Cultural Values that Help You Thrive: Lesson 8 Soc Structure

The reading called Thrive by Dan Buettner is a cross-cultural study of cultural values.  Remember that we were learning how humans are shaped by their society.  Culture is a strong force in nurturing who we are.  We are born into a culture and before we are even conscious, we are shaped by it.  Culture is made up of different components, but values are one of the strongest components in shaping the lives of individuals living within the culture.

Please take out your Thrive reading and review it.  Answer individually:

Here is the Google Form for this lesson. 

1.  What was one suggestion that Buettner made that was interesting to you - something you had not thought about before?

2.  What is something that Buettner mentions that our culture might make difficult to pursue?  Why does our culture make it difficult? 

Values are very strong components of culture.  They shape so much about what we do and how our daily lives are structured.  Here are some values in the U.S. identified by social scientists:

American Values

In 1970, sociologist Robin Williams published his examination of American cultural values.  In 1985, L. Robert Kohl published a similar examination of values written for refugees like the Lost Boys so that they could adjust to American culture.  

Below is a chart that merges the two values lists.

(For more on values see my previous post on Amer-I-can Values)

American Values                        vs.        Other Cultures’ Values

Personal control/responsibility                              Fate/destiny

Change seen as natural/positive/Progress             Stability/tradition

Time and its control                                               Human Interaction

Equality/fairness                                                    Hierarchy/rank/status

Individualism/independence/freedom                    Group welfare/dependence

Self-Help/initiative                                                 Birthright/inheritance

Competition                                                            Cooperation

Future orientation                                                   Past orientation

Action/work                                                             “Being”

Informality                                                              Formality

Directness/openness/Honesty                                 Indirectness/ritual/”face”

Practicality/efficiency                                             Idealism/theory

Materialism/Acquisitiveness                                   Spiritualism/detachment

Achievement/Success                                              Acceptance/Status Quo

Morality/judgement                                                Consequentialism/situational ethics

More about American values:

https://www.state.gov/courses/answeringdifficultquestions/html/app.htm?p=module2_p2.htm

Study USA values for understanding Americans

And more recently, in 2015 Sociologists Erik Olin Wright and Joel Rogers published American Society; How It Really Works, which they say,

 "Wright and Rogers identify five core social values that most Americans affirm in one way or another: freedom, prosperity, efficiency, fairness, and democracy. "

3.  What cultural values from the Kohl reading might conflict with that you wrote about above? (use the list of values)

Answer the following questions:

Compare the values of Thrive to American Values and those from the movie.

4.  Identify values that are contradictory to U.S. values from the film God Grew Tired of Us.

US Value        How does it contradict with the Lost Boys?

5.  Look at the list of values that Americans hold.  Identify American values that might complement each other.  These are called value clusters.  List them here:

Value Cluster: ­­­­­­­­­­­

6.  Now look for American values that might contradict the other American values.  These are called value contradictions.  List them here:

Value Contradiction:

 
Hopefully, you see that culture can shape our lives in numerous ways - especially what we value about community, workplaces, social life, financial life, homes and our self-identity.



My goal is for you to become sociologically mindful about the ways in which culture shapes you, especially in how it leads you to be happy or not.  With sociological mindfulness, we can use research like Buettner's to consciously guide our choices to help us live happier lives.

If you have questions or comments, please post them below in the comments sections.  

For more on Thrive:

Here is the author's Thrive website. 

Here is the Thrive happiness test- it will measure your satisfaction and make recommendations. 

Here is a Thrive "study guide" - it has questions for reflection.

Here is a review of the book from NPR.

You can read a preview of the book from Goodreads here. 

Here is link to an interview with the author on NPR.

Here is the publisher's Thrive website.