Connecting the Individual and Cultural Level Value Analysis

Abstract

The studies of cultural dimensions have often shown that the values that are conceptually oppositional behave independently in empirical studies. This article addresses this apparent controversy in an attempt to operationalize one such bipolar value dimension: the utilitarianism–traditionalism scale. The empirical study of this dimension in Estonian and Russian populations in Estonia showed that these value groups are not related on the individual level. It is suggested that the combination of these two values leads to a four-member typology that corresponds to Berry’s typology of acculturation attitudes: utilitarianist (assimilationist), traditionalist (segregationalist), modernist (integrationalist), and distancing (marginalizationalist). This allows the results of the empirical study to be transformed to a single dimension, corresponding to the semantic structure of this opposition. It is suggested that the mathematical formula for this could also be used in other pairs of values that are semantically oppositional, but allow all logical combinations on the individual level.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Berry, J.W. (1991), ‘ Understanding and Managing Multi-culturalism ’, Psychology and Developing Societies, 3 (1), 17–49 .

Berry, J.W. (1994), ‘Ecology of Individualism and Collectivism’, in U. Kim , H.C. Triandis , C. Kagitçibasi , S-C. Choi , and G. Yoon , eds, Individualism and Collectivism: Theory Method and Applications, pp. 77–84 ( Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications ).

Berry, J.W. (1997), ‘ Immigration, Acculturation and Adaptation ’, Applied Psychology: An International Review, 46 (1), 5–34 .

Chirkov V.I. , M. Lynch , and S. Niwa (2005), ‘ Application of the Scenario Questionnaire of Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism to the Assessment of Cultural Distance and Cultural Fit ’, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29 (4), 469–90 .

Ehala, M. (2005), ‘The Role of MTE in Language Maintenance and Developing Multiple Identities’, in S. Kiefer and K. Sallamaa , eds, European Identities in Mother Tongue Education : Texts from the EUDORA Intensive Programme MTE during the Summer School in Tolmin, Slovenia 2005, pp. 36–50 ( Linz: Trauner Verlag ).

Hofstede, G. (1980), Culture Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values ( Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Publications ).

Inglehart, R. and C. Welzel (2005), Modernization, Cultural Change and Democracy; The Human Development Sequence ( New York: Cambridge University Press ).

Kagitçibasi, C. (1997), ‘Individualism and Collectivism’, in J.W. Berry , M.H. Segall , and C. Kagitçibasi , eds, Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology. Vol. 3: Social Behaviour and Applications, pp. 1–50 ( Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon ).

Li, F. and L. Aksoy (2007), ‘ Dimensionality of Individualism–Collectivism and Measurement Equivalence of Triandis and Gelfand’s Scale ’, Journal of Business and Psychology, 2 (3), 313–29 .

10.

Mill, J.S. (1869), On liberty , available at: http://www.bartleby.com/130/3.html. Accessed on 14 June 2009.

11.

Schwartz, S.H. (1990), ‘ Individualism-Collectivism. Critique and Proposed Refinements ’, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 21 (2), 139–57 .

12.

Schwartz, S.H. (1992), ‘Universals in the Content and Structure of Values: Theoretical Advances and Empirical Tests in 20 Countries’, in M. Zanna , ed., Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, pp. 1–65 ( Orlando, FL: Academic Press ).

13.

Schwartz, S.H. (1999), ‘ A Theory of Cultural Values and Some Implications for Work ’, Applied Psychology: An International Review, 48 (1), 23–47 .

14.

Schwartz, S.H. (2003), ‘A Proposal for Measuring Value Orientations Across Nations’, Chapter 7 in the Questionnaire Development Package of the European Social Survey, available at http://www.Europeansocialsurvey.org. Accessed on 14 November 2008.

15.

Schwartz, S.H. (2006), ‘ Les valeurs de base de la personne: Théorie, mesures et applications’ [Basic Human Values: Theory, Measurement, and Applications] , Revue Française de Sociologie, 45 (4), 929–68 .

16.

Scollon, R. and S. Scollon (1995/2001), Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach ( Oxford: Blackwell ).

17.

Triandis, H.C. and M.J. Gelfand (1998), ‘ Converging Measurement of Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism ’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74 (1), 118–28 .