The Relevance of Cosmopolitan/Local Orientations to Professional Values and Behavior

Abstract

Two key concepts used by social scientists are cosmopolitanism and localism. Cosmopolitanism, however, has come to be confused with professionalism This confusion can be eliminated by returning the concepts to their original usage to designate outer and inner reference groups. This more restricted definition of cosmopolitanism-localism was used to test the proposition that an orientation combining both cosmopolitan and local characteristics, called here "cosmo-local," is optimal for professionals. The cosmo-local was found more likely than other types to hold professional values and to obtain the autonomy necessary to professionals. The relationship between orientation and one form of professional behavior, expertise-seeking behavior, was found to be conditioned by such variables as career stage, work environment, and primary occupational role. While in a few contexts the cosmopolitan orientation was the most likely to lead to expertise-seeking behavior, the cosmo-local orientation was found to be most sensitive to changes favorable to professional behavior and therefore the most conducive to professionalism.