Shalom Schwartz invented the theory of Basic Human Values in 1987 – based on a study in which the quantitative data he collected, had been organised within an obscure manner. His theory has been validated and positioned as the universal way all individuals organise their values on a personal and cultural level, and has been researched in over 70 countries. South African researchers have however found significant challenges in replicating Schwartz's model within this multi-cultural society, and have ascribed the difficulties to ‘unintended item biases' within Schwartz's measurement instruments. This has been observed when utilising two different measurement instruments, as well as when further assessing ‘finer' sub-value types. A viable quantitative trend in utilising non-verbal assessment techniques has emerged, but has not been adapted for adults yet. In addition, Schwartz's theory has largely only been explored from a quantitative perspective, since its inception in 1987. Only four qualitative studies could be traced within Values-research which all highlighted a different way values were constructed and ordered, through utilising psycho-lexical research methodology. This type of research methodology does not necessarily highlight the effect of socio-economic and educational disparities within its participant's constructions, which Schwartz' highlighted a possible effect within South African research efforts. This study utilised a Social Constructionist approach known as Foucauldian Discourse Analysis to assist in deconstructing the ecology of values-talk from South African participants' linguistic expressions. Four focus group discussions were conducted across four different racial groups (White; Black; Indian and Coloured), as a means for unlocking the different discourses which govern the different ways in which South Africans ‘talk' about personal values. The analysis uncovered five different discourses which were activated and replicated throughout discussions – when constructing values which embraced participants socio-economic and educational positions. These discourses seemed to function in a complimentary and opposing nature at times, depending on the value being discussed. These constructions were compared to Schwartz's Basic Human Values model, and similarities and differences in constructions were discussed. In addition, the research findings were scrutinised to see how they could inform future qualitative research efforts to further explore how Schwartz's Basic Human Values model is ‘lived'. Finally, the study discusses its limitations and various considerations researchers would need to employ, when considering applying non-verbal assessment methodology within an abstract topic like values. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

The present study looks into examining if an employee’s consideration of future consequences or cultural values better predict their procrastination at work. A total of 253 participants from various parts of the globe were examined via an online survey utilizing the Considerations of Future Consequences Scale (Strathman et al., 2013), Behavior Identification Form (Vallacher & Wegner, 1989), CVScale for cultural values (Yoo et al., 2011), and Irrational Procrastination Scale (Steel, 2010). Work procrastination was found to be negatively correlated to consideration of future consequences, where those with higher levels of consideration of future consequences were found to have lower levels of work procrastination. In addition, more abstract or high-level personal agency was found to be positively correlated to consideration of future consequences and negatively correlated to work procrastination. Furthermore, a positive relationship was found between work procrastination and the cultural values of masculinity and power distance, where those with higher levels of these cultural values had higher levels of work procrastination. Lastly, consideration of future consequences was found to be a better predictor for work procrastination than cultural values. Possible explanations of the results are discussed, limitations of the study are mentioned, and recommendations for future studies are suggested.

The fulfilment of Child Support payments following divorce is important to ensure children’s wellbeing. Guided by a model of normative influences, we investigated how individuals perceived Child Support payments in South Korea and the United States and if they varied by child’s gender, custody arrangements, changes in the responsible father’s finances, and his financial obligations to an aging parent. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 132 Korean and 132 U.S. participants by utilizing a multiple segment factorial vignette (MSFV). Korean respondents believed more Child Support should be paid than did U.S. respondents. Custody arrangements and changes in the fathers’ finances affected perceived financial obligations of divorced fathers to the child regardless of participants’ country. Having an aging parent in need affected Koreans’ perceptions about Child Support in different ways than U.S. participants. Qualitative responses indicated that Koreans emphasized paternal obligations, whereas U.S. participants stressed the issue of fairness as a rationale. We discuss the results of this study in relation to Child Support compliance in both countries and suggest implications for research and practice.

The rapid developments Social Network Service (SNS) have offered opportunities to re-visit many seminal theoretical assumptions of technology usage within socio-technical environment. Online social network is a rapidly growing field that imposes new questions to the existing IS research paradigm. It is argued that information systems research must necessarily evolve in response to the emerging trends (Lyytinen and King, 2004). Specifically, one stream of research has been heavily lacking is SNS usage prediction (Hargittai, 2007). In SNS, the form of social network is realized by computing networks where the individual assumes an identity of an “avatar”. People are merging their activities of work and living thus blurring the borders among their social contexts (Beck and Wade, 2006). Such new trends have become more sophisticated due to the increasingly robust data network capacity and pervasive availability of communication technology. At present, research in SNS is still in its early stage; hence the need to develop knowledge of virtual world dynamics has become impending. SNS essentially provides various service channels to facilitate social network interactions. These channels are highly correlated with their respective service contexts, among which differences are obvious and important. Cultural factors have been crucial for context oriented studies in both IS and sociology fields. For instance, the global nature of the Internet “raises questions about the robustness of trust effects across cultures” (Jarvenpaa et al., 1999). In SNS, not only trust but also privacy has become a tremendous caveat for service providers. Investigating the combination effects of privacy and trust in a cross-cultural study may lead to important theoretical discoveries and meaningful managerial implications. This study contributes to knowledge by empirically testing established theoretical models of IS acceptance, trust, social and cultural research. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in order to present a comprehensive analysis of SNS perception and use in different cultural settings. Particularly, the study finds critical differences exist within the process of trust formulation between American and Chinese SNS users.

