Iconic Communication of Values among Americanand Polish Students

Abstract

Many of the major value surveys are forced-choice questionnaires based on the theoretical assumption that values are variable only in the ranking patterns of universal components. In order to test the assumption of universalism across two diverse cultures, a free-response method was employed in which Polish and American college freshmen took photographs of preferred objects in their everyday environment. The resultant value orientations reveal a behavioral component of values in everyday life. The Polish subjects depicted a narrower range of orientations, and institutional as opposed to private orientations. The results were interpreted in terms of the more limited range of alternatives of choice afforded by the Polish environment relative to that of the American subjects, and an orientation toward values associated with enduring aspects of Polish life within a culture marked by instability.

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