As we wait for students to arrive, please review the readings I assigned last class:
Kohl's Values Americans Live By
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.
Individually, please write a response to #1 below:
1. Choose one of the values that Kohl writes about. How does this value show up specifically in your everyday life?
In a small group please answer number 2:
2. Look at the list of values that Americans hold. Identify American values that might complement each other. These are called value clusters.
Culture in general and values specifically are not always so easy to define. Culture is dynamic, constantly evolving. And sometimes different aspects of a culture conflict. Culture can be both ideal and real; that is, culture can contain values that people agree are important but they may be different from values that are actually manifest in everyday life.
Sociologist Karen Cerulo explains the importance of understanding the complexity of American values in her 2008 essay here:
3. What cultural values from the Kohl reading might conflict with each other? (use the list of values) (Or look for American values that might contradict the other American values.) These are called value contradictions. As Cerulo explains, Americans may shift between competing values depending on the context.
The Importance of Values
Values are very strong components of culture. They shape so much about what we do and how our daily lives are structured. Below are some studies of values in the U.S. identified by social scientists:
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.
And, in 2015 Sociologists Erik Olin Wright and Joel Rogers published American Society; How It Really Works in which they identify five core social values that most Americans affirm in one way or another: freedom, prosperity, efficiency, fairness, and democracy.
Below is a chart that synthesizes the lists of values from above. (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
Thriving in America? Comparing American values to the ethnographic documentary.
Thrive by Dan Buettner is a cross-cultural ethnographic study of cultural values.
Using the excerpt from Thrive, answer individually:
4. What was one suggestion that Buettner made that was interesting to you - something you had not thought about before?
5. What is something that Buettner mentions that our culture might make difficult to pursue? Why does our culture make it difficult?
As a small group, please answer:
6. 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?
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.
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.
For more on Thrive:
Here is the Thrive happiness test- it will measure your satisfaction and make recommendations.
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.
Here is the publisher's Thrive website.
For More on American culture:
This link to the US State Dept. provides ways of thinking about American culture: https://www.state.gov/courses/answeringdifficultquestions/html/app.htm?p=module2_p2.htm
This link to Study USA explains American values for foreign exchange students coming to the USA:
https://www.studyusa.com/en/a/1223/six-aspects-of-u-s-culture-international-students-need-to-know
American Themed Parties around the world:
This skit from SNL called Washington's Dream is a funny take on American cultural differences in weights and measurements.
Mindfulness and Values
Let's think with sociological mindfulness for a second about values. They shape you in so many different ways. And they also shape the entire culture in certain ways. These values lead to behaviors that we all participate in unconsciously. These behaviors can have an enormous impact on a culture when you view them as cultural behaviors. Watch this TED talk by Chris Jordan to see how the behaviors impact our culture:
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