Values manifested in life purposes of higher education students in the Netherlands and Finland
This study investigates the life purposes and values of higher education students in the Netherlands and Finland (nDutch = 663, nFin = 846). The theoretical framework is built on the conceptualisation of life purpose by Damon et al. as well as Schwartz’s values model. The study adopted a convergent...
| Authors: | ; ; ; ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Journal of beliefs and values
Year: 2025, Volume: 46, Issue: 1, Pages: 164-186 |
| Further subjects: | B
Life purpose
B Values B higher education students |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This study investigates the life purposes and values of higher education students in the Netherlands and Finland (nDutch = 663, nFin = 846). The theoretical framework is built on the conceptualisation of life purpose by Damon et al. as well as Schwartz’s values model. The study adopted a convergent mixed methods design analysing qualitative and quantitative survey data. The content of students’ life purposes was explored with qualitative content analysis, followed by a statistical analysis of values measured with Short Schwartz’s Value Survey (SSVS) and examination of the alignment of purpose content and values. In both countries, students studying in generalist higher education institutions identified happiness as their most important (content of) life purpose, indicating a prevalence of hedonistic values. Students at a university with a specific emphasis on moral and values education expressed universalism, benevolence and self-direction as their purpose content, and also reported these as their values. We conclude that the model by Schwartz offers a valuable analytical tool for studying the content of life purposes. We also discuss the implications of our findings for developing moral and value education in the context of higher education. Higher education in the Netherlands and Finland is expected to educate responsible and ethical citizens and professionals. To develop such (moral) education it is important to know more about students’ current values and life purposes, i.e. what they aim for in life. This is what the present study provides. For practitioners in higher education, this article offers insights into students’ life purposes and values. Our findings revealed how a majority of the students wished to pursue life purposes beneficial only to themselves, indicating a marked self-orientation. However, it also showed how students at an institution with an explicit value basis and clear integration of moral issues and values into all teaching, report moral life purposes and values related to benefitting other people, society and nature. Suggestions for future curriculum development are made. Our results also raise questions for policy development: How much support do – and should – institutes of higher education contribute to the development of other-oriented student purposes and moral values? These topics are increasingly on the agenda of mainstream higher education institutions, although they are still influenced by a neo-liberalistic culture prevailing now for several decades, when little attention was paid to these other-oriented perspectives. For northern European societies more generally, our findings can contribute to societal discussions on the prevalence of self-orientation and hedonistic values in western societies and the role of education in building moral and purposeful personal and professional lives. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-9362 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of beliefs and values
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/13617672.2023.2279866 |
