriented individuals have a strong
uncertainty avoidance tendency.
b. Uncertainty-oriented persons’ preferred method of handling
uncertainty is to seek out information and engage in activity that
will directly resolve the uncertainty.
c. These people try to understand and discover aspects of the self and
the environment about which they are uncertain.
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h. Western societies tend to be more uncertainty oriented because of
their self-oriented and individualistic approaches to life, compared
with people in Eastern societies, who, in turn, should be more
certainty oriented as a function of their heavy reliance on groups.
I. Long Term-Short Term Orientation
i. Long term-short term orientation refers to how cultures maintain their
historical past while managing the cultural challenges of the present and
future.
ii. Hofstede notes that in long-term oriented cultures individuals value long
standing values and time-honored traditions.
c. Cultures with a long-term orientation include Japan, South Korea,
China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Brazil.
iii. Prefer to focus on gains in the present and past, with respect for tradition
and social obligations but an emphasis on quick results.
a. Social hierarchies are not of central importance.
b. Cultures scoring low on long-term orientation (i.e., short term
orientation) include the U.S., United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden,
New Zealand, Germany, and Australia.
iv. Researchers with the National Bureau of Economic Research studied the
cultural influence of long-term orientation on the education of immigrant
students living in the US.
a. They found that immigrant students from cultures with long-term
orientation performed better than students from short term
orientation cultures.
v. Effects of long-term orientation:
a. Long-term orientation as a positive and significant predictor:
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• In their recent study, Bukowski and Rudnicki found that
cultural long-term orientation is a positive and significant
predictor of national (cultural) innovation intensity.
• But they argue that cultural factors, such as long-term
orientation, should also be taken into account if the
differences in innovation rates across multiple countries are
to be explained.
• They present empirical evidence that cultural influences,
specifically long-term orientation, and improves innovation
production and adoption.
b. Researchers in China recently studied the effects of long-term
orientation on prosocial behavior.
• They found a significant negative association between long-
term orientation prosocial behaviors.