Cultures, Values and Beliefs

Humans by nature are sociable

• Humans are social creatures.
Since the dawn of Homo sapiens
nearly 250,000 years ago, people
have grouped together into
communities in order to survive.
• Living together, people form
common habits and behaviors—
from specific methods of
childrearing to preferred
techniques for obtaining food.
Nature and Nurture
• Almost every human behavior,
from shopping to marriage to
expressions of feelings, is
learned.
• How is marriage viewed in the
United States as compared to
the Philippines?
Marriage

Philippines United States

• Life long commitment • Personal choice
• Big family event • Select to very few people
• MUST be in a religious setting • Whatever pleases you.
How we value things, attitudes
• In other words, the way in which people view marriage depends
largely on what they have been taught.
• And so with other values
Elements of cultures

Material Non material

objects or belongings of a group of people consists of the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of a
society. Material and nonmaterial aspects of
culture are linked, and physical objects often
symbolize cultural ideas.
Values = Kahalagahan
Values and Beliefs
• Values are a culture’s standard for discerning what is good and just in
society. Values are deeply embedded and critical for transmitting and
teaching a culture’s beliefs.
• Beliefs are the tenets or convictions that people hold to be true.
Individuals in a society have specific beliefs, but they also share
collective values.
• For example, Americans commonly believe in the American Dream—
that anyone who works hard enough will be successful and wealthy.
Underlying this belief is the American value that wealth is good and
important.
Values keep a society together
• Values help shape a society by suggesting what is good and bad,
beautiful and ugly, to be sought or avoided.
• How the Philippines values FAMILY.
Values suggest peoples’ behavior
• Values often suggest how people should behave, but they don’t
accurately reflect how people actually do behave. Values portray an
ideal culture, the standards society would like to embrace and live up
to. But ideal culture differs from real culture, the way society actually
is, based on what occurs and exists. In an ideal culture, there would
be no traffic accidents, murders, poverty, or racial tension. But in real
culture, police officers, lawmakers, educators, and social workers
constantly strive to prevent or repair those accidents, crimes, and
injustices.
How we value Values
• One way societies strive to put values into action is through
sanctions: rewards and punishments that encourage people to live
according to their society’s ideas about what is good and right.
• When people observe the norms of society and uphold its values,
they are often rewarded.
• People positively sanction certain behaviors by giving their support,
approval, or permission, or negatively sanction them by invoking
formal policies of disapproval and nonsupport.
How to value Values
• Sanctions are a form of social control, a way to encourage conformity
to cultural norms. Sometimes people conform to norms in
anticipation or expectation of positive sanctions: good grades, for
instance, may mean praise from parents and teachers. From a
criminal justice perspective, properly used social control is also
inexpensive crime control. Utilizing social control approaches pushes
most people to conform to societal rules, regardless of whether
authority figures (such as law enforcement) are present.
How to value Values
• When people go against a society’s values, they are punished. A boy
who shoves an elderly woman aside to board the bus first may
receive frowns or even a scolding from other passengers. A business
manager who drives away customers will likely be fired. Breaking
norms and rejecting values can lead to cultural sanctions such as
earning a negative label—lazy, no-good bum—or to legal sanctions,
such as traffic tickets, fines, or imprisonment.
Values are not static, differ
• Values are not static; they vary across time and between groups as
people evaluate, debate, and change collective societal beliefs. Values
also vary from culture to culture.
Men in South Africa
Men in Russia
Cultural Values
• Cultural values are the core principles and ideals upon which an
entire community exists and protect and rely upon for existence and
harmonious relationship. The concept is made up of several parts:
customs, which involve traditions and rituals; values, which are
beliefs; and culture, which is all of a group's guiding values
 Being vs. Doing
Humane Orientation
Indulgence vs. Restraint
Common Individualism vs. Collectivism

