A Comparison of American and Vietnamese Value Systems

Summary The purpose of this study was to investigate the similarities and differences in value systems between Americans and Vietnamese. A national sample of 1427 Americans was given Rokeach's value survey. The scale was then translated into Vietnamese and given to a randomly selected group of 349 Vietnamese living in South Vietnam shortly before the fall of the Saigon government. Three comparisons of value systems were conducted via stepwise discriminant analyses: (a) overall differences between Americans and Vietnamese, (b) differences between males and females in the two countries, and (c) differences between individuals with comparable amounts of education in the two countries. In terms of overall differences, Vietnamese were more concerned about their security and less concerned about their individual freedom than were Americans. This difference was even more pronounced when Vietnamese women were compared with American women. Finally, it was found that the college-educated Vietnamese respondents were more like their American counterparts than were less educated Vietnamese. Further, in many respects, the values of college-educated Vietnamese were more similar to Americans' values than to other Vietnamese. The implications of these findings in terms of cross-cultural value differences and the impact of the American presence in Vietnam were discussed.