Personal Values and Youth InvolvementS. Mark Pancer, Wilfrid Laurier University and The Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Value Index Sample Item

Social Justice Fair and just (treat all people equally; don’t put people down)

Citizenship Good citizen (work with others to make the world a better place)

Achievement Career success (being happy and fulfilled in job)

Social Attachment True friendship (have close, supportive friends)

Introduction

The engagement of youth in activities such as community service and organized sports, arts, political and cultural activities has been associated with significant positive outcomes for young people, including reductions in substance abuse, enhanced academic achievement, and higher levels of social and emotional well-being

While much research has focused on the outcomes associated with engagement, little research has attempted to identify the major predictors or determinants of engagement.

In the present investigation, we looked at how personal values relate to young people’s involvements.

Participants

• 192 applicants to three Canadian national youth conferences

• 76.6% female, 23.4% male

• Mean age – 16.6 years

• Range of ages – 14 to 19 years

• English as first language – 96%

Method

Participants completed a questionnaire either prior to or upon arrival at the conference. Included in the questionnaire were measures of personal values, involvement, and interactions with parents and peers

Values Measure

(Adapted from Pratt, Hunsberger, Pancer & Alisat, 2003)

From a “list of qualities that people might think are important for them in terms of the kind of person they want to become”, respondents were asked to rate each of 20 qualities according to “how important you think it should be in your life”

Factor analysis resulted in the development of four value indices:

Involvement Measure

(Adapted from Pancer, Pratt & Hunsberger, 2000)

Respondents were asked to indicate how often they had engaged in several activities over the previous year.

Factor analysis resulted in the development of three involvement indices:

Involvement Index Sample Item

Community Service Volunteered with a community service organization

Political Involvement Joined in a protest march, meeting or demonstration

Local Involvement Participated in an ethnic club or organization

Parent and Peer Interaction Measure

(Adapted from Pancer, Pratt & Hunsberger, 2000)

Results

A cluster analysis was conducted, using participants as cases. Cluster analysis identifies cases with similar scores on certain variables (in this case, the four value indices), and then groups these cases together to form clusters. The analysis identified four distinct clusters of respondents:

Principled youth had high ratings on all four value indices

Achievement-oriented youth had high ratings on the achievement and social justice values, and low ratings on citizenship

Civic-minded youth had high ratings on social justice and citizenship

Indifferent youth had relatively low ratings on all value indices

Proportion of Respondents with

Different Value Orientations

principled

achievement-orientedcivic-minded

indifferent

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

principled achievement-oriented

civic-minded indifferent

social justice

citizenship

achievement

socialattachment

Mean Cluster Scores on Value Indices

Clusters

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Principled Achievement-oriented

Civic-Minded Indifferent

CommunityService

PoliticalInvolvement

LocalInvolvement

Mean Involvement Scores of Clusters on Different Types of Involvement

Clusters

2

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

3

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

Principled Achievement-Oriented

Civic-Minded Indifferent

Parental Interaction

Peer Interaction

Mean Scores of Clusters on Parent and Peer Interaction Indices

Clusters

Conclusions

• Youth involvements are related to the values that are important to them

• Youth who are “principled”, in that they consider a wide range of positive values to be important, and those who are “civic-minded”, considering social justice and citizenship to be important, tend to be more involved

• Youth who are indifferent to these values tend to be less involved

• Values are related to the interactions that youth have with parents and peers; civic-minded youth show the highest levels of interaction with their parents; indifferent youth show lower levels of interaction with both parents and peers

Question Work School Family Friend-ships

Values Social Issues

How much do you discuss this topic with your parents?

How much do you discuss this topic with your friends?