Kluckhohn and Strodbeck

Unit 4 General Psychological Issues in Cultural Perspective Subunit 4 Personality and Values Across Cultures 8-1-2002

Article 3

Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck 's Values Orientation Theory
Michael D. Hills
University of Wikato, New Zealand, [e-mail]

Recommended Citation Hills, M. D. (2002). Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck 's Values Orientation Theory. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, Unit 4. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol4/iss4/3
This Online Readings in Psychology and Culture Article is brought to you for free and open access (provided uses are educational in nature)by IACCP and ScholarWorks@GVSU. Copyright © 2002 International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. All Rights Reserved. ISBN 978-0-9845627-0-1

Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck 's Values Orientation Theory
Abstract
People 's attitudes are based on the relatively few, stable values they hold. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck 's (1961) Values Orientation Theory proposes that all human societies must answer a limited number of universal problems, that the value-based solutions are limited in number and universally known, but that different cultures have different preferences among them. Suggested questions include humans ' relations with time, nature and each other, as well as basic human motives and the nature of human nature. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck suggested alternate answers to all five, developed culture-specific measures of each, and described the value orientation profiles of five SW USA cultural groups. Their theory has since been tested in many other cultures, and used to help negotiating ethnic groups understand one another, and to examine the inter-generational value changes caused by migration. Other theories of universal values (Rokeach, Hofstede, Schwartz) have produced value concepts sufficiently similar to suggest that a truly universal set of human values does exist and that cross-cultural psychologists are close to discovering what they are.

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References: Allport, G. W., Vernon, P. E. & Lindzey, G. (1931, 1951 & 1960). Study of values: A scale for measuring the dominant interests in personality. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Berry, J. W. (1969). On cross-cultural comparability. International Journal of Psychology, 4, 119-128 Hills, M. D. (1977). Values in the South Pacific. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the New Zealand Psychological Society in Auckland, New Zealand. Hills, M. D. & Goneyali, E. (1980). Values in Fijian families (Monograph). Hamilton, New Zealan: University of Waikato, Department of Psychology. Hills, M. D. (1998). Developing the Kluckhohn-Strodtbeck Values Orientation Instrument in New Zealand. Paper presented at the Biennial Conference of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. Bellingham, WA, United States. Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture 's consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA.: Sage. Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture 's consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Kluckhohn, C. K. (1949). Mirror for man: the relation of anthropology to modern life. Berkeley, CA: Whittlesey House. Kluckhohn, C. K. (1951). Values and value orientations in the theory of action. In T. Parsons and E. A. Shils (Eds.), Toward a general theory of action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Kluckhohn, F. R. & Strodtbeck, F. L. (1961). Variations in value orientations. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson. Kroeber, A. L. & Kluckhohn, C. K. (1952) Culture: A critical review of concepts and definitions. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum. Lane, R. H. (1976). Polynesia and Europe meet: A new heritage. Unpiublished master’s thesis, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, Psychology Department. Rokeach, M. (1979) Understanding human values: Individual and societal. New York: The Free Press. Russo, K. (Ed). (1992). Our people, our land: perspectives on the Columbus Quincentenary. Seattle, WA: The Florence R Kluckhohn Center and the Lummi Indian tribe. Russo, K. W. (Ed). (2000). Finding the middle ground: Insights and applications of the Value Orientations method. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press. Russo, K., Hills, M. D. et al. (1984). Value orientations in the Lummi Indian community and their commercial associates. Report to the Lummi Indian Council. Bellingham, WA. Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 cultures. In M.P. Zanna (Ed.). Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol 25, pp 1-65). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Segall, M. H., Dasen, P. R., Berry, J. W., & Poortinga, Y. H. (1999). Human behavior in global perspective: An introduction to cross-cultural psychology (2nd ed). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol4/iss4/3 12 Hills: Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck 's Values Orientation Theory Smith, P. B., & Bond, M. H. (1998). Social psychology across cultures (2nd ed.). London, UK: Prentice Hall. Wrightsman, L. S. (1992). Assumptions about human nature: implications for researchers and practitioners (2nd edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage publications. About the Author Michael Hills is a New Zealander teaching Social, Cross-cultural and Disability Psychology at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. His master 's degree examined the development of ethnic awareness and attitudes in White and Maori children, and his PhD at the Australian National University, Canberra, focussed on second-generation migrant teenagers and their parents. Since then he has researched and taught about the relations between majority and minority ethnic groups, focussing particularly on the indigenous Maori and immigrant Polynesian minorities and their relations with the White majority in New Zealand. In recent years he has broadened this interest in disadvantaged minority groups to research the psychology of living and coping with disabilities, especially epilepsy. Currently he is developing Quality of Life measures both for New Zealanders in general, and those with disabilities in particular, as well as researching culturally appropriate ways to provide education and support to Maori living and coping with epilepsy. Questions for Discussion 1. Define a value. Explain how a value affects human behavior. 2. What are the most important values you hold? Can you rank them? 3. Where do you think your values came from? 4. How do the values you hold compare with those of others? Your friends? Your family? Most other people in your community? 5. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck suggested five universal questions which all human societies must be able to answer. They suggested a sixth, and this article suggests three more. Can you think of any others? What might be some of the possible answers to them? 6. Most psychological research has relied on questionnaires to study people 's values. What other methods of measuring values might be feasible? 7. What do you see as the relationship between values and attitudes? Beliefs? Opinions? Morality? 8. This article has reported two ways in which value measurement has been practically useful. Can you think of other situations in which understanding and measuring people 's values might be useful? Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2011 13 Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, Unit 4, Subunit 4, Chapter 3 Related Websites http://www.valuescenter.org/home.html http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/orpc/vol4/iss4/3 14