What is the purpose of function of cultural values?

Functions of cultural value Chapter 3

Value orientation Based on set of universal questions that human beings consciously or unconsciously seek to answer. The answers or solutions to these questions are available in all cultures but each culture has it’s own preferences. Basic criteria through which we evaluate our own behaviors and the behaviors of others. These are guidelines for our motivations, expectations, perceptions, interpretations, and communicative actions.

Values have many functions Identity meaning function Fundamental questions such as “Who am I in this world”? Explanatory function We commonly share and/or understand values in our cultures. We play “guessing game” when interacting with other culture.

Functions continued Boundary-regulation function Adaptation function Ingroup and outgroup attitude when dealing with people who are culturally dissimilar. Adaptation function People adapt their needs and ways of living in response to changing habitat; culture also changes Surface-level cultural artifacts (fashion) change faster than deeper-level cultural elements (beliefs and values)

Analyzing cultural value dimension Cultural value analysis highlights the potential differences and similarities of value patterns between cultural groups. These are general tendencies of culture, there are wide variety of individual value tendencies

Cultural Values Identified four dimensions along which dominant patterns of a culture can be ordered: Individualism-collectivism Small/large power distance Low/high uncertainty avoidance Masculinity-femininity

Individualism Refers to the balance of concern for oneself and concern for others (individual over group identity) Promotes self-sufficiency, individual responsibility, and personal autonomy. Everyone is expected to look after him/herself and their immediate family. This cultural pattern is found in most northern and western regions of Europe and North America (U.S., Australia, Great Britain, and Canada) Values emphasized: freedom, honesty, social recognition, comfort, and personal equity.

Collectivism Emphasizes the importance of the “we” identity over the “I” identity. Promotes relational interdependence, ingroup harmony, and ingroup collaborative spirit. Cultural patterns found in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America, and the Pacific islands. Values emphasized: harmony, face-saving, respect parents/elderly, equality among peers.

Power Distance Has been defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. People in small power distance value equal power distribution, equal rights and relations, and rewards. People in large power distance tend to accept unequal power distribution, hierarchical rights. Consequences of power distance evident in family, student-teacher, and business relationships.

Uncertainty avoidance Uncertainty avoidance- refers to how a culture chooses to adapt to change, to what extend they do not mind the conflicts and cope with uncertainty. Weak (low) uncertainty avoidance cultures encourage risk taking and conflict-approaching modes; United States is weak in uncertainty avoidance. Strong (high) uncertainty avoidance cultures tend to: be highly resistant to change, perceive uncertainty and conflict as threatening, and often adopt many rules to control social behavior.

Uncertainty Avoidance Is not the same as risk avoidance; but it deals with a society’s tolerance for ambiguity. It indicates extent for either structured or unstructured situations. Unstructured: novel, unknown, surprising Structured: strict behavioral codes, laws and rules etc.

Masculinity-femininity Refers to the extent cultures prefer achievement or nurturance. Social and gender roles are clearly defined in highly masculine cultures. Men are suppose to be assertive, masculine, tough, and focused on tasks, often primary breadwinners. In feminine cultures, social accommodation is highly regarded. Social gender roles are fluid and can overlap.

IBM research reveled Women’s values differ less among societies than men’s values Men’s values from one country to another and contain dimension from very assertive and competitive to modest and caring and similar to women’s values. Masculinity is high in Japan, German speaking countries, Latin like Italy and Mexico. It is low in Nordic countries.

Additional value orientation patterns Based on set of universal questions that human beings consciously or unconsciously seek to answer. The answer or solutions to these questions are available in all cultures; however some cultures have a stronger preference for one particular set of answers than for others.

Meaning: doing-being activity value orientation Question: What do people consider as meaningful: doing or being? Doing: solution means achievement-orientation activities. Being: solution means living with emotional vitality. Being-in-becoming: means living with an emphasis on spiritual renewal

Discussion question: What do U.S. Americans tend to consider meaningful activity?

Destiny: Controlling-yielding people-nature value orientation Question: Is the relationship between people and the natural (or supernatural) environment one of control, harmony, or subordination? Controlling their environment: These cultures tend to believe in mastery and control over the natural environment. Includes middle-class European Americans.

