gion, relationships, and the importance of work. The contempla-
tive process is often initiated after observing models perceived to be
similar to themselves, which results in the consideration of new
beliefs. The process may also begin as a result of day-to-day experi-
ences or because of more dramatic events. Many people report life-
changing experiences after experiencing a near-fatal accident or the
loss of a loved one. Ultimately, these new beliefs are put into prac-
tice where they are confirmed or disconfirmed by external and
internal feedback. Of these sources of feedback, internal feedback
(intrapersonal) is the most powerful source of information for an
individual with an individualism social value. External feedback
from esteemed others such as parents, elders, and godparents is the
most important source of feedback for people who hold a collective
social value.
The second stimulus for changes in values is conflict. Accultur-
ation in all likelihood occurs primarily because of conflict. Accul-
turation is the process by which people new to a culture adopt the
values of the dominant culture because of the continuing conflict
between their beliefs and the people around them. Consider the
newly arrived Mexican American student who is thrust into a
school based on Eurocentric values, is exposed daily to the values of
the dominant culture via the media, and interacts with peers who
hold Eurocentric values. Unless the family continues to teach and
reinforce the values of the student’s native culture, acculturative
pressure builds because of the ongoing conflict the individual expe-
riences. Groups such as gangs and cults exert tremendous pressure
on new members to reject their values and adopt the values of the
group. The pressure to conform to the values in the workplace is
more subtle than those exerted by gangs and cults, but it is nonethe-
less an important force in either reinforcing values or causing con-
flicts that result in the individuals either leaving the organization or
altering their values system, most typically by reprioritizing their
values rather than adopting entirely different values.
A second source of conflict occurs when the highly prioritized
values conflict. Intrapersonal conflict occurs when values such as
THE ROLE OF WORK VALUES AND CULTURAL VALUES 471