Cultural dimensions

CULTURAL DIMENSIONS

CARLOS MOTA

_Basic Cultural Orientations :

_Fundamental ways of defining reality

_Underlying, taken-for-granted normative system_Prevailing value emphases in society express
cultural orientations most directly

_Values are underlying conceptions of good &
desirable

_Value emphases are expressed in daily practices,
ways ofthinking and ways institutions function .

_Value emphases generate, justify and support societal
institutions

All societies confront basic problems in regulating
human activity

_Societalresponses to basic problems emphasize
certain values and sacrifice others (cf. Inglehart, Hofstede_ )

Cultural value orientations shape contingencies to
which individuals adapt in daily life_Help determine the individual behaviors, attitudes,
and value preferences likely to be ,viewed as more or less legitimate encouraged or discouraged

_Hence individuals
_share many value-relevantexperiences
_socialized to take for granted shared social values

Is the country a legitimate cultural unit?

_Countries are rarely homogeneous subcultures based on ethnicity, age,religion,gender, etc.

_Findings may depend on subgroup sampled

_Forces for integration in established countries
-- market, school, government, symbols

Are individuals good culture informants?_Individuals have unique experiences, unique
genetic makeup & personality

_Hence individual differences in personal values

_But individual differences do not affect average

_Average reflectsexposure to same culture

_Cultural orientations are implicit, not known

_Discern them from their effects on values of individuals


Harmony vs. Mastery

Issue: Regulate use of human andnatural resources

_ HARMONY: Groups and individuals
should fit harmoniously into the natural
and social world, avoiding change and
self-assertion to modify them
.
_ MASTERY: Groups and...