The Values and Attitudes of Youth in Vietnam

Sara Peracca, Population Council
Vu Tuan Huy, University of Washington

The exposure of Vietnamese to other Asian and western influences since 1986, the beginning of economic reforms, provides a natural experiment to understand the effects of modernization on values and attitudes by examining differences between parents and children. We examine differences between youth aged 15-29 by geographic mobility to understand the extent to which exposure to differing opportunities influences the attitudes of youth. We use both quantitative and qualitative data collected in 2003 by the Population Council and the Institute of Sociology in Hanoi in the North and in the South. We draw out similarities and differences amongst youth based on a variety of factors including but not limited to geographic mobility, gender, and age group. Youth while not completely abandoning previous practices and belief structures, are making slight changes to fit their new situation. The paper will examine in greater depth the associations between geographic mobility, risky behavior, and value change.