Između vrijednosti obrazovanja i negativnoga sociokulturnog nasljeđa
Between the Value of Education and Negative Socio-Cultural Legacy

Summary/Abstract: In spite of the complexity of the concept of meritocracy, in meritocratic societies social standings and social rewards should be closely connected to the level of individuals' education. In Croatian society non-meritocratic, corruptive behaviour is widespread, while explanations of its causes range from non-favourable socio-cultural legacy (traditional peasant culture, socialism) to rational adaptation to social reality. In this paper, based on the research of the acceptance of the value of education as a mechanism of social selection and rewards, as well as the acceptance of corruptive behaviour, an attempt has been made to assess whether it is still justifiable to speak of a negative impact of socio-cultural legacy. The research, carried out on a convenient sample of students of J. J. Strossmayer University in Osijek, at the beginning of 2011, has shown that respondents believe that processes which allocate social standings are essentially non-meritocratic. However, at the same time most of the respondents hold meritocratic values, while only a smaller part of them have adapted themselves to social reality by simultaneously accepting value of education and expressing readiness to engage in corruptive behaviour. Bearing in mind that the majority of respondents who express readiness to engage in corrupt behaviour show value dissonance, the authors conclude that rational adaptation can be the cause of this readiness.

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