Cultural Values and Social Unrest:Possible Connections. An investigation into the effects of cultural values as drivers of social unrest

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to identify cultural variables which may drive social unrest and the role these variables play in the communication of dissatisfaction. Data for this study was obtained by consolidating two different data sets. One set of data came from ‘The GLOBE Study’ which analyses responses from middle-management about cultural values in 62 societies. The second data set is from the ‘The Economist Intelligence Unit’ (EIU) which analyses political and economical variables in over 150 countries, with the aim to assess the risk of social unrest for each of those countries. In the first part of the study, we conduct a literature review which examines social unrest at a micro level, paying particular attention to the communication and social movements theories. In the second part of the study we perform a data analysis, which will investigate trends and patterns which appear from the amalgamation of the GLOBE study and the EIU political instability index. In the results and discussion, we analyse those patterns which indicate what cultural values play a role in the communication of dissatisfaction and contribute to the risk of social unrest. These values are related to the dimensions of: Uncertainty Avoidance, Institutional Collectivism, Performance Orientation and Future Orientation.