Age- and gender-related differences in the structure and the meaning of personal values

Publication date: 1 February 2019Source: Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 138Author(s): Ingwer BorgAbstractPrevious research has shown that persons' ratings of the importance of personal values differ for men and women, and also for persons of different age. Differences in the structure and the meaning of values have, however, not been studied systematically. We looked at this question from the perspective of the most established value theory (Schwartz, 1992) and the related PVQ21 scale, using data of the European Social Survey 2012 (N = 50,408) and of a recent German survey on crime prevention (N = 3272). It was found that the structure of personal values remains the typical value circle for all gender and age groups, but this circle and, in particular, the items that measure Schwartz's ten basic values, shift systematically with gender and age, reflecting systematic changes in the perceived meaning of the values.
Source: Personality and Individual Differences - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research