THE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A SCALE TO MEASURE DOMINANT LIFE VALUES OF STUDENTS OF DIVERSE CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop an adequately reliable and valid measure to assess five dominant life values held by adults. Additionally, by using the developed instrument, the study also compared major life values held by Anglo and black subjects. Items for the initial draft of the instrument were drawn from a pool of items obtained from surveying a group of community college students who were asked to list 10 to 20 important life values. Once these values were listed, the students were asked to rank order them in terms of their importance to their life and survival. These rank ordered values were categorized into five areas which formed the basis for the final version of the values scale. The final version of the draft included 50 items grouped into five value areas which were labeled as: moral outlook, family-mate relationships, work values, personal growth, and values related to creative use of leisure time. This instrument was then administered to a group of 723 secondary students whose ages ranged from 17 to 31 years. The data obtained from this sample was used to determine the internal consistency measure of reliability for the total as well as individual sub-scales. The reliability coefficients ranged from a low of .82 to a high of .91, indicating high reliability of the scale. The concurrent validity of the scale was developed by correlating five value sub-scales to the Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis (TJTA). The validity coefficients obtained by this procedure indicated a moderately high construct validity of the developed scale. The intercorrelations of five sub-scales also revealed that there was some overlap among these scales; however, low to moderate correlations provided some justification for using them as separate sub-scales of human values. For the purposes of comparing values of subjects from two ethno-cultures, 72 students were randomly selected from each group, and their responses to the value scale were analyzed by a factorial analyses of variance design. The results obtained from a three-factor ANOVA (sex x race x religion) revealed no significant differences in values of Anglo and black subjects in terms of ethnic and religious attributes. However, significant differences were observed in values held by male and female subjects. The greater sex differences occurred in the values related to creative use of leisure time. Male subjects placed significantly higher importance upon leisure time activities than their female counterparts. The significance and implications of the findings were discussed.