UAE residents committed to family ties and ethics, shows study

Abu Dhabi, Dec 20, 2012 (WAM) - People living in the UAE strongly value their relationships with family and are strongly committed to keeping ethics, according to the findings of the UAE National Values Survey announced by Barrett Values Centre. The survey, covered 4,100 individuals from different segments of the community, 57% of whom were UAE nationals and 43% expatriates aged over 20 years old and comprised 54% male and 46% female participants. The survey was conducted by Rayak, a centre specialised in preparing surveys on public opinions, in collaboration with Barrett Values Centre. The results of the UAE values assessment provide significant insights into ways the government can positively impact the well-being of the people of the nation, and give key inputs to the government by highlighting people's value priorities. "Barrett Values Centre is delighted to announce the results of this survey, which is the first of its kind in the Middle East region. The survey showed that in spite of the significant diversity existing in the UAE, the community is enjoying remarkable harmony. It also reflects the efficiency of the existing engagement cultural mechanisms that facilitates the relationship between the nationals and expatriate residents in the country," said Richard Barrett, Founder and Chairman of Barrett Values Centre. "Nations, communities and organisations prosper and thrive when their leaders are focused on building values-driven cultures that respond to citizens and employees needs: when there is an alignment between what people value and what they experience in their lives," said Barrett. The values that participants in the UAE survey were asked to select from included positive and potentially limiting values. According to the findings of the survey, the top values in the UAE on a personal level include Caring, Family, Respect, Honesty, Ethics, Achievement, Ambition and Commitment, Cooperation and Being Liked. Concern for Future Generations, Respect, Community Pride, Creativity, Family, and Affordable Housing were identified as values that are being experienced or were desired to be experienced. When asked about the values they experience in the UAE, the survey revealed a very positive picture featuring values such as Peace, Educational Opportunities, Aesthetics and Loyalty. Innovation, Employment Opportunities, Financial Stability, and Honesty were some of the preferred values the respondents thought they would like to experience in the UAE. Significantly, the study showed that UAE has the second lowest level of cultural entropy among 18 countries studied by BVC since 2007. Cultural entropy, which is the level of dysfunctional, toxic or destructive energy people feel in a country, was at just 12% in the UAE compared to 72% in Venezuela, 63% in Iceland and 60% in Argentina. Even advanced countries such as the UK, France and the US witnessed cultural entropy levels of 59%, 57% and 56% respectively. The lowest cultural entropy level was 4% recorded in Bhutan. The principal limiting values that contribute to cultural entropy are Bureaucracy, Blame, Corruption, Materialism, Environmental Pollution and Aggression. "Values represent our needs and motivate our actions and determine our behaviours. At Barrett Values Centre, we believe that shared values connect human beings beyond race, religion, politics and gender. We believe that human societies grow and develop to the extent that we are able to reduce fear, build trust and increase love by reaching a common understanding of our shared values," pointed out Barrett. The UAE was one of two countries among 18 countries, where the survey was conducted, that had all positive values in its top ten current values, indicating that people in the UAE are highly satisfied with the current situation in the country. In the overall results for the nation, 60% of the top values were chosen based on current and desired culture. The low level of cultural entropy and high level of similarity between currently experienced values and desired values show that the people in the UAE feel that the society is on the right track. The survey showed the absence of limiting values in the top ten chosen values, which is a remarkable result considering that the significant diversity in the society could have led to higher percentage of limiting values. However, the case here is different which reflects the harmony existing in the community, and reinforces the ability of the UAE community to create an environment that promotes coexistence and collaboration. It also reflects the efficiency of the existing engagement cultural mechanisms that facilitates the relationship between the nationals and expatriate residents in the country. A number of values such Ethics, Concern for Future Generations, Respect and Family have been perceived as extremely important to people in the UAE. Interestingly, these values came as top values among all demographics and in personal, current and desired lists of values. These values represent the key values that people in the UAE wish to continuously see upheld in the nation as they constitute the foundation to the harmony and stability of the UAE society. The UAE is the only country among all those surveyed to date that has the value of Peace existing in its top 10 current values. This has made it possible for the UAE to surpass some of the most developed countries in the world in achieving such a crucial factor to the stability to any community. Furthermore, the value of peace appeared as a top currently perceived value in the breakdown results of various demographics such as age, geography, and gender. This indicates a strong sense of security felt throughout the UAE community, which is an extremely important achievement considering the recent events taking place in the region. Both youth and women were amongst the highest population demography feeling peace, and all seven UAE emirates voted Peace as a top value indicating a spread feeling of security across the nation. Three values - Respect, Family, and Ethics - were identified by participants as the corner-stones for the UAE culture. These three values appeared in the top ten personal values across all demographic groups as well as in the desired values people wish to see in the future. The existence of these three within the personal values and desired values list highlights an important enabling factor for the country's leadership to leverage on in its efforts to sustaining and improving the wellbeing of the UAE. Secondly, this fact refutes the commonly held perception of the UAE as a country that is oriented towards materialism and economic prosperity as 75% of participants stated that these were the most important values they believed in and sought to uphold in the UAE. The survey also revealed that the people in the UAE are looking forward to take a leading role in the world in the area of Innovation and Creativity. Innovation was identified as a desired value and Creativity as a current and desired value. Innovation is one of the key strategic themes in all leading countries in the world, and the appearance of the value here is significant considering the high level emphasis the country puts in education - either by raising the educational standards or affiliating with other highly regarded educational institutes in the world - which offers great opportunities for UAE students. Appreciation for Aesthetics is one of the key common themes that appeared in the different demographic cuts in the survey analysis. It was mentioned in different ways across the different UAE states, but there is a high level of agreement that Aesthetics is important to the UAE society. Equality and Fairness came up as a key message in the survey results. Women, who participated in the survey in the UAE, expressed a stronger feeling of equality compared to their counterparts elsewhere in the Middle East. This indicates that current practices in the UAE reinforce and support women's rights and ensure their ability to pursue opportunities for growth and development. In terms of equality, the survey also revealed low level of discrepancy between UAE nationals and expatriates in current and desired values which indicates a strong sense of partnership, ownership and harmony by residents in the UAE regardless of their background. This result demonstrates that despite the diversity existing in the UAE society, there is a considerable similarity in the values personally held by UAE nationals and expatriate residents which enables people to coexist in a peaceful and cooperative manner. - Emirates News Agency, WAM