Speaking of cultures: Linguistic structures and cultural values

Abstract

Languages require speakers to arrange words and symbolic sounds according to grammar structures that govern how speakers perceive the world around them. We use data collected from a large sample (N = 18,098) of students who formed global virtual teams across 159 countries to put forth an empirical relationship between language grammar structures and cultural value dimensions. A total of 79 languages were represented in our sample. We integrate linguistic and cultural transmission theories and research in the realms of psychology, economics, and management to test whether language grammar structures (e.g. gendered grammar structures pronoun drop, politeness distinctions and future time reference) are related to individual-level cultural values dimensions including masculinity, collectivism, power distance, and long-term orientations. Our results show that gendered grammar structures in languages are related to traditional masculine values. We also show that higher levels of collectivism are likely to be found among speakers of languages that permit personal pronouns to be dropped from sentences. Our results provide further support for linguistic relativity and cultural transmission. Keywords: Linguistic structures, Culture, Survey-based cultural dimensions, Values