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

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.

Life Stage Concepts across History and Cultures: Proposal for a New Field on Indigenous Life Stages

“…The Mayan culture persisted through Spanish conquest and incorporation into 20th-century nation states, although it has changed substantially in the early 21st century. The account here is based on the reports of anthropologists whose field work took place over several decades in the late 20th century: Gibbons [Gibbons, Stiles, de la Garza Schnellmann, & Morales-Hidalgo, 1990], Hull [2004], Vogt [1990], and Rogoff [1990Rogoff [ , 2011. Although there were variations among the Mayan groups they studied, there was consistency in the content and sequence of their life stages ( Table 2 ).…”

Gender Bias in Guatemalan Counselor Education Students: Using an Experiential Activity as a Stimulus

“…Within their culture, there is a high commitment to family and traditional roles (Gibbons, Stiles, de la Garza Schnellmann, & Morales-Hidalgo, 1990). Additional similarities include the importance of harmonious and respectful relationships; the desire to honor elders and male household figures; a preference for hierarchical structure in relationships; and the importance of religion or spirituality (Kanel, 2002).…”

Guatemalan, Filipino, and U.S. Adolescents' Images of Women as Office Workers and Homemakers

“…Within Guatemala, a nation with great economic disparity, differences due to socioeconomic class might be expected (e.g., Gibbons et al, 1990). Therefore, the responses of students attending public schools and those attending private schools were separated and compared using chi-square tests.…”

“…We have found some crossnational consistencies in results. For example, being kind and honest were the traits rated as most important for the ideal woman by adolescents in widespread areas of the world, including the U.S.A., the Philippines, and Guatemala (Gibbons, Bradford, & Stiles, 1989;Gibbons, Stiles, Schnellmann, & Morales Hidalgo, 1990;Holekamp et al, 1991;Stiles, Gibbons, & Schnellmann, 1987.…”