Value Priorities of Modern Youth in Social Adaptation

Abstract

Introduction. The paper is devoted to the values that highlight terminal value orientations that determine the criteria for a young person's attitude to social life. Basic axiological settings play a key role in the processes of situation assessment, individual self-regulation while choosing and implementing a proper form of behavior. The aim of our research is analyzing the structure of the value system of young people by age and gender. The research objectives include identifying the value priorities of youth at the age of 15 to 17, which form the basis for constructing life strategies in social adaptation. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the specifics of researching the axiology of social adaptation, due to the measured parameters of the motivational structure of the personality and interdisciplinary research.Methodology and sources. The research is conducted on the theoretical basis of social philosophy and psychology within the framework of the activity concept of the personality, using comparative analysis, psychological testing methods and standardized self-reports according to the questionnaire “Terminal Values” by I. G. Senin. The research was conducted in St. Petersburg in May 2019, 64 respondents aged 15-17 years took participation in the empirical research, of which 38 were boys and 26 were girls.Results and discussion. Young people in the reference group present empirical findings in the structural diagram that demonstrates the average level of the basic values expression. This corresponds to the person's inherent style of adaptive behavior in social sphere of his or her life world. It is found that in the system of terminal values for both boys and girls, common priority is given to spiritual gratification in the implementation of life plans (33 %). 27 % of young men surveyed in social adaptation are value-oriented to preserve their own individuality. A comparative analysis of the value priorities for boys and girls shows the difference in life strategy motivation. Among the young people in the reference group, target orientations on their own prestige, active social communication and spiritual gratification are of higher significance in the processes of social adaptation.Conclusion. In conclusion, we can note a clearly expressed axiological orientation of youth on the value of family relations, with which both boys and girls associate the formation of their intellectual and communicative potential of life strategies in social adaptation. The results of this research are important for the research of basic axiological attitudes, and the distinguished types of value orientations allow us to outline programs for the formation of social adaptation, as well as reflection on the meaning of the realization of goals.