Value component of American language group consciousness

The article presents the results of a free associative experiment. The purpose of the experiment was to determine the categorical components of the value system of the American ethnic group at the present stage. The associative fields obtained as a result of the experiment are analyzed by the authors using the method of lexical units semantic grouping within each field with the subsequent identification of the leading value categories of the value system. The results of these fields analysis allow to draw the following conclusions: the main value categories of the American ethnic group are (ranked in descending order of percentage): “Success”, “Positivism”, “Diligence”, “Patriotism”, “Individualism”, “Family”, “Religiousness”. Private property is a basic component of American life, and individualism is a central organizing principle of interpersonal relations. The traditional value orientations “Family” and “Religiousness” do not occupy priority positions today. Stimuli related to politics, are evaluated ambivalently: in their associative fields there are groups of both positive reactions and groups with a large and average number of negative reactions (stimuli Revolution (as a political event), Constitution). This experiment is a part of a major study devoted to the comparison of value systems of Russian and American language groups.