The Values And Purpose-In-Life Orientations Of University Students In Russia And Transdniestria

The article reports the results of a study of values and purpose-in-life orientations of university students in Russia and Transdniestria. The study covered 79 students of the Russian New University (Moscow) and 88 students at the Shevchenko Transdniestria State University, Tiraspol. Both groups were polyethnic. The students are studying for degrees of psychologist and pedagogue-psychologist. The Rockeach Value Orientations Test was used to study values. To study the purpose-in-life orientations of students the Crumbaugh and L.Maholick purpose-in-life orientations test adapted for a Russian language sample by D.A. Leontyev was used. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to assess the significance of the differences revealed. The study has revealed the peculiarities of value and purpose-if-life orientations of students in Russia and Transdniestria. An analysis of terminal values has shown that in the Transdniestrian sample the values are arranged as follows in order of importance attached to them: “health,” “love,” “freedom,” “self-confidence,” “material well-being.” The most prized values in the Russian sample were as follows: “happy family life,” “having good and loyal friends,” “life wisdom,” “health” and “love”. Among instrumental values the following were named as significant in the Transdniestria sample: “good manners,” “cheerfulness,” “education,” “punctuality” and “responsibility”. The Russian students singled out as significant, along with “cheerfulness” and “good manners” the values of “strong will,” “independence” and “self-control”.