A Comparative Analysis of Entrepreneur and College Business Student Values

ABSTRACT Both entrepreneurs and senior-level college business students were surveyed to determine similarities and differences in their values, under the premise that students who share similar values with those held by entrepreneurs may have promise of entrepreneurial potential. All respondents were administered the Rokeach Value Survey which, through a process of rank-ordering, is used to determine two hierarchies of value importance for individuals. The first hierarchy reflects an individual's terminal value system, or those values associated with end-states of existence. The second hierarchy reflects an individual's instrumental value system, or those values associated with modes of conduct. The resulting data provided a tabulation of medians, rank order composites and levels of significance for the terminal and instrumental values, respectively, of both samples. Rank order composites were used as general indices in comparing the position of a particular value in the total hierarchy of values and for comparing the position of a particular value across the two groups. Emphasis was placed on those values which were ranked very low or very high by the entrepreneurs. Comparisons of student value rankings relative to those values the entrepreneurs held highest and lowest were then conducted. The findings indicated that there were value differences between the total sample of entrepreneurs and students, as well as between female entrepreneurs and female student values, but there were few differences between male entrepreneur and male student values. In addition to the above comparisons, median analysis between entrepreneur and student terminal and instrumental values were conducted. An examination of the general population of entrepreneurs and students revealed that twelve of the eighteen terminal values of the entrepreneurs and students were significantly different at the (.05) level Only four of the eighteen instrumental values were significantly different (.05) level between the entrepreneurs and students. The median analysis between male entrepreneurs and male student values showed no significant differences. However, the median analysis between female entrepreneur and female student values showed that seven of the eighteen instrumental and eleven of the eighteen terminal values were significantly different at the (.05) level. Although not examined, it is likely that individual students in the sample do share the value profiles of the entrepreneurs. If so, and if generally accepted value profiles are established for entrepreneurs, such students might be counseled to consider the entrepreneurial life.     

Long-term value change initiated by computer feedback.

To determine whether value change can be induced by a computer rather than a human agent and whether value change can be induced even when target values are not preselected for experimental treatment, subjects first filled out the Rokeach Value Survey and then obtained information from a computer enabling them to compare their own value rankings with those previously obtained for various reference groups. Experimental subjects exposed to computer feedback showed, first, significant changes in value systems 2 months afterward whereas control subjects showed no such changes. Second, value system change was significantly greater among those experimental subjects whose value rankings were on the whole more discrepant from those of positive reference groups. Third, rankings of certain values concerning achievement, peace, and egalitarianism were affected in a 2-month period following the treatment. These findings are interpreted within a broader theoretical framework about the conditions leading to long-term cognitive and behavioral change.     

Group counseling with adolescent special education students: challenges and useful procedures

While group counseling frequently is mandated for emotionally handicapped early adolescents, few studies have dealt with this population. This paper presents an overview of the challenges to offering group counseling with early adolescents. A set of methods of selecting students for group counseling is described, and group leadership and goals are presented. A series of useful therapeutic activities are also outlined.     

Value systems of self and of Australian expatriates as perceived by indigenous students in Papua New Guinea

The Rokeach Value Survey was administered to 112 students at Goroka Teachers' College in Papua New Guinea. About half of the respondents ranked the values for self and the remainder ranked for Australian expatriates working in Papua New Guinea. There were several differences in the relative importance assigned to the terminal and instrumental values when the two types of ranking were compared. The students assigned more importance to general social and orthodox religious values, to some moral values, and to values involving rules of conduct related to status and authority when rankings were for self than when they were for expatriates. They ranked stimulus-seeking and materialistic values and values concerned with striving and competence higher in importance when rankings were for expatriates rather than for self. The average value systems (medians) for self and for expatriates were also compared for similarity with those obtained from groups previously tested in Papua New Guinea and in Australia. Similarity coefficients involving average rankings for self were much higher when comparisons were made within each nation than between the two nations. It was doubtful that the students were judging expatriate value systems accurately because similarity coefficients were close to zero (terminal values) and low positive (instrumental values) when average value systems for expatriates were compared with corresponding average rankings for self of Australians actually tested in Australia. Results were discussed in relation to the consequences of discrepancies in value systems between the indigenous population and expatriates and more generally as illustrating the importance of developing an ecology of values within and across nations.     

