I was always fascinated with human values (cultural included). South Africa is a curious country from this point of view because researchers collect information separately on white and black population: totally overthrowing our aspirations of “Proudly South African”. Today I was looking (in the millionth time) at GLOBE value survey wondering if there was a reason to separate white and black south african population. From the first sight the values were following the same trend even if the exact numbers were different.
Being preoccupied with how delusional people whom I encounter are, I've decided to quickly calculate “Delusion-ment Index”. The name is a bit affected by my mood, in a very positive view you can even call it “Aspiration Index”, hmmm. What I measured was the mean difference between what society thinks it should be and what it actually is (from the values point of view). Or in plain speech, the difference between what people say and what people actually do.
I guess I found my answers – indeed there's a good reason to measure black and white population in SA differently. Delusionment index for black population is 9% whereas for white is the whole 35%. Hmmm... looks like a time for a reality check ;) :) :)
On the positive side, the data is 11 years old, we can hope for some improvement. Though my sentiment here is more towards more blending, I have no opinion about improvement.
Please don't rush to apply these conclusions to your white and black friends – statistics is not psychology. But share your thoughts while I am calculating delusion-ment of other societies...
References:
GLOBE-Phase-2-Aggregated-Societal-Level-Data-for-Society-Culture-Scales-May-17-2004
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