The term value consensus refers to the extent to which individuals within a social structure share the same values. In Durkheim’s view, a society functions well when there is an agreement among the people within it about the structure of beliefs in a society.
In other words, value consensus is a measure of the agreement within a group on what is seen as, say, virtuous, heinous, or evil.
The concept of value consensus has its roots in sociology and anthropology, where it has been studied extensively.
It is closely related to the idea ofsocial norms,which are informal rules that govern behavior within a group. Additionally, value consensus is often seen as a necessary part of social cohesion and stability.
It provides a common set of beliefs and principles that people can rally around and use to unconsciously guide their behavior.
Without a sharedset of values, it would be difficult for people to interact with one another or to cooperate on anything.
Key TakeawaysA value consensus is a shared agreement among a group of people about what is important or valuable. This can be in the form of moral values, political values, religious values, or cultural values. It is often seen as a necessary part of social cohesion and stability.Value consensus can be thought of as a societal binding agent. It provides a common set of beliefs and principles that people can rally around and use to guide their behavior.Others, such as Merton, elaborated on Durkheim’s functionalist theory, adding that institutions can also be dysfunctional. Nonetheless, these theories are still consensus theories.More recently, consensus theories have been extended into pluralism and the “new right.” Pluralism argues that different groups, or subcultures, within society can have differing norms and values, but there are at least some overriding, shared societal norms.Meanwhile, the new right emphasizes how the breakdown of social institutions can harm society through the dismantling of value consensus. Criminologists also commonly use consensus theories. One notable example of a criminological consensus theory is strain theory.
Key Takeaways
Value consensus means that a majority of society agrees with the goals that society sets to show success.
Functionalismis a structural-consensus theory. This means that functionalists argue both that:There is a social structure that shapes individual behavior through the process of socialization.A successful society is based on value consensus, of people agreeing around a shared set of norms and values that enables people to cooperate and work together to achieve shared goals.
Functionalismis a structural-consensus theory. This means that functionalists argue both that:
Parsons (1939, 1951) would later elaborate on this collective consciousness, coining the term “value consensus” to describe the need for societies to have common beliefs and principles to work with and towards. This view is why Functionalism is considered to be aconsensus theory.
The functionalist perspective sees these values as essential for the smooth running of society. They provide a common purpose for people to strive for and help to ensure that people behave in predictable ways (Patridge, 1971; Marsh, 2007).
Informal social control functions to maintain value consensus through customs, norms, and expectations. For example,social institutionssuch as the family, education, and religion play an important role in promoting and sustaining value consensus through socialization.
The family is often the first source of values for individuals. Parents typically instill their own values in their children from a young age.
As children grow older, they may begin to develop their own values that are different from those of their parents.
Other factors, such as socio-economic development and one’s peer group, can play an equally dramatic role in determining whose views become the basis of a society’s value consensus as well as what these values are (Schwartz & Sagie, 2000).
Formal social control can also be a mechanism for ensuring a value consensus within society through laws or other official regulations. These social controls explicitly demand compliance, and tend to be repressive and punitive.
While the functionalist perspective emphasizes the importance of socialization in creating value consensus, it does acknowledge that there are always going to be some values that people do not agree on.
In fact,Durkheimargued that a certain amount of deviance — behavior contrary to norms — is necessary for the values of a society to be tested and confirmed.
Durkheim notes that value consensus continues to exist in modern societies but in a weaker form because industrialization resulted in people having greater access to a greater variety of knowledge and ideas, e.g., through the mass media and science.
Why is value consensus important?
Functionalists believe that a successful society is based on value consensus, people agreeing about a set of shared norms and values.
In this way, people can join forces in society to cooperate and work toward shared goals (Holmwood, 2005).
To Parsons, the value consensus was the basis of social order, as it integrated disparate individuals and reduced conflict between them.
Value consensus is important because it determines thesocial norms and moresin a culture. For example, in American culture, there is a general consensus that individual freedom is more important than collectivism.
