The Women's Value Orientation Questionnaire: An Instrument Revision Study

Abstract

The combined influences of transcultural nursing (Leininger, 1978) and feminism have motivated nurses to consider carefully both their own and their clients' cultural behaviours, beliefs, and values. Of these, values are the least apparent and the most difficult feature to assess. An individual's cultural values are at least in part the basis for health beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours. The importance of such data for nurses is evident in nursing theories such as that of B. Neuman (1982) which stress the importance of socio-cultural factors. For example, many middle class North Americans have a future time value orientation which, according to nurse anthropologist Tripp-Reimer (1984), is compatible with health promotion and illness prevention behaviours; however, persons with a present or past time value orientation will not be as motivated by such concerns.