scholarly journals Measuring cultural values at the individual-level: considering morality in cross-cultural value research

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christin-Melanie Vauclair

Shared values are typically seen as one of the core aspects of culture. The usual procedure for deriving shared cultural values is through analyzing individuals' value priorities at the cultural-level. This paper outlines the conceptual and methodological problems associated with this procedure. Findings from selected empirical studies are presented to corroborate this critique. Alternative ways of measuring cultural values at the individual-level are presented and classified into a value taxonomy. Within this taxonomy past studies have so far focused on measuring values through importance ratings reflecting what individuals or social groups "desire". However, the argument is made that if cultural values are supposed to be shared they should reflect what is "desirable", i.e. what one "ought" to value or to strive for as a goal in life in a certain society. This constitutes a new approach for the measurement of cultural values. It is proposed that cultural values are measurable at the individual-level using the concept of morality. Suggestions are made how moral values could be operationalized referring to either the individual's moral values or those of a social group. The benefits of the value taxonomy for future research are eventually described.

Author(s):  
Nicole A. Celestine ◽  
Chris Perryer

With the global rise of the knowledge worker, there is an increasing interest in effective knowledge transfer practices within the firm. This interest is especially prevalent in regards to the transfer of tacit knowledge—knowledge that is difficult to describe and transmit to others. In this chapter, the authors consider how the emerging practice of knowledge coaching can be utilized as a means to transfer tacit knowledge between experts and protégés within the firm, and consider the individual-level factors that influence whether the practice yields success. In doing so, they report the results of a study examining the impact of individually possessed national cultural values on motivation to engage in knowledge coaching, and put forward several avenues for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 34-52
Author(s):  
A.N. Tatarko

Objective. Review a key theoretical developments of the concept of social capital, review of socio-psychological approaches to the nature of social capital, and discuss the problem of social capital in a multicultural society based on existing research. Background. Despite of a large number of empirical studies, there are currently no common views on the structure of social capital, as well as generally accepted methods for measuring it. The phenomenology of social capital is considered at three levels: macro-, meso -, and micro-level. The article considers not only various theoretical approaches to the phenomenon of social capital, but also the advantages of having this socio-psychological resource by society. Special attention is paid to the review of research on social capital in a multicultural society. The article discusses the influence of ethnic diversity of society on its social capital, as well as the influence of various aspects of integration immigration policy on the social capital of society, which is of particular interest and relevance for multicultural Russia. Methodology. Systemic approach, comparative analysis method. Conclusions. The concept of social capital remains rather “umbrella”, combining a set of a number of phenomena that satisfy certain characteristics. Indicators of social capital at the group level and at the individual level are different. Social capital in a multicultural society is one of the resources for mutual adaptation of ethnic groups. Concerning the relation between ethnic diversity and social capital, although most foreign studies indicate a decrease in social capital in the context of ethnic diversity, we did not find this in Russia. The relationship of ethnic diversity to social capital depends strongly on the context.


2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-552
Author(s):  
Rodney C. Runyan ◽  
Jeffrey G. Covin

Entrepreneurship and small business management literatures diverged decades ago, with the former receiving the bulk of subsequent scholarly attention. The concept of a small business orientation (SBO) has not been widely and consistently employed in the literature. We present a conceptual framework aimed at clarifying the construct of SBO, and conceptualize SBO as a firm size- and age-independent phenomenon operating at the individual level, and reflecting manager values about how the business ought to be conducted. We discuss the values-based derivation of SBO, identify elements of this multidimensional construct, its likely consequences, and propose future research directions.


Author(s):  
Rajat Gera ◽  
Priyanka Chadha ◽  
Shirin Alavi

This paper aims to synthesize and integrate the existing literature on MSA adoption and provide directions for future research through narrative review by classifying and organizing the accumulated knowledge into a thematic framework. The paper's theoretical, conceptual approaches, and results were organized into three themes: online distribution channel (theoretical approaches and antecedent factors of MSA adoption, consumer characteristics), advanced technology for in-store shopping (marketing aspects of MSA), and technology perspectives (technology aspects of MSA). The 25 theories of mobile shopping app (MSA) adoption and usage (at the individual level) from 22 reviewed papers were summarized, defined, and mapped with authors. Research questions have been proposed for theories used in reviewed papers and new theories. MSA adoption is at an emergent stage of evolution with fragmentation of theoretical and methodological approaches. While theories of technology adoption and behavioral intentions have been used predominantly, most studies have adopted a multi-theoretic approach or have extended/modified the model with hedonic, situational, and behavioral constructs. The findings related to consumer characteristics of MSA adoption, anchor constructs, moderator and mediator variables, and marketing and technology features of MSA are synthesized and organized according to the themes. Theoretical and practical implications are drawn, research limitations are identified, and future research directions are suggested.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Awais Ahmad Tipu

