Values as a function of ethnicity and socio‐economic status: A cross‐national study

Abstract

This paper examines the interactive roles of geographical/ sociopolitical context, ethnicity, and socio‐economic status on values structures in South Africa and Britain. A modified version of the Rokeach Value Survey was administered to South African Indian and English‐speaking students of above average and average family income backgrounds and to British Indian and indigenous students of above average, average, and below average family incomes. The data were subjected to a series of canonical variate analyses demonstrating the separate and interactive effects of the three factors under study. The complex configuration of value structures which emerged was comparatively discussed in terms of the social contexts in which they were embedded and their significance highlighted for cross‐national investigations in this area.