What shapes an individual's work values? An integrated model of the relationship between work values, national culture and self-construal

Abstract

The concept of life values has become a central in studies of individual level motivations and behaviour, particularly in HRM and organisational behaviour. Among the various types of life values, work values (or goals) are often viewed as a central determinant of a wide range of an individual's work-related attitudes and behaviours. The importance of understanding work values is further emphasised by increasingly diverse workforces within countries and through the internationalisation of business and the need to mange people across culturally diverse workforces across national borders. Despite its perceived importance, much of this research is plagued by controversy over what factors are most important in shaping an individual's work values. Typically, much of this work has centred on establishing the pre-eminence of individual level factors or, alternatively, cultural-level factors which shape an individual's work values. These cultural level interpretations have been particularly influential in international HRM. In this article we develop and test a simple integrated model of the relationship between national cultural and individual level value orientations, and two higher order work value constructs: extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Using data from a survey of business students, we find strong support that the relationship between national culture and intrinsic work values is mediated by individual self-construal. The possible moderating effect of cultural adaptation on these relationships is also explored and supported. We conclude by considering the implications of our results for managing people in culturally diverse settings.

Keywords:

• cultural adaptation
• individualism-collectivism
• national culture
• self-construal
• work values

Notes

1. Individualist national cultures are defined as those in which the social ties between individuals are loose and where self-interest and the interests of one's immediate family represent primary obligations over larger communal or social obligations. In contrast, collectivist cultures are defined by the extent to which individuals are integrated into strong cohesive groups that define their identity and social status. Collectivist cultures are those where individual interests may be subordinate to organisational, communal or societal goals or interests (Hofstede 2001).

2. Often in empirical research the functions of mediation and moderation have been used interchangeably (Harkins, Latané and Williams 1980; Baron and Kenny 1986). However, Baron and Kenny (1986) point out the potential pitfalls in not distinguishing between mediator and moderator variables in statistical analysis. A variable performs as a mediator to the extent that it accounts for the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. A mediator is said to be a ‘potent, albeit not both a necessary and a sufficient condition for an effect to occur’ (Baron and Kenny 1986, p. 1176). A moderator on the other hand is a ‘variable that affects the direction and/or strength of the relation between an independent or predictor variable and a dependent or criterion variable’ (Baron and Kenny 1986, p. 1174).

3. Baron and Kenny (1986) also recommend that further analysis needs to be undertaken to rule out the possibility that our mediator in fact moderates the relationship between the independent and dependent variable or that the hypothesised mediation between national culture and self-construal is moderated by cultural adaptation (a ‘moderated mediation’ to use Baron and Kenny's terminology). Tests for both ‘moderating mediation’ and ‘mediating moderation’ proved insignificant.