Universality and Cultural Diversity in Moral Reasoning and Judgment

Many theories have shaped the concept of morality and its development by anchoring it in the realm of the social systems and values of each culture. This review discusses the current formulation of moral theories that attempt to explain cultural factors affecting moral judgment and reasoning. It aims to survey key criticisms that emerged in the past decades. In both cases, we highlight examples of cultural differences in morality, to show that there are cultural patterns of moral cognition in Westerners’ individualistic culture and Easterners’ collectivist culture. It suggests a paradigmatic change in this field by proposing pluralist “moralities” thought to be universal and rooted in the human evolutionary past. Notwithstanding, cultures vary substantially in their promotion and transmission of a multitude of moral reasonings and judgments. Depending on history, religious beliefs, social ecology, and institutional regulations (e.g., kinship structure and economic markets), each society develops a moral system emphasizing several moral orientations. This variability raises questions for normative theories of morality from a cross-cultural perspective. Consequently, we shed light on future descriptive work on morality to identify the cultural characteristics likely to impact the expression or development of reasoning, justification, argumentation, and moral judgment in Westerners’ individualistic culture and Easterners’ collectivist culture.

A conditional process model linking high-performance work systems, collective turnover, collectivist culture and organizational performance

PurposeThis study addresses three research questions: (1) do high-performance work systems (HPWS) enhance organizational performance by reducing collective turnover? (2) does a collectivist organizational culture moderate the link between collective turnover and organizational performance? (3) does collectivist organizational culture act as a boundary condition for the mediating effects of collective turnover in the link between HPWS and organizational performance?Design/methodology/approachA conditional process model linking HPWS, collective turnover, collectivist culture and organizational performance was developed and examined with longitudinal data collected at three different time points from 350 firms in South Korea.FindingsThe positive indirect effects of HPWS on organizational performance through collective turnover were significant. Regarding collectivist culture as a moderator, the negative relationship between collective turnover and organizational performance was stronger when the collectivist culture in the organization is high. In addition, the positive indirect effects of HPWS on organizational performance through collective turnover were also stronger when the collectivist culture in the organization is high.Originality/valueThis study provides a significant contribution to the areas of HPWS by reshaping the conceptual mechanisms in which HPWS enhance organizational performance. Further, it explores the significant role of collectivist culture as a moderator in the relationship between HPWS, collective turnover and organizational performance.

Context- and culture-dependent behaviours for the greater good: A comparative analysis of plate waste generation

In the home context, behaviours that serve the greater good are more often observed among people from collectivist cultures than those from individualist cultures. This tendency is assumed to translate to the vacation context, with people from all collectivist cultures believed to be homogeneous in such behaviour. This study challenges both the above notions, and investigates for the first time both the context- and culture-dependence of one specific environmentally significant behaviour: plate waste generation. Informed by goal framing and cultural dimensions theories, this qualitative study with samples from a masculine collectivist culture (China) and a feminine collectivist culture (Slovenia) reveals that the level of pro-environmental behaviour declines in the vacation context. The possible reasons differ between both collectivist cultures. The specific drivers of environmentally significant behaviour we identified can guide the development of culture-specific interventions to reduce the plate waste generated in tourism and hospitality.