A Comparative Analysis of the Value System of Adolescents and their Parents

Values are the beliefs and ideals of a person that guide a person's actions and are the basis for all decisions, interests, behaviours and goals in life. Inter-generational conflicts arise due to discrepancies in values, interests and needs of two generations. The most talked about inter-generational conflict in present day society is between the parents and their adolescent children. The present research was taken up to investigate and analyze the differences in the value system of adolescents and their parents. The sample for the study comprised of 100 school going adolescents (boys=50&girls=50) in the age group of 16 to 18 years of age and their parents (fathers=100&mothers=100) selected from two schools of Ludhiana city, during the session 2015-2016.The value system of adolescents and their parents was assessed by using Personal Values Questionnaire (PVQ) developed by Sherry and Verma (1971). The analysis of the data revealed that parents valued religion and health more than their children, whereas, adolescents surpassed their parents in economic and hedonistic values. Daughters were found to be more appreciative of aesthetics and sons were found to be more power oriented than their mothers. However, mothers had higher aesthetic value than fathers.