Homogeneity of Individual Value Orientations: A Macro-Social Investigation.

The relative homogeneity of individual value orientations in 11 contemporary nations is the subject of this paper. In macro-sociological discussions, particularly of the polity, there are frequent assertions about the relative homogeneity of a people and of their culture, but these assertions are rarely specified or derived from quantitative empirical investigations. A review of the literature on cultural homogeneity and individual value orientations indicates that there have been major obstacles to computing societal scores of the relative degree of homogeneity in individual value orientations. A new approach is proposed which avoids the obstacles encountered in previous efforts by assuming that attitudes are a reflection of values and, thus, inferring the heterogeneity of value orientations through a study of diversity in attitudes. Scores are computed for 11 nations and several propositions are considered in an effort to account for these national scores. In addition, suggestions are made for the application of this new approach to other levels of analysis. (Author/ND)