Values

Values guide. Values are identity-forming. „For in order to willingly and freely recognize and accept other values, one must have one’s own. (Schopenhauer 1819)

Values can be understood as convictions or guidelines. According to the communication scientist and psychologist Gerhard Maletzke, „[value orientations] underlie our thinking, experiencing, acting […]. These orientations are passed on from one generation to the next in the process of socialization, whereby changes are quite possible in the context of social change.“ (Maletzke 1996, 80)

Cultural structural features

Values act like a coherent network, on which it is necessary to orient oneself. The difference lies in the individual weighting of the respective culture (cf. Maletzke 1996, 80). Furthermore, in his work Intercultural Communication, Maletzke refers to value orientations as a „cultural structural feature [, of which humans] only [become] aware in the encounter with people of other cultures with their own value orientations.“ (Maletzke 1996, 80) Complementing this, cultural studies scholar Edith Broszinsky-Schwabe summarizes values as „goal conceptions of individual or community life [that] trigger attitudes, actions, and plans.“ (Broszinsky-Schwabe 2011, 177)

In his article Values and Morality, Lutz H. Eckensberger points out that value concepts can be explained in terms of developmental psychology. Already Jean „Piaget (1954) shows in a sharp analysis on the connection between cognitions, emotions, and evaluations that these refer to each other in terms of developmental psychology. […] Operational reversibility (‚concrete operationsʻ) makes normative feelings possible and is fed by them; it corresponds with value content.“ (Eckensberger 2007, 511)

Changing values

According to Maletzke, although value orientations are generally constant, he nevertheless notes that, similar to cultures, values also gradually change and transform over time (cf. Maletzke 1996, 89). Obviously, this is evident in the „younger generation [which] shows a trend toward more activity, creativity, and self-determination. Spontaneity, experience, freedom, personal communication gain in importance, while standardized and habitualized behaviors decline.“ (Maletzke 1996, 89) In contrast, there is a simultaneous change in value orientation in the Third World. Maletzke primarily criticizes the influx of technology, media, and modern social structures that incorporate Western values such as „diligence, order, punctuality [and] reliability“ (Maletzke 1996, 89), thus ‚wrecking‘ traditional cultural forms. Change, such as these, „lead to cultural assimilation worldwide, to ‚Americanizationʻ or ‚Westernizationʻ“ (Maletzke 1996, 90)

Value concepts and misunderstandings

In her book Intercultural Communication, Broszinsky-Schwabe clarifies that values are closely related to identity development and are characterized by features of different cultures. The author distinguishes between material (wealth, money, possessions), social (family, community), moral/ethical (honor, pride, justice) and religious values (religious principles, omissions).

Significant for the individual cultures are thus their different value concepts. For example, Western cultures tend to have materialistic lifestyles, whereas in Islamic regions ethical and religious values are the most important. When people from different cultures communicate or act together, the different value orientations can lead to misunderstandings or even serious conflicts (cf. Broszinsky-Schwabe 2001, 177).

Institutional transmission of values

Furthermore, Broszinsky-Schwabe explains to what extent values are conveyed by means of different institutions. The essential values are passed on within the family or a social community. The state, in turn, aims to transmit national values (love of country, defense of country) through educational institutions. Furthermore, societies with ideological or ideological intentions (determinism, positivism, nihilism, etc.) represent and spread advantageous or disadvantageous, violent values. The church can be mentioned as the last major institution for transmitting values (cf. Broszinsky-Schwabe Jahr, 178 f.). According to Bronzinsky-Schwabe, religions, with their traditions, have an effect on the different „objectives and life practices of many millions of people in the world. These value orientations determine behavior toward supernatural powers, toward nature, and toward fellow human beings.“ (Broszinsky- Schwabe 2011, 179)

Literature

Broszinsky-Schwabe, Edith (2011): Intercultural Communication. Misunderstandings – understanding. Wiesbaden: Springer.

Eckensberger, Lutz H. (2007): Values and morals. In: Straub, Jürgen/ Weidemann, Arne/ Weidemann, Doris (Eds.): Handbuch interkulturelle Kommunikation und Kompetenz. Basic concepts – theories – fields of application. Stuttgart: Metzler, 505-515.

Maletzke, Gerhard (1996): Intercultural communication. On the interaction between people of different cultures. Opladen: Westdeutscher.

Schopenhauer, Arthur (1819): The world as will and imagination. Leipzig: Brockhaus.