Value orientations of Italian adolescents: empirical evidence

ABSTRACT

Little is known about the value orientations of adolescents in Italy. This paper presents a sociological analysis of Italian adolescents’ values. The study draws on a survey of 1,994 students from 44 Italian schools and applies Schwartz’s theory of basic human values. The analysis revealed the centrality of independence and the search for novelty (openness to change) among the adolescents in the sample and the low priority given to conservation. Gender appears to be crucial in understanding adolescents’ values. Significant differences emerged between male and female adolescents: female adolescents attributed more importance to hedonism, self-direction and stimulation than their male peers and less importance to self-achievement and power, in line with previous studies. Overall, the study found that Italian adolescents hold fragmented or even conflicting values, and hedonism and tradition emerged as their two most important values. Based on these findings, the paper discusses implications and provides suggestions for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• values
• girls
• Schwartz’s theory of human values

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For the purposes of this article, we use the term young generations (or younger cohort of the Italian population) to refer broadly to people aged 12–34 (both adolescents and youth). We use the term adolescents to refer specifically to people aged 12–20.

2 Conservation: t(6654, 364) = 12.055, p < .001; Self-transcendence: t(6723, 833) = -2.469, p < .01; Openness to change: t(6624, 363) = -20.044, p < .001; Self-enhancement: t(6805) = 14.04, p < .01.

3 It is worth underlying that in our sample there is an unbalance in the geographical distribution of students in favour of Northern and Southern Italian schools versus those of the Centre.

4 Conservation: F(2, 6805) = 9.344, p < .001; Self-enhancement: F(2, 6805) = 10.516, p < .001; Openness to change: F(2, 6805) = 14.680, p < .001.

5 Benevolence: t(6628,216) = 12.040, p < .001; universalism: t(6805) = -11.528, p < .01; self-direction: t(6805) = -15,891; conformity: t(6788,811) = 18.091, p < .05; power: t(6804,858) = 7.718, p < .01; achievement: t(6699,616) = 11.172, p < .01; hedonism: t(6738,804) = -12.792, p < .01; stimulation: t(6700,435) = -5.036, p < .01.

6 Benevolence: F(2, 6805) = 21.05, p < .001; universalism: F(2, 6805) = 17.42, p < .001; self-direction: F(2, 6805) = 16.53, p < .001; achievement: F(2, 6805) = 4.24, p < .05; stimulation: F(2, 6805) = 9.33, p < .001; tradition: F(2, 6805) = 19.86, p < .001; power: F(2, 6805) = 47.87, p < .001; security: F(2, 6805) = 27.29, p < .001.

7 See footnote 6 on the territorial distribution of the students in our sample.

8 Conformity: t(5720, 500) = -2,790, p < .01; benevolence: t(6802) = -3,523, p < .001; stimulation; t(5636,120) = 4.135, p < .001; hedonism: t(6805) = -2.502, p < .05; security: t(6805) = 3.707, p < .001.

9 This Eurobarometer investigation, focusing on European youth, was carried out on a sample of 10,294 young people aged 16–30 years in the 28 member countries of the EU between 9 and 25 April 2016.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rita Bichi

Rita Bichi is full professor of Sociology at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano, School of Political and Social Science. Her research examines youth, social exclusion, unaccompanied minors, migration. From 2020 she is the Scientific Director of Osservatorio Giovani SUD, Istituto Giuseppe Toniolo. She is the Director of the Journal Studi di Sociologia. She is a member of the Scientific Committee of European Values Study – ITALY.

Veronica Riniolo

Veronica Riniolo is Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan. Her research interests are in the areas of migration and youth, with a focus on immigrant descendants, discrimination and political activism.