Cultural Power Distance

Values Uncertainty Avoidance

Orientation to Time
Gender Egalitarianism
Assertiveness
Being vs. Doing
• A culture that values “being” focuses on simply being in the world; that is,
understanding the world and valuing concepts such as living together in
harmony and peace, rather than attempting to exploit or alter the world to
fit a certain view.
• If your cultural values align with ‘doing,’ you are likely a more assertive
person who believes they not only can but should, alter the world to
achieve your goals.
• A culture that values “doing” focuses on changing the world around them
through direct action. In other words, valuing the development of changes
to the world in order to achieve goals both as a whole and for individuals.
• If your cultural values align with ‘being,’ you are likely someone who values
understanding people and living with them in harmony rather than
changing the world to suit your beliefs.
Humane Orientation
• A culture that values humane orientation emphasizes the importance of
viewing others humanely; this includes promoting empathy, altruistic
behaviors, and harmony among different races, cultures, and religions.
• High humane orientation values also emphasize the importance of people
helping out other people as a natural element of society, rather than
relying on intervention from outside governments or powers.
• For example, societies with a high level of this cultural value will often
expect children to support their parents in their old age.
• A culture that has lower humane orientation values emphasizes individuals
solving their own problems and issues themselves.
• For example, societies with a low level of this cultural value will not expect
children to support their parents in their old age.
Indulgence vs. Restraint
• A culture that values indulgence emphasizes the importance of
personal enjoyment and pleasure. Personal pleasure seeking, such as
partying, drinking, pursuing passions, etc, is encouraged and
considered a norm.
• A culture that values restraint emphasizes the importance of
restricting luxurious indulgence. Pleasure-seeking activities are
generally discouraged, especially if they are focused on personal
enjoyment rather than group activities.
Individualism vs. Collectivism
• A culture that values individualism emphasizes Independence and
individual goals over the group as a whole. People are expected to
focus more on individual goals, pursuits, and passions; families and
groups are limited and more exclusive.
• A culture that values collectivism emphasizes group harmony and
group living over individual passions and pursuits. People are
expected to view themselves through the lens of society as a whole,
and families and social groups are broader and more inclusive.
Power Distance
• In high Power Distance societies, hierarchical systems of assigned roles
organize behavior. Power Distance is defined from below rather than
above. In high Power Distance cultures, the less powerful members expect
and accept inequalities. Power is perceived to provide social order,
relational harmony, and role stability. The social hierarchy needs no further
justification.

• High Power Distance societies are differentiated into classes. They have
stable and scarce power bases (for example, land ownership). Upward
social mobility is limited. Only a few people have access to resources,
knowledge, and skills. Different social groups have differential involvement
in governance.
Power Distance (con’t.)
• In low Power Distance societies, members believe that inequalities
should be minimized. Power is seen as a source of corruption,
coercion, and dominance. People recognize one another as moral
equals with shared basic human interests. Members care about the
welfare of others and cooperate with one another.

• Low Power Distance societies have large middle classes. They have
transient and shareable power bases (for example, skill, knowledge).
There is high upward social mobility and a mass availability of
resources and capabilities. Different social groups enjoy equal
involvement in governance.
Uncertainty Avoidance
• In weak Uncertainty Avoidance societies, members are comfortable
with ambiguous and unknown situations. They are tolerant of change.
Members hold multiple ideas as valid and accept different viewpoints.
They are contemplative, emotionally stable, and relaxed.

• Members of weak Uncertainty Avoidance societies prefer fewer rules.

Rule-breaking is allowed. Exchanges are informal. Members prefer to
rely on the word of others they trust rather than enter into
contractual relationships. They are not concerned with orderliness
and keeping written records.
Uncertainty Avoidance (con’t.)
• In strong Uncertainty Avoidance societies, members are threatened
by uncertainty, have an emotional need for predictability, and exhibit
a high resistance to change. This resistance is expressed through
nervousness, stress, and attempts to control the environment.
Members formalize their interactions with others, verify
communications in writing, and take more relatively more moderate
and calculated risks.

• In strong Uncertainty Avoidance societies, members hold rigid beliefs.

There are strict behavioral norms, formal rules and law, and an
intolerance of rule-breaking or unorthodox ideas or behaviors.
Orientation to Time
• Cultures with a Future Orientation have a strong tendency and
willingness to imagine future possibilities. Members set long-term
goals, develop plans, and work hard and persevere to achieve their
ambitions. They delay gratification and display a strong propensity to
save and invest.