This value shapes many of the social norms in American culture, such as the emphasis on individual achievement and rights, and influences people and policymakers alike to attribute success and failure in all realms to personal traits and character (Schwartz & Sagie, 2000).
Value consensus, on a broader level, is important for systems such as democracy, governance, and the corpus of law. The way everyone lives their lives is dependent on these social norms and systems.
Understanding value consensus is vital in furthering positive social goals such as increasing social stability and encouraging peaceful conflict resolution.
A consensus of values also limits the amount and weight of conflict in society, as adherence to shared values engenders a sense of identity and acceptance of common goals as well as agreement on the norms for how these goals should be achieved (Partridge, 1971).
How does the family establish a value consensus?
Familyinstills certain values in their children, which leads to those values being passed down from generation to generation.
This can create a strong sense of shared values within a family, and can lead to families cooperating with each other on political and other issues.
The family plays a vital role, although perhaps in subtle ways, in the inculcation of values such as fairness, honesty, teamwork, and empathy, in their members commencing at infancy.
Additionally, the family significantly influences the passage of cultural and religious norms as well.
The role of family in value consensus is evident in many cultures around the world. In some cultures, families are very close-knit and co-operate on a variety of needs. In others, families may be more isolated from each other, but still share similar values (Schwartz & Sagie, 2000).
The functionalist, Talcott Parsons, argued that the particular structure of a family fits the needs of the society it is enclosed in. In essence, the structure of the family and the creation of values consensus is in a reciprocal relationship.
Broadly, in less close knit societies, families may encourage the development of individualism as a value, leading to leaving the family structure at a younger age and greater immersion in non-family social institutions.
This serves to give these other institutions an even greater role in creating values consensus (Schwartz & Sagie, 2000).
How does education establish a value consensus?
After the family, educational institutions play the most significant role in grooming young children into responsible citizens.
Secondary socialization agents act as learning environments that produce conformity and consensus among people from potentially dissimilar backgrounds.
This is especially important in societies that are ethnically and racially diverse, as it helps to create a sense of shared identity and purpose (Schwartz & Sagie, 2000).
Teaching Norms and Values
Durkheim also argued that schools in complex societies teach how people can co-operate with people who are neither their kin nor friends in a way that neither the family or friendship can.
Althusser argues that the family, as part of the superstructure of capitalist society, socializes children into norms and values that are useful to the capitalist ruling class. That is to say, the family is an ideological agent, a puppet, of the ruling class.
For example, children learn obedience and respect for those in authority within the family. This means that the capitalist class can later exploit these children because, when these children become adults, they are more likely to view the power and authority of the capitalist class as natural.
By socializing children into ruling-class values, the family ensures that children will become uncritical and conformist adults and passive workers who accept exploitation with little complaint.
Role Allocation
This role allocation then leads to value consensus as those individuals with similar educational backgrounds are more likely to share, and be socialized into, the same values (Schwartz & Sagie, 2000).
For example, people who have graduated from Ivy League schools are likely to have very different values than those who have been sorted into community college or trade schools.
The former group is likely to prioritize things like working long hours and achieving economic success at a number of prestigious companies or universities, while the latter group may prioritize family, community, and settling for stability.
In theory, this is a meritocratic shifting and sorting; however, sociological studies have long shown that there tends to be an overrepresentation of those from high socioeconomic status families at the most selective tiers of the education system (Schwartz & Sagie, 2000).
By promoting different types of values consensus among different social groups, the education system ensures that different specializations of varying levels of status and income are supplied with a population of people willing to fill them.
How does the state establish a value consensus?
Governmental policy, especially via legislation, is an evident example offormal social controlthat demonstrates what may be acceptable or unacceptable in a certain society.
The reasoning behind this measure was both to ensure the continuous operation of factories and to weaken social institutions outside of work and government.
