Personal Values

How do your values compare to the dominant United States cultural patterns?

After completing the values checklist, it is apparent that my values align with dominant United States cultural patterns with a few exceptions.  According to the course text, it is widely accepted in the United States that “change is basically good” (Jandt, 2013, p. 211).  I disagree with this value as I dislike change once I have become accustomed to a certain process or product.  Additionally, the belief in a personal God value is a point where I differ from the dominant pattern.  The United states “is the most religious of the world’s industrialized states”, and while I feel that I am religious, I do not believe God is as accessible as a friend (Jandt, 2013, p. 222).  Lastly, I disagree with value number three on the checklist as well as the correlating U.S. cultural pattern.  Though I believe humans are more powerful than earths plants and animals, I do not necessarily “place a higher value on human life” than other life forms (Jandt, 2013, p. 222).  

Which three values on this list are the most important to you?

Of all values on the list, the following are most important to me: 

·       People can make decisions for themselves.

·       It’s important to have an identity that is based on yourself and not on other people.

·       People can change their behavior.

Can you identify when and where you first learned these three values?

I first learned that people can, and should, make decisions for themselves while growing up in a home with a single mother and younger sister in a Southern California suburb.  We were taught the value of hard work and consequences, and decision-making has much to do with these principles.  Often, I was trusted to make my own decisions from a young age and found it odd when I encountered friends who constantly felt the need to check in with parents or authority figures for instructions or permission.  To this day my upbringing has trained me to feel that people should be empowered to make their own decisions, rather than be coddled.

I am still learning every day that it is important to maintain a singular identity that is unique to ones own self.  Modern media is constantly telling society how to look, act, dress and speak.  One day fairly recently while reading a gossip blog, I realized how ludicrous the information in the gossip site was and how much I did not need to know it.  Since then I have tried to limit my exposure to pop culture in order to enhance my own interests in music and literature.  

It is a commonly held belief that people cannot change.  I do not agree.  I was raised by my mother to believe that if someone were to work hard enough, that person could accomplish what he or she intends to.  That includes the ability to change one’s habits, traits, appearance and intelligence.

Do these three values affect how you communicate? If so, how?

Yes, I believe these values do affect how I communicate.  These three particular values enable me to have confidence in my decisions, not be swayed by the popular vote and to not be dissuaded from my goals.  This tends to make me a direct communicator, sometimes insensitive to other people’s feelings or assertions.

Do these three values affect your intercultural communication?

I believe my three selected values positively affect my intercultural communication.  I feel that my selected values are universal and would relate to any number of cultures outside of the ones in which I personally identify with.  My ability to trust in the belief that people can make their own decisions allows me to feel an innate trust in people of all cultures abilities to take care of themselves.  Therefore, I find it easier to rely on and communicate with people of other cultures.   Also, my belief in maintaining a unique identity allows me to appreciate and easily communicate with people of all cultures.  Lastly, in trusting that people can change, I am able to open lines of communication with those of other cultures in order to address issues without fear.  

Jandt, F. E. (2013). An introduction to intercultural communications identities in a global community. (7th ed.). Washington D.C.: Sage Publications, Inc.