Adolescents’ personal values in towns and cities and risks in their development

Introduction. The article is devoted to the problem of studying personal values of modern adolescents, which are developed in contemporary Russian society. The purpose of the research is to identify and describe the characteristics of adolescent’s personal values in towns and cities and risks in the process of their formation. Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the research includes a structural approach to personality studies, analysis and generalization of scientific and theoretical literature. The study of the characteristics of adolescents’ personal values in towns and cities was carried out using E.G. Chernikova’s questionnaire. For mathematical processing of the research results, Fisher's exact test was used. The sample consisted of 192 adolescents of 8-9 grades in the city of Chelyabinsk and the town called Plast, which is located in Chelyabinsk region. Results. The study found that adolescents retain the traditional scale of values. They value and strive for family happiness, career well-being, financial well-being, and communication with friends. At the same time, they are pragmatic and selfish, they do not pay enough attention to their health, online communication takes the first place in the structure of their free time. Significant differences in adolescents’ personal values in towns and cities have been identified. Adolescents in towns are more focused on sports and spend less time online. More of them are interested in continuing education for the implementation of their plans. Among the qualities which help to achieve life goals, they appreciate kindness, sincerity, and confidence. Adolescents from the city spend more time in the virtual space and are less active in real life. Among them, fewer are those who read fiction and play sports. Giving importance to such qualities as sociability and responsibility, the adolescents of a city are more confident in achieving goals, including education, as they have more opportunities within the social environment to meet sociocultural needs. It is argued that adolescents who do not have a stable system of personal values are subject to the influence of negative factors. The following risks are revealed in the process of developing adolescents personal values: the absence of an ideal, media engagement, and passivity in reading fiction. Conclusions. The results indicate adolescents’ personal values, which depend on social environments of towns and cities. On the basis of the obtained results, the conclusion is made about the dominant risks in the process of developing adolescents’ personal values.