Die waardesisteme van adolessente : 'n empiriese ondersoek van die representasie en interpretasie van waardes in geselekteerde Afrikaanse films

Abstract

The value system of adolescent: an empirical investigation of the representation and interpretation of values in selected Afrikaans films. Since the modern adolescent grows up in the digital era, it is not only advisable, but also essential for adolescents to be guided to watch films that will contribute to broadening their cognition of their own value system. To be able to determine how adolescents watch films it was necessary to identify suitable value theories, to study the developmental psychology concerning adolescence, to establish how values are related to the film medium, to identify a selection of a number of suitable Afrikaans films for the investigation, to trace suitable theories and methods so as to conduct an empirical investigation into the representation of values in selected films, and to analyse the statistical data concerning adolescents' interpretation of values in the films and to obtain significant overhead research results. The three selected Afrikaans films for the empirical investigation, Lien se lankstaanskoene, Die pro and Die ongelooflike avonture van Hanna Hoekom are analysed with the specific focus on the adolescent's interpretation of represented values in the three films. The value theory on which the investigation is based was that of Shalom Schwartz. With a view to determine the adolescent's own value preference a colour wheel value model was utilised. The model is based on the PVQ-RR instrument (2012) developed by Shalom Schwartz. Schwartz's PVQ-RR instrument was also implemented to determine the adolescent's interpretation of the main character's represented values. The instrument was translated into Afrikaans and it was adapted so that it could be applied to determine the represented value preferences in films. Although the focus of the film investigation was not to determine the suitability of Shalom Schwartz's PVQ-RR instrument (2012) for a film investigation, the instrument yielded significant measuring results. In the investigation it was found that the adolescent viewer could identify the represented values of the main characters in films. The adolescent can therefore identify himself with value agents in films that can influence his own value system. Seen from a constructivist view point, it is thus clear that film viewing is not a passive absorbance of sensory stimulation; the sensory perceptions are filtered, transformed, supplemented and assimilated with other, already existing, knowledge to a deductible, constant, stable world (Bordwell, 1985:18).