Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5559/di.20.4.02
Between the Value of Education and Negative Socio-Cultural Legacy
Antun ŠUNDALIĆ
orcid.org/0000-0001-9261-834X
; Faculty of Economics, Osijek
Željko PAVIĆ
orcid.org/0000-0001-7027-4451
; Faculty of Economics, Osijek
Abstract
In spite of the complexity of the concept of meritocracy, in
meritocratic societies social standings and social rewards
should be closely connected to the level of individuals'
education. In Croatian society non-meritocratic, corruptive
behaviour is widespread, while explanations of its causes
range from non-favourable socio-cultural legacy (traditional peasant culture, socialism) to rational adaptation to social
reality. In this paper, based on the research of the
acceptance of the value of education as a mechanism of
social selection and rewards, as well as the acceptance of
corruptive behaviour, an attempt has been made to assess
whether it is still justifiable to speak of a negative impact of
socio-cultural legacy. The research, carried out on a
convenient sample of students of J. J. Strossmayer University
in Osijek, at the beginning of 2011, has shown that
respondents believe that processes which allocate social
standings are essentially non-meritocratic. However, at the
same time most of the respondents hold meritocratic values,
while only a smaller part of them have adapted themselves
to social reality by simultaneously accepting value of
education and expressing readiness to engage in corruptive
behaviour. Bearing in mind that the majority of respondents
who express readiness to engage in corrupt behaviour show
value dissonance, the authors conclude that rational
adaptation can be the cause of this readiness.
Keywords
education; meritocracy; value dissonance; social values; corruption
Hrčak ID:
75844
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2011.
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