Value dimensions in american counseling: A Taiwanese-American comparison

This paper is a discussion of prevailing American value dimensions in counseling theory and practice in general and a comparison of Taiwanese-Chinese and American counseling value dimensions in particular. Whereas most studies on cross-cultural issues to date have focused on American majority-minority value conflicts, this paper discusses a new level of value conflict, that between cultures, between nations.Part I discusses differences in cognition and affect between American and Taiwanese-Chinese. We have found that despite decades of American influence on Taiwanese culture, strong value differences persist between both countries, which leads us to believe that culture values are non-negotiable, structural elements of human existence. These basic differences in values influence perception, cognition, and behavior of American and Taiwanese culture bearers and result in predictable cross-culture conflicts.Part II presents a conceptualization of culture values and further discusses the American values embedded in counseling practices. To understand this influence we have identified (using Geert Hofstede's four culture value dimensions) cultural characteristics unique to Americans and Taiwanese-Chinese.Part III specifically discusses the impact of American individualism on counseling theory, and how the strong American belief of the universality of individualism can lead to an inability to validate collectivist cultures.We conclude by suggesting that more longitudinal and historic analysis could generate more in-depth information about culture values. This in turn could make a truly international and inter-cultural theory and practice of counseling a more likely possibility.