Location
DePauw Libraries, Roy O. West Library Wood Study
Event Website
https://depauw.campuslabs.com/engage/event/9085478
Start Date
3-5-2023 1:15 PM
End Date
3-5-2023 1:25 PM
Presentation Type
Thesis
Description
Intercultural and multicultural communication can be difficult when opposing points of view try to find common ground. This is, in part, due to the different moral values people hold, which can come from their spiritual beliefs, legal systems, personal principles, relationships, and more. The present study aims to find a set of universal moral principles that apply to all humans in order to improve intercultural and multicultural communication. This study will synthesize the current literature on universal moral values across six different disciplines. These disciplines include philosophy/ethics, religion, communication, developmental psychology, evolutionary psychology, and anthropology. First, this paper will review the literature on universal moral values in each of the six selected disciplines to establish what each discipline believes to be the best contenders for universal moral values. Then, this literature will be synthesized and compared to assess the prevalence of certain moral values across research disciplines. Results show the most prevalent moral values, and best contenders for universal moral values, to be justice and care/harm, followed by sanctity, respect for/recognition of authority, honesty, and tolerance. Some more values that could be contenders for universal moral values with more research are reciprocity, loyalty, forgiveness, and harmony. Perhaps these moral values come in varying degrees across cultures and people, with justice and care/harm being prevalent in most people, and forgiveness and harmony showing up in fewer, but still a considerable amount, of people. Future research should continue this search for universal moral values across different disciplines, as each of the six disciplines explored in this paper brought insightful contributions to the research on moral values. Further exploration of the values mentioned in this paper is necessary, as well as more research on other values and disciplines not investigated here.
Included in
Universe and You: A Search for Universal Moral Values
DePauw Libraries, Roy O. West Library Wood Study
Intercultural and multicultural communication can be difficult when opposing points of view try to find common ground. This is, in part, due to the different moral values people hold, which can come from their spiritual beliefs, legal systems, personal principles, relationships, and more. The present study aims to find a set of universal moral principles that apply to all humans in order to improve intercultural and multicultural communication. This study will synthesize the current literature on universal moral values across six different disciplines. These disciplines include philosophy/ethics, religion, communication, developmental psychology, evolutionary psychology, and anthropology. First, this paper will review the literature on universal moral values in each of the six selected disciplines to establish what each discipline believes to be the best contenders for universal moral values. Then, this literature will be synthesized and compared to assess the prevalence of certain moral values across research disciplines. Results show the most prevalent moral values, and best contenders for universal moral values, to be justice and care/harm, followed by sanctity, respect for/recognition of authority, honesty, and tolerance. Some more values that could be contenders for universal moral values with more research are reciprocity, loyalty, forgiveness, and harmony. Perhaps these moral values come in varying degrees across cultures and people, with justice and care/harm being prevalent in most people, and forgiveness and harmony showing up in fewer, but still a considerable amount, of people. Future research should continue this search for universal moral values across different disciplines, as each of the six disciplines explored in this paper brought insightful contributions to the research on moral values. Further exploration of the values mentioned in this paper is necessary, as well as more research on other values and disciplines not investigated here.
https://scholarship.depauw.edu/library_symposium/2023/2023/1
Comments
Prepared as part of DePauw University Department of Communication's Senior Thesis Class of 2023 with Professor Jeffrey McCall