What is the World Values Survey and its relevance to cross-cultural psychology?

• A. A cross-national survey measuring values and beliefs; used to compare cultural values and social attitudes.
• B. A regional survey focusing only on economic indicators within a single country.
• C. A historical record of political events across cultures.
• D. A laboratory assessment of perceptual biases in diverse populations.

Answer: (A)

The World Values Survey is a large, international study that samples people in many countries to measure their values, beliefs, and attitudes on topics like politics, religion, family, work, and social life. Because the same questions are asked across diverse cultures and repeated over time, it lets researchers compare cultural values and social attitudes in a systematic way. In cross-cultural psychology, this dataset is especially useful because it provides empirical evidence on how value orientations differ across societies and how those values relate to behaviors, beliefs, and social outcomes—such as levels of trust, tolerance, gender roles, or political participation. It supports analyzing patterns like traditional versus secular-rational values or survival versus self-expression values and how these patterns connect to real-world differences between cultures. It’s not focused on regional economic indicators, historical political events, or laboratory tests of perceptual biases, making it ideal for cross-cultural comparisons of values.