Images of Work, Gender, and Social Commitment among Guatemalan Adolescents

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The study involved 250 urban Guatemalan adolescents who ranked 10 qualities of either the ideal man or the ideal woman and drew a picture of the ideal person engaged in an activity. Both boys and girls ranked being kind and honest, being very intelligent, and liking children as the most important qualities for both the ideal man and the ideal woman. Drawings of the ideal person most often depicted the ideal person working in a job or at home. Many students attending public schools drew the ideal person sweeping or gardening, whereas many students attending private schools drew the ideal person working in an office. Comments on the drawings often suggested that the ideal person was working for the social good -his or her family, company, or country. These results are interpreted as reflecting both cultural ideals and the developmental stage of adolescence.