Personality traits in adolescence as predictors of religiousness in early adulthood: findings from the Terman Longitudinal Study

The authors examined the associations of the Big Five personality factors with religiousness in adulthood for a 19-year longitudinal sample of 492 adolescents age 12 to 18. Among the Big Five, Conscientiousness in adolescence was uniquely related to higher religiousness in early adulthood. For adolescents high in Emotional Stability, the link between strength of religious upbringing and religiousness in adulthood was weaker than it was for adolescents who were less emotionally stable. These findings replicate the work of others demonstrating the importance of Conscientiousness as a predictor of religiousness and suggest that emotionally unstable adolescents might be more likely to adopt levels of religiousness that are similar to those of their parents.     

The adolescent personality, formal reasoning, and values

This study examined the relationship between levels of Piagetian formal reasoning ability and values preferences derived from the Rokeach Value Survey. The subjects were 448 secondary school students (mean age = 16.25 years). The results of the study were consistent with predictions about the likely changes in value rankings as formal reasoning ability develops. Subjects with high scores on formal reasoning ranked terminal values representing abstract notions with long-term implications higher than those focusing on immediate gratification. They also favored the instrumental values of self-reliance, competence, and independence. Low scorers on formal reasoning showed a preference for value groupings which were personal, hedonistic, and involved immediate gratification and social approval.     

Value and Sex-Role Orientation of Chinese Adolescents

The value preference of a sample of Chinese adolescent high school students, as measured by the Rokeach Value Survey, showed a greater emphasis on the personal and competency values. Specifically, adolescents in this study tended to favour a joyous, comfortable, free, and enjoyable lifestyle. It was found that the four most important terminal values were: freedom, true friendship, happiness, and a comfortable life, while the four least important were: mature love, national security, an exciting life, and salvation. The four most important instrumental values included: capable, cheerful, broadminded, and intellectual, while the four least important included: logical, imaginative, clean, and obedient. The relationships between value preference and sex role were examined and close relationships were found, especially with respect to the instrumental values. Specifically, masculine adolescents were more agentic and instrumental, and feminine adolescents were more expressive and communal in their value preference. Androgynous adolescents were found more similar to the masculine than to the feminine group. In addition, regression analyses showed that masculinity tended to have more pervasive effects than femininity on adolescents' value preference. The implications and significance of the findings of this study in contrasting the general collectivistic depiction of Chinese and in relating to adolescent development, are discussed.     

A comparison of the personal values and operative goals of school psychologists and school superintendents

A survey of 96 school psychologists and 75 school superintendents throughout the state of Ohio showed the two groups to have generally similar personal value systems and to be in overall agreement in their respective rankings of school psychology goals. Both groups held the traditional school psychologist's goal of conducting individual testing to be lower relevance than acting as an internal consultant or resource person. Of those differences identified, superintendents assigned greater relevance to values which were consistent with their administrative concerns, while psychologists held values preferring individualism as more relevant. Superintendents held goals associated with increased learning efficiency and interacting with community agencies as more relevant, while psychologists assigned higher relevance to goals associated with parent-psychologist interactions.     

Comparison of student and recruiter values

Value priorities of campus employment recruiters and senior liberal arts students were compared using Rokeach's Value Survey. Three hypotheses were confirmed: (1) Significant differences were found between groups' rankings of values. Students ranked idealistic values high, while recruiters ranked values applicable to business near the top. (2) A greater number of significant differences were found among instrumental values than among terminal values. (3) Regardless of the sex of the applicants, recruiters chose applicants expressing masculine rather than feminine values.     