• Members of Future Orientated societies are psychologically healthy

and socially well adjusted because they feel in control of their lives,
but they may neglect current social relationships and obligations, and
can fail to ‘stop and smell the roses’.
Orientation to Time (con’t.)
• Members of Short-Term Orientated societies are more focused on the
present and past than on the future. They value instant satisfaction.
Members spend now rather than save for the future. They live in the
moment and are not concerned with past or future anxieties.

• On the flip side, members of Short-Term Orientated societies may

engage in risky, pleasure-seeking pursuits and fail to recognize the
negative longer-term implications of their indulgences.
Gender Egalitarianism
• Biological constraints in childbearing have long dictated societal
norms about the roles of men and women in many societies. But
outside childbearing, sex-role distinctions are purely social
constructions. Societies differ with respect to the extent to which
they define different social and emotional roles for males and
females.
Gender Egalitarianism (con’t.)
• In Low Gender Egalitarianism cultures, male social and emotional
roles are different from females. Men are assertive, tough,
competitive, and focused on material success. Women are modest,
tender, and concerned with quality of life.

• Low Gender Egalitarianism societies have few women in positions of

authority, a low percentage of women in the labor force, and
occupational sex segregation. In these societies, females have lower
levels of education and literacy relative to males. In addition, women
hold a lower status in society and play a smaller role in community
decision-making compared with men.
Gender Egalitarianism (con’t.)
• In high Gender Egalitarianism cultures, male social and emotional
roles are similar to female roles. Both men and women are modest,
cooperative, tender, and concerned with quality of life and caring for
the weak.

• Compared to low Gender Egalitarianism societies, there are more

women in positions of authority, a higher percentage of women
participating in the labor force, and less occupational sex segregation.
In addition, in high Gender Egalitarian cultures, females and males
have similar levels of education and literacy. Women hold higher
status and play a greater role in community decision-making
compared with low Gender Egalitarianism cultures.
Assertiveness
• Societies with low Gender Egalitarianism typically display high
Assertiveness. These societies value assertive, dominant, and ‘tough’
behavior in both genders. Strength is admired. Aggression is viewed
positively (for example, aggression is associated with winning).

• Members of high Assertiveness societies value competition and

success. They expect demanding and challenging targets.
Performance is rewarded and results are stressed over relationships.
Members of high Assertiveness societies value what you do more
than who you are. Members think of others as opportunistic. In
communication, members of high Assertiveness cultures are direct
and value expressing true thoughts and feelings.
Assertiveness (con’t.)
• In contrast, high Gender Egalitarianism overlaps with low Assertiveness. These
societies view assertiveness as socially unacceptable. Members of low
Assertiveness cultures emphasize modesty and tenderness. They associate
competition with defeat and punishment. They stress equality and social
solidarity. Low Assertiveness cultures value people, warm relationships, and
cooperation. Members care more about who you are than what you do. In these
societies, integrity, loyalty, and cooperation are stressed. People think of others
as inherently worthy of trust.

• In the workplace, low Assertiveness cultures emphasize seniority and experience.

Merit pay is destructive to harmony.

• Members from low Assertiveness cultures speak indirectly; they prefer ‘face-
saving’ and subtlety, and value detached and self-possessed conduct.
The danger in stereotyping

• No cultural group is homogenous: there are individual differences in the

thoughts and behaviors of members of every cultural group.

• Cultural values do not allow one to predict the behavior and responses of
individuals with certainty, yet a working knowledge of how members of a
cultural group, in general, think and behave provides a useful starting point
for navigating intercultural interactions.

• As we interact with diverse others using Cultural Intelligence, we test and

reflect on the appropriateness of our cultural assumptions and experiment
with alternative responses, actively constructing a cultural profile for each
unique exchange.
Filipino Values ( both + / -)

Group 1 Group 2
• Family • Work/School
• Community • Society
Filipino Values

Group 1 Group 2
• Banite • Genido
• Janer • Ligan
• Mahusay • Mejico
• Munsayac • Nogales
• Pablo • Perdito
• Rone • Sta. Ana
• Villa • Yacat