Investigating “head” and “heart” value traits of tertiary students studying in Cyprus

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate, for the first time in Cyprus, tertiary education students' personal values. In particular the study seeks to examine: the most important personal values for tertiary education students in two institutions in Cyprus; whether there are any differences between the individual's values as a function of variables such as gender, ethnic origin, year of study, type of academic discipline and religion; and whether there is a balance between “head” and “heart” traits amongst tertiary students.Design/methodology/approach – Following a comprehensive literature review the paper develops a quantitative questionnaire whereby tertiary students, currently pursuing accredited degrees in two tertiary institutions (one private and one public) were surveyed in order to identify their perceived level of importance from a list of 20 values with the utilization of a five‐point Likert scale. A purposive (judgmental) sampling technique was utilized to select 1,000 cases from t...

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