Value priorities and their relations with quality of life in the Baby Boomer generation of Lithuanian nurses: a cross-sectional survey (2024)

Abstract

Background

The scientific study of human values has a long tradition in the fields of psychology and sociology. Values are conceived as guiding principles in life which transcend specific situations, may change over time, guide selection of behavior and events, and which are part of dynamic system with inherent contradictions [1]. The thinking about the nature of human values has been largely influenced by the work of Milton Rokeach. M. Rokeach defined the value concept as "an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state existence"[2]. Rokeach distinguished terminal values (such as world peace, wisdom, and happiness), which are preferred end-states of existence, and instrumental values (such as responsibility and cooperation), which are preferred modes of conduct [3]. This distinction is important because it addresses two major questions in life: "What do I want to achieve?" and "How do I want to achieve it?" [4]. The understanding of the values of nurses is especially important, since nurses constitute 80% of workforce in the healthcare system. In addition to that, nursing is one of the major constituents of healthcare. Today a nurse is not merely an obedient performer of tasks assigned by the physician. A nurse works in the same team together with the physician and other healthcare professionals. In addition to that, when improving their practice skills, nurses acquire more self-confidence and ability to cooperate with physicians as equal work partners.

At present, researchers devote significant attention to questions about how cultural, economic, political and value systems influence the quality life We used our culturally learned values as a standard to determine whether we are as moral and competent as others, to guide our presentations to others, and to help us rationalize beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that would otherwise be personality or socially unacceptable [5-7]. Quality of life is multi-dimensional and includes having, loving, being, and living in good health. Quality of life refers to the overall level of well-being of individuals. It indicates how well people fare in several dimensions of life, which are more or less consensually defined as reflecting important societal values and goals [8-10]. Some research suggests that there exists a relationship between human value orientations and the quality life [8,11,12]. Quality of life (QOL) means a good life and we believe that a good life is the same as living a life with a high quality. All great religions and philosophies have a notion of a good life ranging from saying that a good life is attained by practical codes of conduct to requests to engage in a certain positive attitude to life or to search into the depths of your own being. Notions about a good life are closely linked to the culture to which one belongs. When people in a Western culture view a good life, the cultural conditioning makes them tend to include happiness, fulfillment of needs, functioning in a social context, etc. [9,13]. Haas B. K. formulated a specific definition of the quality of life: "Quality of life is a multidimensional evaluation of an individual's current life circ*mstances in the context of the culture in which they live and the values they hold" [14]. Thus, the generalization of concepts presented by various authors leads to the statement that quality of life is primarily the subjective feeling of wellbeing, including the physical, the psychological, the social, and the spiritual levels.

Literature clearly shows that value-based attitudes and the evaluation of the quality of life depend on the person's age, i.e. to which generation he/she belongs [15]. A generation is defined as an identifiable group that shares years, age, location, and significant life events at critical development stages, divided by five to seven years into the first wave, the core group, and the last wave. A generational group, often referred to as a cohort, includes those who share historical or social life experiences, the effects of which are relatively stable over the course of their lives. These life experiences tend to distinguish one generation from another [16]. A cohort develops a personality that influences a person's feelings toward authority and organizations, what they desire from work, and how they plan to satisfy those desires [16]. Each generation has a unique perspective on the world of work. Its members tend to hold similar views about what is an attractive work environment; the nature of the team they would choose to be a part of; and – perhaps most confounding to instructors – preferences for acquiring, digesting, organizing, and distilling information and skills [17]. Understanding these generational differences is critical to instructors who try to advance the values, philosophy, knowledge and skills upon which the smooth running of the business depends. People of different perspectives always have the potential to bring different thoughts and ideas to problem solving and future opportunity. An unfortunate outcome, one that militates against positive creative synergy, is intergenerational conflict: differences in values and views, and ways of working, talking, and thinking that set people in opposition to one another and challenge the organization's best interests. Unfortunately, rebellion between groups that are different is an almost wired-in part of human nature. Not understanding others' perspective on the world can be stressful, confusing, and frustrating [16]. Different generations are united by socialization that allows individuals to engage in self-creation, to develop their possibilities, and – in case of need – to change [17]. Such changes became especially relevant after Lithuania became the member of the EU.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Understanding of values requires us to understand their relationship with needs. Already in early 60s, Western countries noticed a new tendency of changes in cultural values, manifesting itself through the populations' decreasing interest in their material welfare and physical security, and increasing attention paid to the non-material (or post-material) values, such as freedom, self-expression, individualism, tolerance, and participation in important social decision-making [6]. At present, different value-based attitudes in different generations are widely discussed. Baby Boomers value individuality and youth and are self-absorbed. Baby Boomers were born between 1943 and 1964. The overall characteristic of Baby Boomers leads to the conclusion that their core values are optimism, team orientation, personal gratification, health and wellness, personal growth, youth, work, and involvement. Baby Boomers also redefined roles, promoted equality, left unfulfilling relationships to seek more fulfilling ones, sought immediate gratification, and manipulated the rules to meet their own needs. At work, Baby Boomers are service-oriented, driven, willing to go the extra mile, good at relationships, want to please, and are good team players. They are not naturally "budget minded", uncomfortable with conflict, reluctant to go against peers, may put process ahead of pursuit, are overly sensitive to feedback, are judgmental of those who see things differently, and are self-centered [15].

