What Kinds of Value Motives Guide People in Their Moral Attitudes? The Role of Personal and Prescriptive Values at the Culture Level and Individual Level

Abstract

Opinions about moralized issues are arguably one of the most difficult issues in interpersonal dialogues given that they can result in intolerance and prejudicial behavior toward those with divergent moral beliefs. Recent research has shown that moral attitudes vary not only depending on the individual's characteristics but also as a function of culture. Individuals from individualistic-oriented cultures exhibit more lenient judgments toward moralized issues than those from collectivistic-oriented cultures. What is unclear to date is what kinds of cultural value motives underlie these attitudes-Are they driven only by intrinsic value motives (personal values) or also by extrinsic value motives (prescriptive values in the form of societal expectations about what should be valued)? The cultural press to conform is arguably stronger if moral attitudes are predicted by the latter. Participants from eight countries (N = 1,456) responded to a questionnaire containing a modified version of the Schwartz Value Survey assessing personal and prescriptive values. The results showed that personal value ratings of openness-to-change versus conservation at the culture and individual levels were predictive of individuals' moral attitudes consistent with previous findings. Prescriptive value ratings of openness-to-change versus conservation also predicted individuals' moral attitudes, but only at the aggregated culture level. This suggests that the prescriptive values concept is a truly

Does Contextual Change Affect Basic Human Values? A Dynamic Comparative Multilevel Analysis Across 32 European Countries

“…Values have been a crucial concept ever since the early beginnings of psychological research (see Vernon & Allport, 1931). They have been widely used to explain people’s attitudes (e.g., Dobewall & Rudnev, 2014; Vauclair, Fischer, et al, 2015), emotions (Roccas & McCauley, 2004; Sortheix & Lönnqvist, 2014), and behaviors (e.g., Fischer & Boer, 2015; Verplanken & Holland, 2002). Human values are commonly defined as relatively stable , desirable, transsituational motivational goals, which vary in their relative importance and serve as individuals’ guiding principles in life (Schwartz, 1992).…”

Cross-Cultural Values: A Meta-Analysis of Major Quantitative Studies in the Last Decade (2010–2020)

“…Using SVS measures, used data on teachers (66 countries) and students (55 countries) to validate the structure of Schwartz values at the level of culture and to propose a new value type: self-fulfilled connectedness. Vauclair et al (2015) studied four collectivist countries (Brazil, Japan, Philippines, and Turkey) and four individualistic countries (Finland, Germany, New Zealand, and the U.K.). The study found that moral judgments were more stringent in "conservation cultures" than in "openness to change cultures" (Vauclair et al 2015).…”

“…Vauclair et al (2015) studied four collectivist countries (Brazil, Japan, Philippines, and Turkey) and four individualistic countries (Finland, Germany, New Zealand, and the U.K.). The study found that moral judgments were more stringent in "conservation cultures" than in "openness to change cultures" (Vauclair et al 2015). However, this relationship only appeared from culture to individual: a culturally prescribed value correlated with individual moral attitude; but openness to change or conservation at the individual level did not corelate with individual moral attitudes.…”

A Conceptual Model of the Relationship between Personal Values and Personal Tax Culture Regarding the Perception of Tax System Fairness

“…Despite a still unfounded relationship between the personal values of accountants and non-accountants and their personal tax culture, personal values were already studied by many authors in the past. Feldman (2015), Schwartz (1992), Sezer et al (2015), Litina and Palivos (2016), Gino (2015), Alleyne et al (2013), Fischer and Poortinga (2012), Fischer, et al (2010), and Vauclair et al (2015) studied factors influencing the shaping of individuals and consequently their personal culture. They established that personal values were supposed to have the key role in motivating for ethical decision and behaviour of individuals.…”