Abstract
Studies of young people's ideals by means of ideal person tests have been reported over a period of nearly 90 years whereas the examination of least ideals through appropriate tests has a much more recent history. Two surveys of least ideals are described. One hundred and seventy young people (average age 15 years) at four schools in Austria, France, Switzerland and West Germany completed the unfinished sentence, “The sort of person I would least like to be like...”. The results of this continental survey are compared with an English survey, in which 820 15 year olds at six schools completed the same test. Cultural differences and similarities are reported. Differences in valuing are also observed between the English and continental girls. The greater popularity of ideal person test over least ideal person tests seems to be related to value judgements concerning the relative worth of their respective products rather than to any logical or empirical demonstration of the primacy of the former.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
