Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's values orientation theory (put forward in 1961) proposes that all
human societies
A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...
must answer a limited number of universal problems, that the value-based solutions are limited in number and universally known, but that different cultures have different preferences among them.
Suggested questions include humans' relations with time, nature and each other, as well as basic human motives and the nature of human nature. Florence Kluckhohn and
Fred Strodtbeck suggested alternate answers to all five, developed culture-specific measures of each, and described the value orientation profiles of five southwestern United States cultural groups. Their theory has since been tested in many other cultures, and used to help negotiating ethnic groups understand one another, and to examine the inter-generational value changes caused by migration. Other theories of universal values (
Rokeach,
Hofstede,
Schwartz) have produced value concepts sufficiently similar to suggest that a truly universal set of human values does exist and that cross-cultural psychologists are close to discovering what they are.
See also
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Anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
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Cross-cultural studies
Cross-cultural studies, sometimes called holocultural studies or comparative studies, is a specialization in anthropology and sister sciences such as sociology, psychology, economics, political science that uses field data from many societies th ...
References
Cross-cultural psychology
Philosophy of culture
Political science theories
Theories
Value (ethics)
Psychological theories
Anthropological theories
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