engleski

Universals in the Content and Structure of Values: Croatian Evidence

Theory of universal content and structure of values proposed by Schwartz distinguishes ten types of values according to their motivational goals. The theory also postulates a structure of relations among the value types, based on the conflicts and compatibilities experienced when pursuing them. Cross-cultural studies have supported the near universality of the contents of 10 value types and of their structure of relations to one another. Nonetheless, deviations from the theory-based, prototypical structure were observed in several East European countries, possibly reflecting the experience of living under communist regimes. The main goal of this research was to investigate the content and relations of value types in Croatia (formerly a communist state), and to compare the observed structure of relationships among value types with the hypothetical structure. Method: 230 subjects completed the Croatian version of Schwartz Value Survey rating the importance of each value on a nine-point scale (from -1 to 7) "as a guiding principle in MY life". The content and structure of values were analyzed using Guttman-Lingoes Smallest Space Analysis, a nonmetric multidimensional scaling technique for structural analysis of similarity data. It was found that 56 single values organize clearly into 10 distinct regions that correspond with motivational value types in the theory. Five of the 56 values did not emerge in postulated regions thus revealing the possible inconsistency of meaning. However, the emergence of those 5 values in regions that were unexpected according to theory should not be taken as signifying culture-specific meanings. Reported results compare favorably to previous findings and give empirical support for the structural organization of ten motivational types revealing all hypothesized conflicts and compatibilities among the value types.

theory of values; value structure; cross-cultural differences; Eastern Europe; post-communist countries

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