Abstract

The core sociocultural values of a nation may have a significant influence on the pace of its socioeconomic development and adaptation to a globalized community of nations. Max Weber was the first sociologist to conduct a comparative study of two belief systems and their impact on socioeconomic development. This study examines the social values of contemporary Iran in comparison with the developed nation of Japan to investigate whether there are meaningful differences that could be responsible for the shortcomings in the socioeconomic development of Iran. Besides the review of literature regarding core social values in both Iran and Japan, data was collected from Internet-based discussion forums run by a few hundred educated Iranians over a period of 8 months. Data was examined through a qualitative method to refine and update the findings in literature and through debates over the cultural aspect of social change in Iran in the years following the 1979 revolution. The study provides a cluster-based system for exploration of the core social values in Japan and Iran, and compares the typical Japanese and Iranian character prototypes. The discussion includes a description and an analysis of these values, and concludes that a number of traditional values in Iranian society including individualism and societal division particularly into religious vs. national/ethnic classes may have played a role in the slow pace of development in Iran.