We all know what they are; they help to make up our culture along with our beliefs, behavior and material objects. In America there are certain societal values that the majority of us have; personal control over the environment, change, time and its control, equality, individualism/privacy, self-help, competition, orientation, action/work orientation, informality, directiness/openness/honesty, practicality/efficiency, and materialism/acquisitiveness. There are also leisure time, religiosity, social interaction, and physical fitness.
It seems strange to be able to lump a group as large as the citizens of the United States into the same group with the same values, but the truth is, while there may be some variation here and there most of these values are held by a lot of people. And while all of these values may make sense in our day and age, they mightnot have made sense in another time. Values change and evolve with the other changes and evolutions in our society
Technology is an example of how our values change as our society does. With the introduction of the internet and social networks, people have come to value individualism and privacy more than physical social interaction. People talk more and are working more on the computer than face to face. This is just one example of the evolving values of our society, there are plenty more out there if you just take the time to look.
No comments:
Post a Comment