When people within families or communities struggle to find common leisure time, it becomes more difficult to strengthen the bonds between people in these groups and organize against the state. This policy was later changed, but it highlights the potential for government action in value formation (Nash, 1967).
Today, governments use carrots and sticks to nudge citizens towards values that serve the public good. For instance, taxes can be used to discourage activities that are harmful to society, such as smoking or pollution.
Alternatively, tax breaks can be used to encourage and normalize activities deemed desirable, such as driving an electric car in lieu of a gasoline-fueled one.
By setting these sorts of rules and incentives, governments ensure that behaviors healthy for their own interests are normalized, creating order.
How do politics establish a value consensus?
When there is no value consensus, people are more likely to disagree and fight over what they believe is important on a political level.
Politics can create value consensus through a number of avenues, and individual political parties can create value consensus that, at times, runs completely contrary to that of its opposition.
One means of exerting control over value consensus through politics is through the media.
The media can be used to promote certain values and downplay others.
For example, the media can be used to make people feel that their safety is more important than their freedom, or that their economic well-being is more important than their civil rights (Schwartz & Sagie, 2000).
The media can also be used to create a false sense of consensus. This happens when the media only presents one side of an issue, or when it only presents the views of those in power.
This can lead to people believing that everyone agrees with them, even though there may be a large number of people who disagree.
Critical evaluation
The extent of a value consensus in society has been challenged, with many sociologists denying that it exists at all.
Critics of the functionalist perspective on value consensus also point out that institutions can sometimes be used to control people rather than help them reach their full potential (Kulkarni, 2010).
FAQs
In brief,Durkheimbelieved that in order for a society to function properly, its members must share a certain degree of agreement on what is valuable.
This common set of values – or value consensus – allows people to know how to behave and what to expect from others. It also provides a sense of meaning and purpose in life. Without value consensus, Durkheim thought that social anarchy, or anomie, would reign (Marsh, 2007).
Functionalists see value consensus as necessary for the smooth functioning of society.
This perspective emphasizes the role of institutions in socializing individuals and transmitting values. According to functionalism, when there is a value consensus, people know what is expected of them, and they can cooperate with one another to achieve common goals.
References
Althusser, L. (1969).For Marx(B. Brewster, Trans.). London: Penguin Press. (Original work published 1965)
Althusser, L. (1971).Lenin and philosophy and other essays(B. Brewster, Trans.). London: New Left. (Original work published 1970)
Durkheim, E. (1892).The division of labor in society. Free Pr.
Durkheim, E. (1951).Suicide[1897]. na.
Kulkarni, S. A. (2010).The social correlates of value consensus(Doctoral dissertation, Rutgers University-Camden Graduate School).
Marsh, I. (2007).Anomic Suicide. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology.
Nash, E. (1967). The New Five-Day Workweek in the Soviet Union.Monthly Lab. Rev., 90, 18.
Partridge, P. (1971).Consent and Consensus. Praeger Publishers.
Parsons, T. E., & Shils, E. A. (1951).Toward a general theory of action.
Parsons, T. (1971).The system of modern societies(p. 12). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Schwartz, S., S. H., & Sagie, G. (2000). Value consensus and importance: A cross-national study.Journal of cross-cultural psychology, 31(4), 465-497.
Shils, E. (1975).Center and periphery: Essays in macrosociology(Vol. 2). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Saul McLeod, PhD
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester
Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.
Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education
Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.
Charlotte NickersonResearch Assistant at Harvard UniversityUndergraduate at Harvard UniversityCharlotte Nickerson is a student at Harvard University obsessed with the intersection of mental health, productivity, and design.
Charlotte NickersonResearch Assistant at Harvard UniversityUndergraduate at Harvard University
Charlotte Nickerson
Research Assistant at Harvard University
Undergraduate at Harvard University
Charlotte Nickerson is a student at Harvard University obsessed with the intersection of mental health, productivity, and design.
