Download Sociology Ch. 3 S. 1

Sociology Ch. 3 S. 1
Obj: Identify the basic values that
form the foundation of American
culture; Describe new values that
have developed in the US since
the 1970s.
Ethnic, racial, religious, social-status, and
geographical variations in American
society make for a diverse culture.
Nevertheless, the vast majority of
Americans share certain values.
Sociologists are referring to these values
when they speak of traditional American
culture.
Traditional American Values
In his study American Society sociologist
Robin M. Williams analyzed American
values. He identified a set of 15 values
that are central to the American way of life.
Among these basic values are personal
achievement, individualism, work, morality,
humanitarianism, efficiency and
practicality, progress and material comfort,
equality, democracy, and freedom.
Personal Achievement
Most American value personal achievement.
This value is not a surprise considering
that the US was built primarily by people
who believed in individualism and
competition. This belief in the importance
of personal achievement is most evident in
the area of employment, where
achievement often in measured in terms of
power and wealth.
Individualism
For most Americans, individual effort is the
key to personal achievement. They
strongly believe that success comes
through hard work and initiative. This
emphasis on individualism has a negative
side, however. Most Americans feel that if
a person does not succeed, that person is
to blame.
Work
Most Americans value
work, regardless of
the rewards involved.
Americans view
discipline, dedication,
and hard work as
signs of virtue. They
often view those who
choose not to work as
lazy or even immoral.
Morality and Humanitarianism
The US was founded on strong religious
faith, on a belief in justice and equality,
and on charity toward the less fortunate.
Most Americans place a high value on
morality and tend to view the world in
terms of right and wrong. At the same
time, they are quick to help those who are
less fortunate than themselves.
Efficiency and Practicality
Americans tend to be practical and inventive
people. They believe that every problem
has a solution. Problem solving involves
discovering the most efficient technique for
dealing with a situation or involves
determining the most practical response to
the issue at hand. As a result, Americans
tend to judge objects such as new
technology on their usefulness and judge
people on their ability to get things done.
Progress and Material Comfort
Americans have always looked to the future
with optimism. They believe that through
hard work and determination, living
standards will continue to improve. This
belief in progress is paired with a belief in
the ability of science and technology to
make the world a better and more
comfortable place. Both views are
important because most American also
place a high value on material comfort.
Equality and Democracy
The US was founded on the principle of human
equality. Many Americans believe that to have
human equality, there must be an equality of
opportunity and an equal chance at success.
Although Americans value equality of
opportunity, they do not necessarily believe that
everyone will be successful. The values of hard
work and personal achievement lead most
Americans to view success as a reward that
must be earned.
The belief in equality extends to the form of
government that Americans value – democracy.
Americans believe that citizens have the right to
express their opinions and to participate freely in
choosing their representatives in government.
Freedom
Freedom is an important value for most
Americans. Americans particularly value
personal freedoms of choice such as the
freedom of religion, speech, and press,
which are guaranteed in the U.S.
Constitution. Americans steadfastly protect
these freedoms from direct government
interference in their daily lives and in
business dealings.
Other Core Values
These values are not the only values that
help define American culture. Williams also
included nationalism and patriotism,
science, and rationality, and racial and
group superiority in his list of core values.
Another sociologist, James M. Henslin,
suggested that additional values such as
education might be included. Many
Americans think that everyone should
achieve the highest level of education that
his or her abilities will allow.
Henslin also pointed out that religious values
are important in American culture. While
Americans do not expect people to belong
to a church, temple, or mosque, they do
expect them to live according to basic
religious principles. Finally, Henslin
suggested romantic love was another core
American value. Americans strongly
believe that people should marry primarily
because they fall in love with each other.
Even though values are vital to the stability
of society, they may sometimes produce
conflict. Not everyone agrees on what are
acceptable American values. Even when
people agree on the importance of a
certain set of values, individuals do not
uphold all of these vales to the same
degree. Strongly upholding the values of
personal achievement and material
comfort, for example, may weaken an
individual’s commitment to such values as
morality and equality.
Our Changing Values
The problem of conflicting values is
complicated by the fact that values, like all
aspects of society, are dynamic. Over time,
some values change and new ones
emerge. In the years since Williams’s and
Henslin’s studies, sociologists have traced
the development of several related new
values in the US. These values, which
include leisure, physical fitness, and
youthfulness, might be grouped under the
term self-fulfillment.
Self-fulfillment is a commitment to the full
development of one’s personality, talents,
and potential. The emergence of this value
can be seen in the self-help industry and
the human-potential movement. Seminars,
television programs, and books offer
people ideas on how to improve their
personal and professional lives. Health
clubs and diet centers promise to transform
people’s health and looks. Advertisements
challenge people to “be all you can be,” to
“grab the gusto,” and to “experience the
good life.”
This growing emphasis on personal
fulfillment created debate among social
scientists. In this book The Culture of
Narcissism, social historian Christopher
Lasch went so far as to consider this
emphasis on personal fulfillment a
personality disorder. He termed this
disorder narcissism, which means
extreme self-centeredness. Sociologist
Daniel Bell also saw dangers in the focus
on the self. He felt that it weakened the
established values of hard work and
moderation and that it threatened the
stability of the capitalist system.
Psychologist and survey researcher Daniel
Yankelovich took a different view. He
admitted that this new value probably
indicated that Americans believed less in
hard work than did earlier generations.
However, he viewed this shift toward selffulfillment as a beneficial change. It
marked a movement away from
satisfaction based on material gain, he
suggested.
Studies during the 1990s noted the
emergence of other new American values,
such as concern for the environment. Public
opinion polls during that time then reflected
a growing support among Americans for
environmental protection. Throughout much
of the 1990s, for example, more than 60
percent of Americans said that they favored
protecting the environment, even if it limited
economic growth. However, according to a
2001 poll, these numbers may be dropping.
The emergence of environmentalism
illustrates how values often change. For
long periods in American history, the
desire for progress led people to alter the
natural world. Americans cleared forests,
diverted rivers, and built factories and
roads in an effort to improve life in the US.
After a time, however, it became clear that
some of these actins had damaged the
environment. This damage had an
adverse effect on quality of life. Americans
then began to realize that they value the
environment as well as industrial progress.