September 11, 2001

Abstract

This article investigates whether the September 11 attack had an impact on cultural values and the level of cosmopolitanism of US university students. Extending a model proposed by Esses, Dovidio and Hodson, we hypothesize a positive effect on the cultural dimensions of collectivism and hierarchy/power distance and a negative effect on cosmopolitanism. Our results - drawn from two separate quasi-experimental studies - support the two latter hypotheses. In addition, supplementary analyses showed that, after the September 11 attack, students exhibited a tendency to trade-in variety, adventure and challenge for security and stability in their ideal job after graduation. Implications for management and for cross cultural management research are discussed.