Value structures among Iranian and British students

Values play a very significant role in individuals’ lives. People use their value structure in order to judge the world around them, connecting to other people according to their value priority similarities. People prefer to have relations with those who have similar values as themselves. Schwartz categorizes 10 main values that are comprehensive amongst all cultures. Schwartz believes that the roots of all values stem from these 10 values but the priority of importance varies for different people and various cultures. Considering previous research, the aim of this research is to study the value priorities among Iranian and British university students. 150 Iranian and British university students completed Schwartz’s Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ). Findings reveal that the priority for Iranian students is Self-direction, Achievement, and Benevolence, with the least important value being Tradition. British students value Self-direction, Benevolence and also Universalism and Achievement at the same level. Much like the Iranian group, they value Tradition least. According to these findings globalization is changing the direction of value transmission from vertical (parents to children) to horizontal (from peers), even in different nations.