Purpose This paper aims to review the academic literature on business plan competitions in developed and emerging economies to assess the contribution to the knowledge so far and identify research gaps. Design/methodology/approach A variety of databases (such as ABI/Inform Global, Academic Search Complete, Business Source Premier and Emerald Full Text) were used to find peer-reviewed journal articles. Regardless of time, different search terms were used to find relevant journal articles such as business plan competitions, business plan contests, business plan teams, business plan judges, business plan development and business plan scores. After a careful review of the identified articles, a total of 22 articles were included in the final review. The articles in the final set were manually coded using the thematic codes. Findings Despite the popularity of business plan competitions, limited academic literature exists, particularly in the context of emerging economies. A total of 16 out of 22 studies are conducted in developed economies. The findings suggest that the literature on business plan competitions is largely centered on the structure of business plan competitions, the characteristics of the participating teams and the benefits of business plan competitions. The individual level benefits of business plan competitions include the development of entrepreneurial skills, opportunity for networking and access to mentors. Business plan competitions can be better aligned with public policy, particularly in case of emerging economies. Therefore, a more focused and integrated approach among industry, academia and government in encouraging business plan competitions could potentially make a far-reaching impact in establishing an enterprising society. While much is known about the structure and the benefits of business plan competitions, there are various research gaps which need to be addressed. Originality/value The current paper is the first identifiable review of the literature on business plan competitions. The proposed questions for future research will potentially help in addressing the identified research gaps.


2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauri Rapeli

It is widely assumed that a representative democracy requires an enlightened citizenry in order to function properly. The competence of citizens has been studied extensively and the sociodemographic determinants of political sophistication are particularly well known. Much less is known about whether and how citizen competence affects electoral behaviour and outcomes. This article reviews the existing literature on these topics. Despite the widespread consensus that, generally speaking, citizen competence matters for electoral outcomes, the review produced a mixed result: some studies suggest that the political left would benefit from a better-informed electorate, while other studies suggest the opposite. Although the majoritarian electoral context is overrepresented in the evidence, the review shows that at the individual level, political knowledge greatly increases a person’s ability to match personal preferences with the right candidate or party in an election. The article also identifies several gaps in existing knowledge, thereby suggesting future research questions.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Mesoudi

AbstractHow do migration and acculturation (i.e. psychological or behavioral change resulting from migration) affect within- and between-group cultural variation? Here I answer this question by drawing analogies between genetic and cultural evolution. Population genetic models show that migration rapidly breaks down between-group genetic structure. In cultural evolution, however, migrants or their descendants can acculturate to local behaviors via social learning processes such as conformity, potentially preventing migration from eliminating between-group cultural variation. An analysis of the empirical literature on migration suggests that acculturation is common, with second and subsequent migrant generations shifting, sometimes substantially, towards the cultural values of the adopted society. Yet there is little understanding of the individual-level dynamics that underlie these population-level shifts. To explore this formally, I present models quantifying the effect of migration and acculturation on between-group cultural variation, for both neutral and costly cooperative traits. In the models, between-group cultural variation, measured using F statistics, is eliminated by migration and maintained by conformist acculturation. The extent of acculturation is determined by the strength of conformist bias and the number of demonstrators from whom individuals learn. Acculturation is countered by assortation, the tendency for individuals to preferentially interact with culturally-similar others. Unlike neutral traits, cooperative traits can additionally be maintained by payoff-biased social learning, but only in the presence of strong sanctioning institutions. Overall, the models show that surprisingly little conformist acculturation is required to maintain realistic amounts of between-group cultural diversity. While these models provide insight into the potential dynamics of acculturation and migration in cultural evolution, they also highlight the need for more empirical research into the individual-level learning biases that underlie migrant acculturation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002202212110447
Author(s):  
Plamen Akaliyski ◽  
Christian Welzel ◽  
Michael Harris Bond ◽  
Michael Minkov

