Options
Value orientation of Singapore adolescents towards truthfulness, justice and compassion
Author
Low, Meow Siang
Supervisor
Tan, Tai Wei
Abstract
Being brought up in a legalistic and meritocratic society, adolescents in Singapore seem to have a strong sense of justice and truthfulness for practical purposes, but tend to neglect compassion. This study sought to examine the value orientation of Singapore adolescents towards the three fundamental values, in order to test his hypothesis.
The subjects were 315 secondary two (90 Special Course, 113 Express Course and 112 Normal Academic Course) pupils drawn from four secondary schools in Singapore. This sample comprised 135 males and 180 females. A self-designed paper-and-pencil questionnaire was administered to all the subjects in a 40 - minute session in their respective schools. Based on the initial findings from the questionnaire survey, 19 subjects from the four schools were identified for interview. Apart from this, four school personnel were interviewed to further confirm the survey and interview findings.
The findings reveal that Singapore adolescents are generally truthful, just and compassionate. However, when they are caught in a moral dilemma, the majority of them tend to be truthful and just, but show little or no compassion. The findings also support earlier research findings that family, school and the mass media have effects on the values of adolescents. Values of adolescents vary from school to school because of different school environment and ethos. Both survey and interview findings show that females were significantly more compassionate than males. However, analysis indicates no significant gender difference in value orientation to other values. Implications for values education in school, arising from this study, are discussed.
The subjects were 315 secondary two (90 Special Course, 113 Express Course and 112 Normal Academic Course) pupils drawn from four secondary schools in Singapore. This sample comprised 135 males and 180 females. A self-designed paper-and-pencil questionnaire was administered to all the subjects in a 40 - minute session in their respective schools. Based on the initial findings from the questionnaire survey, 19 subjects from the four schools were identified for interview. Apart from this, four school personnel were interviewed to further confirm the survey and interview findings.
The findings reveal that Singapore adolescents are generally truthful, just and compassionate. However, when they are caught in a moral dilemma, the majority of them tend to be truthful and just, but show little or no compassion. The findings also support earlier research findings that family, school and the mass media have effects on the values of adolescents. Values of adolescents vary from school to school because of different school environment and ethos. Both survey and interview findings show that females were significantly more compassionate than males. However, analysis indicates no significant gender difference in value orientation to other values. Implications for values education in school, arising from this study, are discussed.
Date Issued
1998
Call Number
HQ799.S55 Low
Date Submitted
1998