Values, lifestyles, and narratives of prejudices amongst Finnish youth

ABSTRACT

Prejudices are innate to the human condition and at the base of most conflicts between social groups. Yet, despite much local and global educational effort to promote equality and peace, expressions of hate and violence are omnipresent across the globe. For gaining more understanding about the complex relationship between values and beliefs that influence people’s prejudiced attitudes towards others, this study investigates how Finnish upper-secondary level students (16- to 20-year-olds), on the one hand, affiliate themselves with self-transcendent values, and on the other hand, narrate prejudices towards others. The complementary quantitative (n = 2873) and qualitative (n = 2200) survey responses show that the young people regarded equality and the promotion of peace as the most important values for themselves but, despite this explicit appreciation of these self-transcendent values, they also exhibit several types of prejudice towards others. The findings show that the youth narratives of prejudices are mainly justified with their prior experiences, their imaginaries related to insecurity, disturbances, and conflicts with people who they deem to have lifestyles different from their own. This study expands existing knowledge by suggesting that the main rationales behind young people’s prejudices are not based on traditional social categorisations, or core values, but on differences expressed through individual lifestyles.

KEYWORDS:

• Values
• prejudices
• youth
• narratives

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland project Grant [315860].

Notes on contributors

Pia Koirikivi

Pia Koirikivi, PhD, is a post-doctoral researcher and university lecturer at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland. Pia is interested in the ways in which educational systems and institutions can respond to the social, emotional, and academic needs of young people. Pia is a post-doctoral researcher in the ”Growing up radical? The role of educational institutions in guiding young people's worldview construction” research project funded by the Academy of Finland (Grant 315860) 2018-2022.

Saija Benjamin

Saija Benjamin, is a post-doctoral researcher in the ”Growing up radical? The role of educational institutions in guiding young people's worldview construction” research project 2018-2022 (funded by the Academy of Finland Grant 135860) at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland. Benjamin is interested in the elements influencing identity & ingroup/outgroup & worldview construction at adolescence. Related to this, she’s looking at the possibilities of formal education to foster the development of metacognition that is central in the prevention of harmful developments, such as radicalization.

Arniika Kuusisto

Arniika Kuusisto is a Professor in Child and Youth Studies, especially Early Childhood Education and Care, at the Department of Child and Youth Studies, Stockholm University. Arniika is especially interested in children and young people's value learning trajectories and in the interplay between agency and socialization in children’s growing up contexts. Her research interests also include worldview education in different levels, and educator professionalism and sensitivity to diversities. Arniika is the leader of the ”Growing up radical? The role of educational institutions in guiding young people's worldview construction” research project funded by the Academy of Finland (Grant 315860) 2018-2022.

Liam Gearon

Liam Gearon is Associate Professor in Religious Education in the Department of Education, Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, UK. A philosopher and theorist of education, Liam is a specialist in critical, historical and contemporary analyses of education in multi-disciplinary contexts. He is interested in the historical determinants of counter-extremism in education and in the youth’s value learning and life history research in political and security contexts. Liam is a supervisor and co-investigator in the ”Growing up radical? The role of educational institutions in guiding young people's worldview construction” research project funded by the Academy of Finland (Grant 315860) 2018-2022.