Value and Sex-Role Orientation of Chinese Adolescents

The value preference of a sample of Chinese adolescent high school students, as measured by the Rokeach Value Survey, showed a greater emphasis on the personal and competency values. Specifically, adolescents in this study tended to favour a joyous, comfortable, free, and enjoyable lifestyle. It was found that the four most important terminal values were: freedom, true friendship, happiness, and a comfortable life, while the four least important were: mature love, national security, an exciting life, and salvation. The four most important instrumental values included: capable, cheerful, broadminded, and intellectual, while the four least important included: logical, imaginative, clean, and obedient. The relationships between value preference and sex role were examined and close relationships were found, especially with respect to the instrumental values. Specifically, masculine adolescents were more agentic and instrumental, and feminine adolescents were more expressive and communal in their value preference. Androgynous adolescents were found more similar to the masculine than to the feminine group. In addition, regression analyses showed that masculinity tended to have more pervasive effects than femininity on adolescents' value preference. The implications and significance of the findings of this study in contrasting the general collectivistic depiction of Chinese and in relating to adolescent development, are discussed.