Destiny: continued Harmony-with-nature or “flowing” value solution: These cultures tend to emphasize spiritual transformation or enlightenment rather than material gain (Example; includes Buddhist culture). Subjugation-to-nature or “yielding” value solution: These cultures believe that nature is a powerful force that is beyond the control of individuals (Example; includes many Middle Eastern cultures).

Time: future-past temporal value orientation Question: Is the temporal focus in the culture based on the future, present or past? Future-oriented time sense: means planning for desirable short- to medium-term developments and setting out clear objectives to realize them. European Americans subscribe to this orientation.

Time: continued Present-oriented time sense: means valuing the here and how, especially the interpersonal relationships that are unfolding currently, Latino/a Americans tend to subscribe to this orientation. Past-oriented time sense: means honoring historic and ancestral ties plus respecting the wisdom of the elders. Asian immigrants tend to subscribe to this orientation.

Space: privacy-communal spatial value orientation Question: What is the spatial value emphasis in this particular culture Proxemics studies examine the functions are regulation of interpersonal space in different cultures. Conversational distance or personal space for European Americans is 20 inches; for Latin Americans, it is 14-15 inches, and for Saudis, it is 9-10 inches.

Proxemic studies Have you ever had someone stand too close to you as he or she spoke to you? How close was it? What thoughts or interpretations did you have? What feelings were you feeling?

Space; continued High spatial privacy people have a strong need for a well-defined personal space. Low spatial privacy people may have come from a family or cultural region high in density; they are used to crowding.

Culture is a pattern of responding to basic needs for food, shelter, clothing, family organization, religion, government, and social structures. Culture can be further described as discrete behaviors, traditions, habits, or customs that are shared and can be observed, as well as the sum total of ideas, beliefs, customs, knowledge, material artifacts, and values that are handed down from one generation to the next in a society. Cultural artifacts are the objects or products designed and used by people to meet reoccurring needs or to solve problems. Institutions are structures and mechanisms of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of two or more individuals. Cultural norms are rules that are socially enforced. Social sanctioning is what distinguishes norms from values.

Values are core beliefs and practices from which people operate. Each culture possesses its own particular values, traditions, and ideals. Integrity in the application of a “value” over time ensures its continuity, and this continuity separates a value from simple beliefs, opinions, and ideals. Cultural groups may endorse shared values. However, a given individual within that culture may vary in agreement with the group cultural values.

Role of Cultural Values

Cultural universalism asserts that all human beings create culture in response to survival needs. Only humans rely on culture rather than instinct to ensure survival of their kind. What seems unique to humanity is the capacity to create culture. Cultural relativism informs us that each culture possesses its own particular traditions, values, and ideals. Judgments of what is right or wrong, good or bad, acceptable or taboo are based on particular cultural values. Values underlie preferences, guide choices, and indicate what is worthwhile in life. Values help define the character of a culture, but they usually do not provide a specific course of action. Values generally prescribe what one “should” do but not how to do it. Because values offer viewpoints about ideals, goals, and behaviors, they serve as standards for social life. All groups, regardless of size, have their own values, norms, and sanctions.

Although it may seem obvious that values are rooted in the culture from which they originate, this has not always been the way values have been operationalized.

For many years in the United States, the fundamental values of White European American males were often accepted as universal rather than culturally specific. Deviations from mainstream values were labeled as abnormal and inferior rather than merely different. Psychologist Gilbert Wrenn challenged the notion that White European American culture was universal by writing about the “culturally encapsulated counselor,” and the multicultural counseling movement has expanded the notion of culturally bound values.

Formation of Cultural Values

Cultural values are formed through environmental adaptations, historical factors, social and economic evolution, and contact with other groups. Individuals develop cultural perceptual patterns that determine which stimuli reach their awareness. These cultural perceptual patterns also determine judgments of people, objects, and events. When the individual or society prioritizes a set of values (usually of the ethical or doctrinal categories), a value system is formed.

