Baština (Jan 2017)
Comparative analysis of socio-cultural attitudes towards innovation of students from Serbia, Vojvodina and Kosovo
Abstract
Scientists and politicians in many countries clearly see that the transition of economy into innovative phase of development is essential for economic growth, development and prosperity of society. Innovative economies are able to generate mass flow of innovations, but they require appropriate cultural environment, science, education, conditions for freedom of creativity, environment for entrepreneurship development, as well as intelligence and creativity, and the ability for innovations to be successfully incorporated into economy. For Serbia, this means a necessity for serious institutional reforms and overcoming cultural and value barriers. Due to everything above-mentioned, in this paper, we deal with the connection between value system and innovativity of students in Serbia, Vojvodina and Kosovo. Research sample consisted of 426 students. Connection between value system of respondents and their attitude towards innovations is established. Research has also shown that there are significant statistical intercultural and intersex differences in relation to value and attitude towards innovations. The expressed intercultural and intersex differences, according to our opinion, reflect differences in the line of traditionalism-modernism, where Kosovo students are closer to the pole of traditionalism, because they evaluate the tradition that leads to group harmony very much. In case of Serbian and Vojvodina students, viewpoint is closer to the pole of modernism; individualism and willingness to change are highly appreciated. According to Schwartz's theory, value oppositions are central for I concept of a man and they motivate him to behave appropriately in terms of self-realizations/ values. Within this paradigm, behaviour in accordance with traditionalism can lead to social acceptance and approval, and the price of its non-acceptance can be social rejection and acknowledgement. Value willingness to change motivates our tendency towards inner freedom, creativity, curiosity, satisfaction, and its non-acceptance motivates the withdrawal from self-realization. According to the above-mentioned, it is possible to assume that modernisation is based on the dynamics of value assumptions from traditionalism to willingness to change.
