Cultural Values

Understanding cultures values is a key to understanding a culture. Beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors often stem from underlying cultural values. They tell us what is important or unimportant, right or wrong, fair or unfair, and ethical or unethical. They are implicit guidelines for motivations, expectations, perceptions, and communication actions. They also set an emotional tone for interpreting the behavior of cultural strangers.

Cultural values and beliefs serve as anchors to which we attach meaning and significance to our complex identities. For example, in mainstream U.S. middle class, "American" values emphasize individual initiative and achievement over conformity and middle-of-the-pack performance. These values are furthered through rewards and recognition. Cultural values serve several functions to a culture. They help give its members identity through meaning, explanation, motivation, and in-group/out-group evaluations.

Communication is the mechanism through which cultural values are shared and passed on. Communication is also where underlying cultural values manifest, through attitudes and behavior. In these ways, culture has significant effects on communication.

Over the years, researchers have identified various components of cultural values, often referred to as cultural value dimensions. Much research has been conducted to include many nations and compare them along various values dimensions. It is important to recognize that although these categories are binary, they actually represent the continuum. That is, rather than a culture being either individualistic or collectivistic, a culture is considered as more individualistic or more collectivistic than another.

In addition, individuals within a particular culture fall at slightly different points along this continuum; not all members of a culture share the exact same perspective toward any of these values.