Perceived threat to national values in evaluating stereotyped immigrants

The present research examined the psychological reasons behind Americans’ (un)willingness to accept immigrants. Participants read a scenario depicting immigrant groups allegedly expected to arrive in the United States and evaluated how much the immigrants would influence two types of American national values: civic values (e.g., political ideology) and ethnic values (e.g., shared culture and customs). Across three studies, competitive immigrant groups were stereotyped to be untrustworthy and perceived to threaten American civic values, but not ethnic values. Value threat then mediated the predicted competition–prejudice relationship in Study 3. Perceived vulnerability of in-group boundary might specify one motivated cause of derogating immigrants.     

AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and behavior: a comparison of Dutch students and dropouts.

School dropouts are considered an important target group for AIDS prevention. They are expected to be less knowledgeable about AIDS and to show a higher degree of risky behavior as compared with their school-attending peers. Several small-scale studies among specific groups of dropouts seem to confirm such expectations. However, due to differences in methodology, it is often difficult to compare the results of such studies with findings for youths who have not dropped out of school. The present study sought to remedy this by examining AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and behavior among comparable samples of Dutch secondary school students and dropouts (excluding homeless and drug-addicted adolescents). The two groups were compared with regard to knowledge about AIDS prevention, attitude toward condom use, intention to use condoms, sexual history, and condom use. Contrary to expectations, few differences were found. It was concluded that, in most respects, dropouts are similar to those who have remained in school.     

Television viewing habits of emotionally disturbed,learning disabled,and mentally retarded children

Two studies were conducted to compare the television viewing habits of handicapped and nonhandicapped children. In Study 1, one group (N = 38) of emotionally disturbed (ED), learning disabled (LD), and educable mentally retarded (EMR) children and two groups of matched controls comprised of nonhandicapped peers were interviewed about their television viewing habits. In Study 2, 42 ED boys and 42 non-ED boys completed a television program diary. The studies found that handicapped children watch more television overall and more aggression-laden programs (i.e., crime dramas and cartoons) than nonhandicapped children. The potential impact of viewing television aggression on the behavior of handicapped children is discussed.     

Good parents: Comparative studies of adolescents’ perceptions

A series of exploratory studies examined children’s perceptions of good parenting, focusing specifically on adolescents, through an open-ended question “What is a good parent?” First, developmental differences were investigated by comparing youngsters aged 8–9, 14–15, and 17–18 years. Second, the perceptions of adolescents (aged 14–15 years) were compared to those of their parents at two socioeconomic levels (SES). Third, adolescents (aged 14–15 years) were examined under city and kibbutz conditions. The findings revealed different patterns in the three age groups, highlighting the distinct expectations from parents appearing at each developmental stage. Discrepancies were also found between parents and their adolescent children in several content areas. These findings were obtained regardless of gender, SES group, or ecological condition. Parent-adolescent discrepancies evidenced in this study may clarify the appropriate targets for family intervention programs aimed at fostering more effective channels of communication between adolescents and their parents.     

Distinguishing between conduct problem and emotionally disturbed students in secondary school: a five-instrument discriminant analysis

Five instruments, the Differential Test of Conduct and Emotional Problems, Louisville Behavior Checklist, Personality Inventory for Children, 16 PF Test, and Tennessee Self-concept Scale, were given to differentiate between 50 conduct problem and 48 emotionally disturbed students assigned in public school to secondary level classes for the severely emotionally handicapped. Discriminant analysis of each test's rate of classification germane to both a pre-assessment categorization as conduct problem vs emotionally disturbed and a post-assessment classification as no problem vs conduct problem vs emotionally disturbed vs combined problem is presented. The analysis indicated that the Differential Test of Conduct and Emotional Problems, Louisville Behavior Checklist, and Personality Inventory for Children can, with variable effectiveness, significantly classify adolescents into groups using such pre- and post-assessment information.     

