We offer empirical evidence for a new conceptual view on the interdependence of culture-level values and individual value preferences. A study of 291 sojourner students from 56 nationalities tests the hypothesis that social axioms fully mediate the relationship between culture-level and individual value preferences. Cultural values were operationalized with Schwartz’s three culture-level value oppositions: embeddedness-autonomy, mastery-harmony, and hierarchy-egalitarianism. The measurement of social axioms follows the approach of Leung et al., whereas individual values focus on Hagan et al.’s second-order concept of hierarchic self-interest. The empirical support for our central hypothesis points to a necessity to refine theories on the relationship of social axioms and values, giving social axioms the role of a mediator in the process of transmitting a culture’s prevalent values in value preferences of individuals.
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