We forget or reduce the importance of values (societal and individual) in determining our actions. But values actually inform and instruct our behavior. And it is an important component in understanding why an individual or society behaves in ways that we may not understand or agree with. The following is from the first chapter of my thesis. Cultural psychologist Geert Hofstede characterize values as “broad tendencies to prefer certain states of affairs over others”(1980, p. 19). For Schwartz and Bardi, they are “transsituational goals, varying in importance, that serve as guiding principles in people’s lives”(2001, p. 269) that are derived from “conscious goals” of three primary human needs: biological, social interaction and group security and stability . Thus, needs define the creation of values that exist in an hierarchical order. Values develop as implicit or explicit assessments to secure the fulfilment of these needs. I view values as a subjective and hierarchical set of intrinsic inclinations based on attitudes, beliefs and worldviews. While different societies and individuals can refer to the same value, the strength of its significance and its place in an hierarchy differs. They are subjectively defined, and at times, can be intersubjectively contradictory or oppositional. Values are understood through self-identification and verified through testing of reflective behaviour. This does not mean that everyone within a society identify with a certain set of values at the same point in the hierarchy. However, societies that have the same inclinations, beliefs and worldviews tend to acknowledge and behave according to the same values. Even though individuals do not necessarily consider their values at the point of action, the need for consistency subconsciously persuades them in their decision-making (Bardi & Schwartz, 2003) . These internalised values may intuitively inform the actor’s decision but are not necessarily articulable at the point of decision making since “[in] real life...decision makers often rationalize. The reasons follow rather than precede action.”(Kooiman & Jentoft, 2009, p. 829).
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 05:41:28 +0000
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