values is a difficult task because there are so many exceptions and contradictions.”
However, they add,“On a general level, Americans do share a value system.”^11
Also, Kim points out,“There are similar characteristics that all Americans share,
regardless of their age, race, gender, or ethnicity.”^12
Students beginning their study of intercultural communication are usually interested
in learning about other cultures. However, one of our long-standing tenets is that in
order to develop competent intercultural skills, a person must understand his or her own
culture. So while this book leans toward explaining other cultures, a section exploring
American cultural values is also essen-
tial. For people who are not members
of the dominant culture, this informa-
tion will provide new insights and
understanding. For members of the
dominant culture, an analysis of U.S.
cultural values is provided for three rea-
sons. First, people carry their culture
wherever they go, and that culture
influences how they respond to the
people they meet. Second, examining
one’s own values can reveal cultural
information that is often overlooked
or taken for granted. Finally, personal
cultural values can serve as an impor-
tant reference point for making com-
parisons between and among cultures.
Professor L. Robert Kohls spent
much of his life working to improve
cross-cultural understanding. After
living in Korea, he returned to the
United States and began conducting cultural workshops for the Peace Corps. He
also spent time at the United States Information Agency (USIA) as Director of
Training. Kohls authoredThe Values Americans Live By, a 1980s monograph intended
to help expatriates adjust to living in the United States,^13 and it remains widely
available on the Internet. Although written nearly thirty years ago, the thirteen values
Kohls ascribed to U.S. Americans (see Table 6.1) continue to provide an accurate
characterization of the dominant U.S. culture. Each value is discussed individually.Personal Control over Nature
The earliest European settlers arrived in America confident they could tame this wild
new land and imbue it with political and religious institutions of their own choosing.
No doubt, many felt they were simply following God’s directive as contained in Gen-
esis 1:28:“And God blessed them, and God said to them,‘Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”
Americans have traditionally approached the environment as something to be con-
quered, tamed, or harnessed for personal and societal benefit. The idea of exercising
dominion over nature and bending the environment to one’s own will underwrote the
physical and political resolve required continually to push the American frontierCONSIDER THIS
Can you think of specific examples that would demonstrate how
the following list of U.S. American values gets acted out by mem-
bers of the culture?
a. Personal Control over the Environment
b. Change
c. Time and Its Control
d. Equality
e. Individualism/Privacy
f. Self-Help
g. Competition
h. Future Orientation
i. Action/Work Orientation
j. Informality
k. Directness/Openness/Honesty
l. Practicality/Efficiency
m. Materialism/Acquisitiveness206 CHAPTER 6•Cultural Values: Road Maps for Behavior
Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).