Struktura vrijednosnih orijentacija i hijerarhija vrednota učenika strukovnih škola

Drawing on the previous research of the hierarchy of values and representation of value orientations of adolescents, we have defined two research goals: (1) to determine the value orientations of the representative subgroup of vocational school students in Primorsko Goranska County, and (2) to make a contribution to the research of factor structure and scale reliability of the Values Orientation Scale (Franc et al., 2002) on the same sample. The data were collected from a stratified group sample of 760 students (M=17.5 years; SD=1.22; 41.2% female students) attending ten different vocational schools. The aim was to verify the component and factor structure of the scale and its reliability as well as to determine the students’ hierarchy of values and value orientations. The results indicate that the component structure of the questionnaire that was applied on the vocational schools students differs significantly from the structure on the representative sample of the students of all high schools determined by the authors of the scales. By way of factor analysis, two significant factors were extracted: (1) self- -realization and conventional value orientation and (2) hedonistic value orientation. Love, balanced life style, family, friends, and close friendships are at the top of the students’ hierarchy of values. The results imply the need to upgrade and reconstruct this scale for further application in vocational schools.