Chinese Values and the Search for Culture-Free Dimensions of Culture

TLDR

The study surveyed Chinese values among university students in 22 countries, performed ecological factor analysis on 40 items to identify four cultural dimensions, and compared these dimensions with Hofstede’s Western work‑value factors. Three of the four identified dimensions aligned strongly with Hofstede’s collectivism and compassion factors, while a fourth—Confucian work dynamism—showed no link to Hofstede but correlated .70 with economic growth, supporting the usefulness of non‑Western instruments for behavioral science.

Abstract

A survey of Chinese values was constructed and administered to university students in 22 countries around the world. An ecological factor analysis was run on the culture means for the 40 scale items and revealed four dimensions of cultural valuing. In a search for validities, country scores on these four factors were correlated with those derived from a Western survey of work-related values by Hofstede (1980). Three of the factors from the Chinese Value Survey (CVS) correlated at high levels with three of Hofstede's four, strongly suggesting the robust value dimensions of collectivism and compassion. The second CVS factor, Confucian work dynamism, was unrelated to any of Hofstede's, but correlated .70 with economic growth from 1965 to 1984. This validational evidence confirms the potential of instruments developed outside a Western cultural tradition for opening up new theoretical vistas to the attention of behavioral scientists.