Values and behavior: strength and structure of relations

Three studies address unresolved issues in value-behavior relations. Does the full range of different values relate to common, recurrent behaviors? Which values relate more strongly to behavior than others? Do relations among different values and behaviors exhibit a meaningful overall structure? If so, how to explain this? We find that stimulation and tradition values relate strongly to the behaviors that express them; hedonism, power, universalism, and self-direction values relate moderately; and security, conformity, achievement, and benevolence values relate only marginally. Additional findings suggest that these differences in value-behavior relations may stem from normative pressures to perform certain behaviors. Such findings imply that values motivate behavior, but the relation between values and behaviors is partly obscured by norms. Relations among behaviors, among values, and jointly among values and behavior exhibit a similar structure. The motivational conflicts and congruities postulated by the theory of values can account for this shared structure.     

How shared preferences in music create bonds between people: values as the missing link

How can shared music preferences create social bonds between people? A process model is developed in which music preferences as value-expressive attitudes create social bonds via conveyed value similarity. The musical bonding model links two research streams: (a) music preferences as indicators of similarity in value orientations and (b) similarity in value orientations leading to social attraction. Two laboratory experiments and one dyadic field study demonstrated that music can create interpersonal bonds between young people because music preferences can be cues for similar or dissimilar value orientations, with similarity in values then contributing to social attraction. One study tested and ruled out an alternative explanation (via personality similarity), illuminating the differential impact of perceived value similarity versus personality similarity on social attraction. Value similarity is the missing link in explaining the musical bonding phenomenon, which seems to hold for Western and non-Western samples and in experimental and natural settings.     

Environmental Contributions to Adolescent Delinquency: A Fresh Look at the Shared Environment

Few genetically-informative studies have attempted to explicitly identify the shared environmental (i.e., those environmental influences that contribute to sibling similarity) factors now known to contribute to adolescent delinquency. The current study therefore examined whether the parent-child relationship served as one source of these shared environmental influences. Participants were 610 adoptive and biological families from the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS). Parents and adolescents reported on their parent-child conflict and parental involvement with child, and adolescents reported on their own delinquent behaviors. We employed structural equation modeling and supplementary multilevel modeling, finding consistent evidence that the association between delinquency and the parent-child relationship is at least partially shared environmental in origin. Such findings provide an important extension of previous twin studies, as they suggest that passive genotype-environment correlations do not explain earlier findings of shared environmental influences on this association.     

When values (do not) converge: Cultural diversity and value convergence in work groups

Culturally diverse work groups do not always reach their full potential compared with less diverse groups. As shared values facilitate group functioning, we examined whether constructing shared values among group members is constrained by high degrees of cultural diversity. Following 33 real‐life work groups, we investigated how members influenced each other's achievement and relational values over time. Although low and high diversity groups did not differ in initial value similarity between members, they differed in the process of value convergence. In low diversity groups, members developed shared values by influencing each other's values towards consensus. In high diversity groups, however, members did not influence each other's values towards consensus. Low diversity groups also performed better than high diversity groups. These findings extend earlier findings establishing value convergence in culturally homogenous groups and reveal the distinctive processes in highly diverse groups as a focus for interventions to promote diverse group functioning. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

I Think We’re Alone Now: Solitary Social Behaviors in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Research into emotional responsiveness in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has yielded mixed findings. Some studies report uniform, flat and emotionless expressions in ASD; others describe highly variable expressions that are as or even more intense than those of typically developing (TD) individuals. Variability in findings is likely due to differences in study design: some studies have examined posed (i.e., not spontaneous expressions) and others have examined spontaneous expressions in social contexts, during which individuals with ASD—by nature of the disorder—are likely to behave differently than their TD peers. To determine whether (and how) spontaneous facial expressions and other emotional responses are different from TD individuals, we video-recorded the spontaneous responses of children and adolescents with and without ASD (between the ages of 10 and 17 years) as they watched emotionally evocative videos in a non-social context. Researchers coded facial expressions for intensity, and noted the presence of laughter and other responsive vocalizations. Adolescents with ASD displayed more intense, frequent and varied spontaneous facial expressions than their TD peers. They also produced significantly more emotional vocalizations, including laughter. Individuals with ASD may display their emotions more frequently and more intensely than TD individuals when they are unencumbered by social pressure. Differences in the interpretation of the social setting and/or understanding of emotional display rules may also contribute to differences in emotional behaviors between groups.