Gender and the structure and salience of values: An example from israeli youth

The current report is designed to study the structure of the value system of adolescents and the inter-relationships among the facets of that structure as they relate to gender differences. Unitary values are described as of faceted design; and the system of values of the individual as consisting of structure. As defined by the Mapping Sentence, the structure of values may be seen as composed of five facets, four of which are sampled in this report on gender differences. For the purposes of this research, Facet A samples two directional orientations: Individual and Societal. Facet B samples four content areas of values: Personal Pleasures, Skills and Studies, Society and Nation, and Interpersonal Relations. Facet C assesses three behavioral modalities: Guiding Principles, Choice Under Conditions of Dilemma, and Level of Activity. A level of Judgment in Values is assessed by Facet D on a three level scale: Egotistical, Conventional-Social and Principled-Autonomous. 910 eleventh grade youths of both sexes were tested according to a stratified sampling of Tel Aviv high schools. The structure of the system of values is confirmed and is found to be similar for both males and females, with differences expressed primarily in the salience of different elements of the structure. Sex was found to contribute to the multiple regression analysis in each of the values sampled—even after having discounted the effect of family background—but to a small degree in each case, never contributing more than 4% to the understanding of the variance generated. As far as content is concerned, girls, in general, stress Interpersonal Relations, Style of Clothing, and Study for Study Sake. Boys stress Achievement and National Security. As regards behavioral modalities, girls were found to stress Guiding Principles much more frequently than boys. There was general consistency between Guiding Principles and Level of Activity, while there was frequent inconsistency between Choice Under Conditions of Dilemma and one or both of the other behavioral modalities. A high level of Value Judgment was evident for all of the subjects, i.e., more of the judgments at Level III were favored as the rationale for the values chosen under dilemma, than any other level. Girls, however, responded more frequently at Level III than did boys. There is some evidence that there is a relationship between the content of values and the level of judgment used as a rationale for that judgment.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Conference, Private Woman—Public Work, convened at the University of Haifa in June, 1988. It is based, in part, on a Ph.D. thesis presented to Bar Ilan University (Maslovaty, 1987) under the supervision of the second author. The study was partially supported by the Eliezer Stern Institute for Research and Advancement in Religious Education of Bar Ilan University.