Values dictate what is important. They serve as a guide for the ideals and behavior of members of a culture. As guided by its values, culture can be seen as a dynamic system of symbols and meanings that involves an ongoing, dialectic process where past experience influences meanings, which in turn affects future experience, which in turn affects subsequent meaning. Cultural values provide patterns of living and prescribe rules and models for attitude and conduct.

For example, several culture-specific values have been identified for specific groups. It should be noted, however, that there is considerable within-group variability in what is valued. In traditional Hispanic and Latino/a cultures, the following have been identified as shared cultural values among many of its members: an emphasis on family unity, welfare and honor (familismo), a preference for close personal relationships (personalismo), and respect (respeto) for elders and authority figures.

Traditional African American values have been identified as including the following: an emphasis on collectivism, kinship, the importance of extended families, the centrality of spirituality, and holistic thinking. Commonly among African Americans, both the nuclear family (parents and children) and the extended family (relatives, friends) are important. The concept of familismo among African Americans generally includes both biological and nonbiological members.

Another shared cultural value of African American families is that of role flexibility. The head of the household may not necessarily be the father, as many African American homes are headed by the mother or grandparents.

Traditional “American” values (derived from a White European male perspective) include individualism, competition, accumulation of material possessions, nuclear families, the separation of religion from other aspects of culture, and mastery over nature. It is important to recognize that these values may not be internalized equally among all European Americans; thus, a great deal of variability exists in the adoption and expression of traditional “American” values.

Cultural values guide interactions, and these values can come into conflict with the values of a dominant cultural group and can lead to acculturative stress. Cultures are not confined to racial or ethnic groups. Cultural values can be found in diverse groups by gender, sexual identity, class, country of origin, disability, or a variety of variables. Therefore, an individual can belong to a host of cultures simultaneously, and the issue of navigating cultures with incompatible value systems (e.g., religion and sexual identity) may lead to a fragmented sense of identity or self-hatred.

Categories of Cultural Values

Some researchers suggest that cultural values can be divided into six main categories: (1) ethics (notions of right and wrong, good and evil, and responsibility); (2) aesthetics (notions of beauty and attractiveness); (3) doctrinal (political, ideological, religious, or social beliefs and values); (4) innate/inborn (values such as reproduction and survival; this is a controversial category); (5) non-use/passive (includes the value based on something never used or seen, or something left for the next generation); and (6) potential (the value of something that is known to be only potentially valuable, such as a plant that might be found to have medicinal value in the future).

In multicultural societies, cultures may come into conflict. Parochialism occurs when members of a given culture believe their way is the “only” way. They do not recognize other ways of living, working, or doing things as being valid. Equifinality has been suggested as a more appropriate assumption to make in a multicultural world. This assumption asserts that the way of any given culture is not the only way.

Instead, there are many culturally distinct ways of reaching the same goal or living one’s life. Another conflict may involve ethnocentrism. This occurs when members of a culture recognize the existence of other cultures and yet believe their way is the “best” way and all other cultural valuations are inferior. The notion of cultural contingency may be a more appropriate response in a multicultural world; that is, cultural values are seen as choices that are equally valid for the individuals involved.

Role of Psychologists

Psychologists are charged with dealing with cultural values in several ways. First, they are compelled to understand their own cultural values and how these values affect their work and worldview. Therefore, psychologists should be aware of their own cultural values, and in cases where their cultural values may lead to harm with culturally different clients, psychologists must refer these clients to culturally competent practitioners. In addition, psychologists should actively learn about the cultural values of their clients and, where possible, work with these cultural values as strengths rather than as liabilities or pathological beliefs. For example, psychologists might involve cultural spiritual leaders in the treatment of culturally different clients. The notion of cultural competence extends to all other professional arenas of psychologists, including education, teaching, research, and consultation.

References:

1. American Psychological Association. (2003). Guidelines on multicultural education, training, research, practice and organizational change for psychologists. American Psychologist, 58, 377—1-02.
2. Paniagua, F. A. (2005). Assessing and treating culturally diverse clients: A practical guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
3. Pedersen, P. B., Draguns, J. G., Lonner, W. J., & Trimble, J. E. (Eds.). (2002). Counseling across cultures (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

See also:

• Counseling Psychology
• Multicultural Counseling