VALUE SIMILARITY AND SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT

A total of 2,947 male and female students from the two senior years in 19 Adelaide secondary schools ranked sets of values from the Rokeach Value Survey, first in order of importance for themselves then in the order they thought their schools would emphasize them. They then completed two measures of school adjustment: (a) a modified form of the Cornell Job Description Index and (b) a rating of happiness with school. As predicted, measures of school adjustment were positively related to the extent to which students' values matched school values but the correlations were quite low. Satisfaction scores and happiness ratings were higher in Independent schools than in State schools. Reported satisfaction with people in class was greater for girls than for boys and greater for students in co‐educational schools than for students in single‐sex schools. Girls also rated their happiness at school higher than did boys. Results were discussed in relation to the concept of person‐environment fit and discrepancy theory. 1972 Australian Psychological Society