Do Values Differ Across Cultures? How So?

Personality and Values

Do values differ across cultures? How so?

Living in the Bay Area the thing I love the most is the diversity among ethnicities, cultures, and religious backgrounds. Growing up and learning our national history I learned people from Great Britain migrated to what is now called the United States in an effort to enjoy religious freedom. While we found freedom here other people from multiple nations looked for the same freedoms and economic stability and also began immigrating here as well. Upon arrival on American Soil there were already people living here and cultivating the lands, the Native Americans, the first settlers brought cultural beliefs and values from Great Britain and combined them with the cultural norms they were taught by the Native Americans.

There are several different religious and cultural beliefs all over the world and in an effort to not lose their cultural I think it's very important for families of recent immigrants to practice their religions and maintain their values. There are many different values across many different cultures, from marriage to food to clothes to manners to authority, and I think they all play a major role in organizational behavior. I've noticed many organizations only observe certain national holidays which can be referred to as values among various cultures. A couple years ago I took a family trip to Disneyland in Los Angeles, a place that's frequently visited by multiple ethnic backgrounds, and I was astounded by the manners of the different guests there, some of which were extremely rude behaviors. I was run over by people pushing strollers and they wouldn't even excuse themselves and after a couple days of frustration I had to realize that was their culture those were their values, and although they're different from mine it's how they were raised and what they were taught.

"Similarities and Differences Across Cultures in the Work Place" (Ganly, 2013) was very interesting and similar to how I felt while considering the question do values differ across cultures, my immediate response was yes most definitely values differ across cultures. Most cultures respect authority and elders but might differ on ethical decisions, diversity in an organization can create well rounded teams which can increase productivity and morale.

As evident in the Wall Street Journal article Religious--Discrimination Claims on the Rise (Ganly, 2013) peoples cultural and religious values can influence our decisions at work. A Muslim worker who objected to delivering alcohol due to his Islamic faith has filed a lawsuit with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. As our way of thinking expands and public policies change with regards to same sex marriages many people religious beliefs and values may not allow them to issue a marriage license even if that's