Although research has examined how values are correlated with behavior, little has examined how the system of values predicts behavior. In a cross-cultural sample of American (109 European American; 216 African American) and Israeli (318 Arab Israeli; 216 Jewish Israeli) adolescents, the present study used latent profile analysis to identify groups which reflected the theoretical structure of values across both cultures. Four profiles were found: self-focused, anxiety-free, other-focused, and undifferentiated. Results indicated that Self-Focused adolescents were the most aggressive and viewed as leaders by their peers compared to the other groups. Self-Focused and anxiety-free youth reported more delinquency than their peers. Few differences between cultural groups emerged, suggesting that this approach is a promising avenue for understanding heterogeneity in behavior.
© 2017 The Authors. Journal of Research on Adolescence © 2017 Society for Research on Adolescence.