Are you a cultural creative?

The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World
by Paul H. Ray, Ph.D., Sherry Ruth Anderson, Ph.D.

Do you dislike all the emphasis in modern culture on success and "making it," on getting and spending, on wealth and luxury goods?

Do you care deeply about the destruction of the environment and would pay higher taxes or prices to clean it up and to stop global warming?

Are you unhappy with both the left and the right in politics and want to find a new way that does not simply steer a middle course?

In this landmark book, sociologist Paul H. Ray and psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson draw upon thirteen years of survey research studies on more than 100,000 Americans. They reveal who the Cultural Creatives are and the fascinating story of their emergence over the last generation, using vivid examples and engaging personal stories to describe their distinctive values and lifestyles. The Cultural Creatives offers a more hopeful future and prepares us all for a transition to a new, saner, and wiser culture.

Chapter 1

Check the boxes of statements you agree with. If you agree with 10 or more, you probably are one - and a higher score increases the odds. You are likely to be a Cultural Creative if you . . .

1. love nature and are deeply concerned about its destruction

2. are strongly aware of the problems of the whole planet (global warming, destruction of rain forests, overpopulation, lack of ecological sustainability, exploitation of people in poorer countries) and want to see more action on them, such as limiting economic growth

3. would pay more taxes or pay more for consumer goods if you knew the money would go to clean up the environment and to stop global warming

4. give a lot of importance to developing and maintaining your relationships

5. give a lot of importance to helping other people and bringing out their unique gifts

6. volunteer for one or more good causes

7. care intensely about both psychological and spiritual development

8. see spirituality or religion as important in your life but are also concerned about the role of the Religious Right in politics

9. want more equality for women at work, and more women leaders in business and politics

10. are concerned about violence and the abuse of women and children around the world

11. want our politics and government spending to put more emphasis on children's education and well-being, on rebuilding our neighborhoods and communities, and on creating an ecologically sustainable future

12. are unhappy with both the left and the right in politics and want to find a new way that is not in the mushy middle

13. tend to be rather optimistic about our future and distrust the cynical and pessimistic view that is given by the media

14. want to be involved in creating a new and better way of life in our country

15. are concerned about what the big corporations are doing in the name of making more profits: downsizing, creating environmental problems, and exploiting poorer countries

16. have your finances and spending under control and are not concerned about overspending

17. dislike all the emphasis in modern culture on success and "making it," on getting and spending, on wealth and luxury goods

18. like people and places that are exotic and foreign, and like experiencing and learning about other ways of life

Introducing the Cultural Creatives

Imagine a country the size of France suddenly sprouting in the middle of the United States. It is immensely rich in culture, with new ways of life, values, and worldviews. It has its own heroes and its own vision for the future. Think how curious we all would be, how interested to discover who these people are and where they have come from. In Washington and on the Sunday morning news shows, politicians would certainly have strong opinions about what it all means, and pundits would be expressing their views with their usual certainty. Businesses would be planning strategies to market to this population, and political groups would be exploring alliances. The media, of course, would be blazing with first-person interviews and inside stories of the new arrivals, instead of the latest Beltway scandals.

Now imagine something different. There is a new country, just as big and just as rich in culture, but no one sees it. It takes shape silently and almost invisibly, as if flown in under radar in the dark of night. But it's not from somewhere else. This new country is decidedly American. And unlike the first image, it is emerging not only in the cornfields of Iowa but on the streets of the Bronx, all across the country from Seattle to St. Augustine. It is showing up wherever you'd least expect it: in your brother's living room and your sister's backyard, in women's circles and demonstrations to protect the redwoods, in offices and churches and online communities, coffee shops and bookstores, hiking trails and corporate boardrooms.

Shaping a New Culture

This new country and its people are the subject of this book. We report thirteen years of survey research on more than 100,000 Americans, hundreds of focus groups, and about sixty in-depth interviews that reveal the emergence of an entire subculture of Americans. Their distinctive beliefs and values are shown in the self-scoring questionnaire on page xiv. The underlying themes express serious ecological and planetary perspectives, emphasis on relationships and women's point of view, commitment to spirituality and psychological development, disaffection with the large institutions of modern life, including both left and right in politics, and rejection of materialism and status display.

© 2001 by Paul H. Ray, Ph.D., Sherry Ruth Anderson, Ph.D.

About the Author

Paul H. Ray, Ph.D., was educated at Yale and the University of Michigan. Currently he is executive vice president of American LIVES, Inc., a market research and opinion polling firm doing research on the lifestyles and values of Americans.

Sherry Ruth Anderson, Ph.D., was educated at Goucher College and the University of Toronto, where she was an associate professor and head of psychological research at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry. She is the author of numerous articles in psychology and coauthor of the bestselling Feminine Face of God. The authors are married and live in Northern California.