Influence of values on the attitude towards cultural diversity

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Although fifteen years have passed since the change in political dispensation in SouthAfrica, the integration of citizens belonging to the previously disadvantaged sectionsof society is still progressing at a bewilderingly slow pace. Gaining access to theworld of work is instrumental in the alleviation of poverty and the promotion ofeconomic and social stability in a country still plagued by the legacy of apartheid.While South Africa is currently in the process of breaking down the scaffolding ofapartheid and promoting the welfare of all South Africans along more equitably lines,the overall success of relevant initiatives fundamentally hinges on both the formeroppressors and the formerly oppressed coming to terms with the past and, moreimportantly, engaging in a process of constitutional reconciliation and compromise toovercome unconstructive attitudes brought about through decades of colonialism,racism and segregation.Following from this, attitudes towards cultural diversity in general and, morespecifically, the forces (i.e. nomological network of antecedents) that shape suchattitudes, informed the research question that initiated the current study. Preliminarytheorising culminated in the formulation of a tentative theoretical model explicatingthe relationship between various variables and the attitude towards cultural diversity.The proposed theoretical model in an effort to answer the question that initiated theresearch implied that values influence the attitude towards cultural diversity.Furthermore, it was argued that the relationship between values and the attitudetowards cultural diversity is moderated by race and gender.The proposed theoretical model was formally assessed with the use of a conveniencesample of 1 357 students from four prominent universities in South Africa (NorthwestUniversity, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, University of Stellenbosch, andNelson Mandela Metropolitan University). A quasi double cross-validation procedurewas utilised whereby a single sample was divided into two equal subsamples: (a) acalibration sample and (b) validation sample.A combination of qualitative and quantitative research paradigms was utilised in thecurrent study. Only quantitative results are reported formally, although the qualitativetechnique of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was utilised extensively during thestages of theorisation. The statistical analysis became naturally segmented in fourdistinct sections: the validation of the Schwartz Value Survey (SVS) and the CulturalDiversity Belief Scales (CDBS); the refinement of the SVS and CDBS; testing of theproposed theoretical model via Structural Equation Modelling (SEM); and testing themoderating effects of race and gender on the attitude towards cultural diversity bymeans of moderated regression analysis.Partial support was found for the proposed linkages between values main effects andthe attitude towards cultural diversity, as well as for the moderating effects of raceand gender on the value-attitude linkages.Conclusions were drawn from the results obtained and recommendations for futureresearch have been made.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University