Lithuania has been undergoing tremendous transformation in the sphere of politics, economy and culture. The consequences of this transformation are still taking shape, and elements of the older culture are still widespread, but can any major features of new pattern be discerned? In the process of European integration, the problem of value change remains very significant if we are to understand processes of change not only in the economy, politics, and society in general, but in minds, outlooks an social behavior of people as well [19,20]. During 16 years of the Independence, there has been an on obvious transition in the scale of values from the socialist principle of equality (the next-to-last position) towards the principle of individualism. A similar situation developed with respect to "true friendship" – it dropped to the 9^th position. The principle of collectivism is dropping out of favor. Although Lithuania has been undergoing political and economic changes for only 15 years, but the values of the nurses of the Baby Boomers generation in Lithuania are now similar to those of the same generation in other countries. For instance, the results of the study performed by Western researchers were similar to those obtained in our study. In their study, the most important terminal values were found to be internal harmony and tranquility, whereas the least important ones were beauty and salvation. The most important instrumental values were honesty and love, whereas the least important ones were politeness and obedience [21,22]. The study performed by Canadian scientists showed that physicians of the Baby Boomers generation were less devoted to a physician's career, compared to the Generation X (Xers) physicians [23]. These results closely resembled those obtained in our study, since our respondents pushed the value "social recognition" down to the 7^th position. The findings of the study performed by Finnish researchers, where values of physicians were analyzed, showed that the most important values for the studied population were family, health, and friendship [17]. These results also closely resemble those obtained in our study.

The value-based attitudes of an individual are very closely related to his/her attitude to the quality of life. People who positively evaluate their quality of life and are satisfied with their lives are probably more tolerant and possibly also more creative and assertive [24]. Individuals who give priority to the materialistic approach present more negative evaluations of their QOL. Materialism directly correlates with depressive and neurotic mood and behavior [25]. Good life has a number of prerequisites – financial wellbeing, health, education, social integration, etc. Although one cannot deny the importance and the influence of the objective economic and social factors on the quality of life, yet the most important factors are an individual's ability to form his/her life with respect to his/her needs, and the ability to fulfill his/her aims.

Conclusion

In this paper, we empirically investigated terminal and instrumental values of nurses from the Baby Boomers generation. The findings of our study showed that, although Lithuania was under a totalitarian regime for 50 years, both the terminal and the instrumental values of the Baby Boomers generation are very similar to those of the same generation in other countries. During 16 years of the Independence, there has been an on obvious transition in the scale of values from the socialist principle of equality and collectivism towards the principle of individualism. In this context, it is not so important to have outward control over a person – rather, it is much more important to organize circ*mstances and situations in such a way that it would be possible and useful for a person to do what has to be done for the society. The positive evaluation of the quality of life statistically significantly positively correlated with the most important terminal values such as "the sense of accomplishment" and "tranquility". Although such values as "equality" and "pleasure" were considered to be unimportant, they also statistically reliably positively correlated with positive evaluations of QOL.

Competing interests

The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors' contributions

AB and IJ contributed equally to the writing of this paper.

Pre-publication history

The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6955/6/10/prepub

Acknowledgements

References