SocialValues - USA

Active Government: A tendency to believe that government efficaciously performs socially beneficial functions. A desire for more government involvement in resolving social issues.

Adaptability to Complexity (OPPOSITE OF Aversion to Complexity): A tendency to adapt easily to the uncertainties of modern life and not to feel threatened by the changes and complexities of society today. A desire to explore this complexity as a learning experience and a source of opportunity.

Attraction for Crowds: Enjoyment of being in large crowds as a means of deindividuation and connection-seeking.

Aversion to Complexity (OPPOSITE OF Adaptability to Complexity): The tendency to find it difficult to adapt to the uncertainties of modern life and to feel threatened by the changes and complexities of society today. A desire to avoid this complexity as a learning experience and a source of opportunity.

Advertising as Stimulus: A tendency to enjoy viewing advertising for its aesthetic properties; to enjoy advertising in a wide range of venues, from magazines to television to outdoor signs and billboards.

Brand Apathy (OPPOSITE OF Importance of Brand): Placing little importance on the brand name of a product.

Buying on Impulse (OPPOSITE OF Discriminating Consumerism): A tendency shop impulsively and noncritically, to fully engage in the consumer society and not to bother seeking product information before making purchases.

Civic Apathy (OPPOSITE OF Civic Engagement): Reflects a disinterest in the political process and participation in the democratic process. Recognition of the division of society between the "haves" and the "have nots", and a willingness to accept the inevitability of the status quo.

Civic Engagement (OPPOSITE OF Civic Apathy): A belief that active involvement in the political process can make a difference in society. People strongest on this construct reject the notion that inequities in society are inevitable and should be expected.

Community Involvement: The measure of the interest in what's happening in one's neighborhood, city, town or region, reflected in activities ranging from reading the weekly community newspaper to socio-political involvement in community organizations.

Concern for Appearance: The penchant for placing a great deal of importance on appearing "attractive" and being concerned about the image projected by one's appearance. People who are strong on this construct are image-driven.

Confidence in Advertising (OPPOSITE OF Skepticism of Advertising): A tendency to trust and use advertising as a source of reliable information. Also, a tendency to identify with the fashions and the role models promoted by advertising and the consumer society.

Confidence in Big Business: The belief that big businesses strive to strike a fair balance between making a profit and working in the public’s interest. Expressing a certain level of faith that what serves the interest of big business also serves the interest of society, and vice-versa. Associating good quality and service with big companies and well-known products.

Cultural Assimilation (OPPOSITE OF Multiculturalism): Belief that people should adopt a culture that is "American" first and foremost. Believing that in coming to the United States, immigrants should let go of their languages and customs and embrace the American way of life.

Discriminating Consumerism (OPPOSITE OF Buying on Impulse): A tendency to actively adopt defensive stratagems to shield oneself from the artificial needs created by the consumer society and to seek product information before making purchases.

Duty: The belief that duties and obligations to others should be fulfilled before turning to one's personal pleasures and interests.

Ecological Concern (OPPOSITE OF Ecological Fatalism): A tendency to believe that today’s environmental problems are a result of industrial and personal disregard for the environment. People strong on this construct feel that environmental destruction is unacceptable and reject the notion that job protection or economic advancement should be allowed at the expense of environmental protection.

Ecological Fatalism (OPPOSITE OF Ecological Concern): People highest on this trend believe that some amount of pollution is unavoidable in industrial societies and accept it as a part of life. They feel that there is little they can do to change this fact.

Effort Toward Health: The commitment to focus on diet, exercise and healthy living to feel better and have a healthy, wholesome lifestyle. A willingness to transform one’s lifestyle through exercise and radical changes to diet.

Emotional Control (OPPOSITE OF Pursuit of Intensity): A propensity to give priority to reason as the principal way of understanding life. A desire to keep one’s emotional life “on an even keel”, to use logic and reason to control one’s feelings and emotions and to base day-to-day decisions on reason and logic. A reluctance to experience or express emotions.

Equal Relationship with Youth: The preference to break down traditional hierarchical and patriarchal relationships by giving the youth equal freedoms as those of adults. Discipline, like that issued by adults over young people, is therefore replaced by freedom and increased individualism.

Ethical Consumerism: The willingness to base consumer decisions on the perceived ethics of the company making the product (e.g., whether management treats employees fairly, co-operates with governments that do not meet ethical standards, or uses testing methods that involve mistreatment of animals). Desire to see companies be good corporate citizens in terms of these new social concerns.

Fatalism (OPPOSITE OF Personal Control): The tendency to believe that one's life is shaped by forces beyond one's control. Feeling unconcerned with trying to change the inevitable direction of one's life.

Financial Security: A feeling of security and optimism about one's financial future. A sense of being personally responsible for and in control of one's financial situation.

Flexible Families (OPPOSITE OF Traditional Families): The willingness to accept non-traditional definitions of "family", such as common law and same-sex marriages. The belief that "family" should be defined by emotional links rather than by legal formalities or institutions. The belief that society should be open to new definitions of what constitutes a “family”.

Global Consciousness (OPPOSITE OF Parochialism): The inclination to consider oneself a "citizen of the world" first and foremost, over a "citizen of one's community and country”. Non-ethnocentricity, feeling an affinity to peoples in all countries.

Importance of Aesthetics (OPPOSITE OF Utilitarian Consumerism): Tendency to base purchase decisions on aesthetic rather than utilitarian considerations. Measures the attention given to the beauty of objects and products purchased. People strong on this construct often buy products purely for their appearance. Aesthetic, in this case, is a form of personal expression.