Despite their relevance to self-concept, naïve dialecticism (ND) and self-complexity (SC) have not been applied to the study of personality disorders. In personality pathology research, disturbances in personality functioning are operationalized in terms of problems in self-conception and interpersonal affiliation (as assessed in Criterion A of the DSM-5 alternative model of personality disorder). Thus, exploring the influence of ND and SC on personality functioning would contribute to the understanding of self-concept in personality pathology, especially in the context of Eastern versus Western cultures. The current study recruited participants from both of these cultural groups and the results showed preliminary support for the predictive effects of ND and SC on personality functioning impairment, respectively, and for the partial mediating effect of SC on the association between dialecticism and personality functioning in each cultural group. Implications for the future conceptualization of personality pathology across cultures and the study limitations are also discussed.

Yes / This study explores how aspects of perceived national culture affect the information security attitudes and behavior of employees. Data was collected using 19 semi-structured interviews in Ireland and the United States of America (US). The main findings are that US employees in the observed organizations are more inclined to adopt formalized information security policies and procedures than Irish employees, and are also more likely to have higher levels of compliance and lower levels of non-compliance.

No description available.

Malgré de nombreuses recherches portant sur l’innovativité interculturelle du consommateur, l’impact de la culture sur la valeur perçue d’un attribut innovant ne fait pas l’objet de publication. Cette thèse cherche à répondre à ce besoin en étudiant l’impact de la culture nationale sur la valeur perçue de l’attribut innovant des produits technologiques dans deux pays européens majeurs (France et Allemagne), membres de la zone euro. Cette thèse s’appuie sur le modèle interculturel GLOBE pour étudier les différences culturelles entre ces deux pays. Les résultats sont fondés sur une étude de consommateurs quantitative (N=793) utilisant la méthode de l’analyse conjointe basée sur le choix et l’échelle d’attitude « sensibilité au prix ». Les résultats confirment l’impact de la culture nationale sur trois concepts liés à l’attitude du consommateur face au prix de lancement d’une innovation technologique : la valeur perçue par un consommateur de l’attribut innovant d’un produit, l’importance qu’un consommateur accorde à la présence d’un attribut innovant lors du choix d’un produit et la sensibilité du consommateur au prix d’une innovation. Le rôle modérateur du revenu sur ces relations constitue également un résultat majeur. / Despite extensive research on intercultural consumer innovativeness, existing literature does not cover the topic of impacts of national culture on the perceived value of innovative product attributes. This study attempts to fill this gap, by studying the perceived value of innovative attributes, with regards to high-tech products across two major European countries (Euro zone members: France and Germany) using the GLOBE intercultural model as a framework. The results are based on quantitative consumer research (N=793) using Choice Based Conjoint Analysis and the Price Sensitivity Scale.The author’s findings highlight that national culture significantly impacts three aspects of consumer attitude with regards to the launching price of high tech innovations. These three variables are: the perceived value of innovative product attributes, the importance of innovative product attributes for consumers and the price sensitivity towards innovative products. In addition, the research identifies the moderator effects of consumer income on these relations.

Current research in the field of emotions has demonstrated a strong causal correlation between stressful life events and clinical depression. The conceptual framework of this scientific study is taking into consideration the theoretical ideas developed by the laboratories of Alex Zautra, and Susan Folkman about the co-existence of positive and negative emotions during the experience of stress and depression. The principal purpose of this study is to report the convergent validity of the Multicultural State-Trait Depression Inventory, which supports the new direction in the psychometric assessment of clinical depression. Responses to the items of the state and trait scales were analyzed on a multicultural sample to determine the convergent validity and item analysis of the instrument. The results present empirical evidence that demonstrates a high degree of concurrent validity of the IMUDER subscalesand the reference instruments as shown by Pearson correlations. / Los estudios científicos de las emociones han demostrado concluyentemente una robusta relación causal entre eventos estresantes de la vida diaria y la depresión clínica. El marco conceptual del presente estudio toma en consideración los marcos teóricos de Alex Zautra y de Susan Folkman acerca de la coexistencia de emociones positivas y negativas en el proceso de estrés y depresión. El propósito de este estudio es reportar el análisis de ítems y la validez convergente del Inventario Multicultural de la Depresión, Estado-Rasgo (IMUDER). En base a una muestra multicultural, se realizó los análisis psicométricos en base al coeficiente de correlación de Pearson, a fin de determinar la validez convergente. Los resultados de dichos análisis realizados en forma separada para la escala estado y para la escala rasgo, nos indican un elevado nivel de asociación y validez convergente entre las escalas estado y rasgo del IMUDER, dimensiones de distres y eustres, y las pruebas de depresión utilizadas en este estudio. Estos datos indican que el IMUDER es un instrumento psicométrico que presentauna sólida validez convergente y propiedades psicométricas adecuadas.

abstract: The worldwide supply of potable fresh water is ever decreasing. While 2.5% of Earth's water is fresh, only 1% is accessible. Of this water, the World Health Organization estimates that only one-third can be used to meet our daily needs while the other two-thirds are unusable due to contamination. As the world population continues to grow and climate change reduces water security, we must consider not only solutions, but evaluate the perceptions and reactions of individuals in order to successfully implement such solutions. To that end, the goal of this dissertation is to explore human attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors around water issues by conducting cross-cultural comparisons of (1) water risks and solutions, (2) wastewater knowledge and acceptance, and (3) motivators for willingness to use treated wastewater. Previous research in these domains has primarily focused on a single site or national context. While such research is valuable for establishing how and why cultural context matters, comparative studies are also needed to help link perceptions at local and global scales. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach grounded in anthropological methods and theory, I use interview data collected in a range of international sites as part of the Arizona State University's Global Ethnohydrology Study. With funding from National Science Foundation grants to the Decision Center for a Desert City (DCDC) and the Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research project (CAP LTER), this dissertation explores cross-cultural perceptions of water threats and management strategies, specifically wastewater reclamation and reuse, in order to make recommendations for policy makers and water managers. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2016