Nations have been questioned as meaningful units for analyzing culture due to their allegedly limited variance-capturing power and large internal heterogeneity. Against this skepticism, we argue that culture is by definition a collective phenomenon and focusing on individual differences contradicts the very concept of culture. Through the “miracle of aggregation,” we can eliminate random noise and arbitrary variation at the individual level in order to distill the central cultural tendencies of nations. Accordingly, we depict national culture as a gravitational field that socializes individuals into the orbit of a nation’s central cultural tendency. Even though individuals are also exposed to other gravitational forces, subcultures in turn gravitate within the limited orbit of their national culture. Using data from the World Values Survey, we show that individual values cluster in concentric circles around their nation’s cultural gravity center. We reveal the miracle of aggregation by demonstrating that nations capture the bulk of the variation in the individuals’ cultural values once they are aggregated into lower-level territorial units such as towns and sub-national regions. We visualize the gravitational force of national cultures by plotting various intra-national groups from five large countries that form distinct national clusters. Contrary to many scholars’ intuitions, alternative social aggregates, such as ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups, as well as diverse socio-demographic categories, add negligible explained variance to that already captured by nations.


Author(s):  
TAM PHAM

Advertising is increasingly important in every corner of the world.  It has become an indispensable part for both producers and consumers in modern society to boost the production and consumption of the products. To succeed in advertising, one component advertisers cannot ignore is cultural values because they are one of the determinants of customers’ behavior. Of the cultural dimensions, individualism and collectivism are considered the most important one. This study, therefore, sets the light on an overview of how individualism and collectivism is manifested in advertising in term of advertising themes, advertising creative tactics and linguistic advertising features in empirical studies. It then specifies what have and has not been done on the topic alike so that anyone interested in the field will find the gaps for their future research.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Christin-Melanie Vauclair

<p>Morality, or what is considered right or wrong, varies seemingly across cultures. However, the literature shows that moral psychologists have mainly investigated moral reasoning assuming a universal morality. Cross-cultural psychologists in contrast have widely neglected moral issues such as prescriptive beliefs of what people ought to do in a culture, and have predominantly measured culture through personal values. This thesis attempts to bridge this gap by focusing on the values concept. Four empirical studies were conducted to critically examine values as a measure of culture and their relationship to morality. Chapter one is an introduction into the topics morality, culture and values. Chapter two outlines the conceptual and methodological issues associated with deriving cultural values through the statistical aggregation of individuals' personal values. A value taxonomy is presented in which personal moral values and societal moral values are proposed as alternatives for measuring the cultural context. Following this critique, personal values are examined in two empirical studies in a cross-cultural context scrutinizing the validity of Schwartz' (1994) Culture-level Value Theory. Study 1 is a cross-cultural meta-analysis using the Rokeach Value Survey (Rokeach, 1973) showing that Schwartz' culture-level value structure was replicable with different samples, and a different method for assessing value priorities. Nonetheless, a set of values not included in Schwartz' analysis formed a new value type: Self-fulfilled Connectedness (SFC) which is related to the pursuit of non-material goals and endorsed in countries in which basic needs are fulfilled. Study 2 tested in a multilevel regression model whether Schwartz' cultural values predicted individuals' moral attitudes with data from more than 40 different countries. The findings indicated that the value dimension Autonomy-Embeddedness explained individuals' lenient attitude towards personal-sexual, but not towards dishonest-illegal issues. Study 3 dealt with the fundamental critique raised in chapter two that Schwartz (1994) does not operationalize micro- and macro-level constructs independently when measuring cultural values. To address this empirically, personal moral values and societal moral values were explicitly measured in student samples from eight cultures. Societal moral values showed greater cross-cultural differences than personal moral values. Furthermore, societal moral values at the culture-level conceptually replicated the multilevel findings from Study 2. This suggests that societal moral values are a valid macro-level variable for the measurement of culture. Finally, Study 4 was conducted to elicit implicit moral values. Respondents from four cultures free-listed their associations of a 'moral person'. correspondence analyses revealed that collectivistic-oriented samples mentioned more traditional moral attributes, whereas individualistic samples reported more liberal attributes. Furthermore, accessibility of implicit moral values - matched with the SVS - correlated with explicit ratings of personal moral values from Study 3, providing convergent validity for this kind of values. This multi-method finding corroborated that personal moral values and societal moral values are different concepts. In sum, these studies support the validity of Schwartz' theory and suggest that notions of right and wrong do indeed tell us something about culture, but it depends on (1) the issues studied (personal-sexual issues), and (2) the kind of values measured (societal moral values).</p>


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