Importance of Brand (OPPOSITE OF Brand Apathy): The predilection to give great weight to the brand name of a product or service, a tendency to have favorite brands and be willing to pay a price premium for them.

Importance of Spontaneity: The tendency to enthusiastically embrace the unexpected and spontaneous events that temporarily interrupt daily routines.

Intuition & Impulse: A way of understanding and transacting with the world that largely leaves aside controlled and critical rational thought. A tendency to be guided less by reason and logic than by one’s emotions and feelings. Also, tendencies to be impulsive and spontaneous, able to change one’s opinions easily.

Joy of Consumption: The feeling of intense gratification through the purchase of consumer goods (rather than basic necessities). Enjoying consumption for the pleasure of consumption. People who are strong on this construct are often more excited by the act of buying than by the use of the products they buy.

Just Deserts: The confidence that, in the end, people get what they deserve (and deserve what they get) as a result of the decisions they make and what they put into life, both positively and negatively.

Multiculturalism (OPPOSITE OF Cultural Assimilation): Openness toward the diverse cultures, ethnic communities and immigrants that make up America. A belief that ethnic groups should be encouraged to preserve their cultural identities, and that others should seek to learn about them.

National Pride: Defining one’s identity through national pride and believing that America should hold a strong position in the world.

Need for Status Recognition: The desire to be held in esteem and respect by others, and to express one’s social standing or aspired status, through a display of fine manners, good taste, style or “chic”.

Obedience to Authority (OPPOSITE OF Rejection of Authority): A belief in playing by the rules. The belief that persons or organizations in positions of authority should be deferred to at all times. A belief that there are rules in society and everyone should follow them. The feeling that young people, in particular, should be taught to obey authority rather than question it.

Ostentatious Consumption: The desire to impress others and express one's social standing through the display of objects that symbolize affluence.

Parochialism (OPPOSITE OF Global Consciousness): Feeling of connectedness to one's town, city, region or country. A disregard for what is happening in other countries, and a preference for seeing symbols of home, such as a McDonalds restaurant, when traveling abroad.

Patriarchy: The belief that “the father of the family must be the master in his own house.

Penchant for Risk: The desire to take risks to get what one wants out of life. Also, indulging in dangerous and forbidden activities for their associated emotional high.

Personal Challenge: The propensity to set difficult goals to achieve, even if just to prove to themselves that they accomplish them. People strong on this construct set lofty, challenging goals and finish what they start, persevering until their self-assigned task is completed to their satisfaction. Rejecting personal failure.

Personal Control (OPPOSITE OF Fatalism): Striving to organize and control the direction of one's future, even when it feels that there are forces beyond one's immediate control.

Personal Optimism: The general feeling of optimism about one's future personal outcomes.

Primacy of the Family: The penchant to put family first; making personal sacrifices and providing for one's family over all else.

Pursuit of Intensity (OPPOSITE OF Emotional Control): The desire to live intensely. Also, a tendency to be guided less by reason and logic than by one’s emotions, feelings and intuition. A need to constantly experience new sensations.

Rejection of Authority (OPPOSITE OF Obedience to Authority): A belief in not playing by the rules. The belief that persons or organizations in positions of authority should be questioned and challenged at all times. A belief that while there are rules in society, we should not just follow them blindly. The feeling that young people, in particular, should be taught to question authority rather than unquestioningly obey it.

Religiosity: The desire to place great importance on religion as a construct which guides one's life. Also, placing great significance on having an affiliation with an organized religious faith. The tendency to consider that religion represents the essential values and education that should be transmitted to the next generation. (Note: Lower scores on this construct should be construed not as anti-religious, but as "Apatheistic").

Saving on Principle: The tendency to save and accumulate money, motivated by a moral impulse for future security. A preference for frugality and denial to self of "luxuries". Displaying tendencies towards inhibition and impulse control.

Sexism: The belief in traditional, male-dominated views on the division of gender roles – that men are naturally superior to women. These views carry into economic issues such as the belief that, when both partners are working, the husband should be the main breadwinner.

Sexual Permissiveness: A tendency to be sexually permissive regarding oneself and others. Fidelity within marriage or between partners and the prohibition of premarital sex are of little importance for people scoring high on this construct.

Skepticism towards Advertising (OPPOSITE OF Confidence in Advertising): The tendency to distrust and reject advertising as a source of reliable information. Also, a tendency to reject the fashions and the role models promoted by advertising and the consumer society.

Social Responsibility: A belief that society, and the individual, has a responsibility to help those less fortunate. The tendency to believe that quality of life can improve when people work together.

Status via Home: The feeling a strong sense that one’s home represents an extension of one’s image. People strongest on this construct make great efforts to decorate and equip their homes in a manner that will impress others and pay particular attention to the way they entertain in the home.

Technology Anxiety: People strong on this construct are intimidated and threatened by technological changes and express high concern regarding the ethical and moral dilemmas towards which science and technology is advancing.

Traditional Family (OPPOSITE OF Flexible Families): Defining “family” in traditional terms as a man and a woman, married with children. Unwilling to expand the traditional concept of “family” beyond the legal formality of a marriage license to include same-sex couples or unmarried couples.

Vitality: The sense that one has a great deal of energy and is in contact with this energy. It measures an energetic, lively approach to life, a feeling that one has more vigor and initiative than most other people.

Xenophobia: The sense that too much immigration threatens the purity of the country. The belief that immigrants who have made their new home in the United States should set aside their cultural backgrounds and blend into “the American melting pot”.