AXIOLOGICAL AVAILABILITY AND DESIRABILITY. COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN MOLDOVAN IMMIGRANT ADOLESCENTS IN ITALY AND MOLDOVAN ADOLESCENTS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

Nowadays, in common parlance, values are the ideals towards which individuals strive and which guide their existence. Despite the variety of disciplines and different theoretical-methodological approaches in which values are addressed, there seems to be a complete agreement between researchers, namely that values facilitate both understanding of human behavior, relationship of humans to society and their social interactions, as well as the comprehension of how they are generated in a certain society and culture, how they spread and change, along with the mechanisms that lead individuals to adopt some of them, rather than others. Thus, through this paper we will try to answer the following questions: „Is there a defined set of values that today’s adolescents adhere to?” and „How do values relate to each other in today’s young people?”. In this way, we tend to obtain a picture of the psychosocial adaptation of adolescents in the diaspora and in the Republic of Moldova, by assessing the discrepancy between the availability and desirability of life areas.


Introduction
In the social sciences, values have been and are studied as value systems in their internal relationships.According to some reflections on values, made by some authors such as Harold Laski [5], Margaret Mead [4], Robert Merton [5], Charles Horton Cooley [5], Talcott Parsons [6, pp. 282-300] and Max Weber [10], the essential points of the values are the following: a) Values are ,,conceptions of what is desirable" as Kluckhohn defines them, they are ,,things that people are interested in and desire" [3, pp. 388-433]; b) Values affect the selection of meaning and direct human behavior; c) Some values tend to become dominant over others in choices because of certain characteristics; d) Dominant values within a society tend to be enduring and guarantee a certain stability and social integration.Consequently, sociological thinking has established two meanings for the concept of value since the first decades of the twentieth century.The first meaning interprets value as an object, to which a certain importance is given and which, for some reason, is invested with a more or less intense emotional charge, while in the second sense, values are seen as an instrument of symbolic evaluation of social action, as an inner guide that individuals follow in their own lives, in order to evaluate their own behavior and that of others [1, pp. 29-41].
Max Weber was the primary contributor to the development of the concept of value as an evaluation criterion and reference term for each act of choice [10].Weber claimed that values play a key role in the character of a society and its members.Subsequently, he was interested in analyzing not only the norms and values from the point of view of a theory of social order, but he also focused on the effects of choices on the behaviors of individuals.Therefore, "values act as a mediator between behavior and the definition of social identity " [9, pp. 341-360].
One of the most famous definitions of value, as an object to which a certain importance is assigned, is formulated by Thomas and Znaniecki: "Speaking of social value, we refer to a datum which has an empirical content accessible to members of a social group and a meaning that is or may be the object of activity.Whether it's a food product, an instrument, a coin, a poem, a university, a myth, or a scientific theory, these are social values" [2].
As a consequence, Weber's values acquire a normative connotation, having a significant impact on social action and being beliefs related to a sense of duty and a true moral imperative.
Weber [10] highlights two important features of the concept of value: value-related action (not emotional or traditional) and the rationality implemented by the individual in relation to his/her own values, which is different from instrumental rationality in relation to the goal.In this respect, Weber distinguishes four types of action: rational action in relation to a purpose, rational action in relation to a value, affective or emotional action and traditional action.,,The rational action in relation to a purpose is that of the engineer who builds a bridge or the economist who pursues the maximum profit, more specifically it is the type of action in which the subject clearly conceives the end and combines the most appropriate means to achieve it.The rational action towards a value is, for example, that of the captain, who sinks with his ship.It is rational not because it pursues a specific purpose, but because the subject acts rationally in the awareness that the abandonment of the ship would be dishonorable, in order to remain faithful to the idea he made about honor.The affective action is immediately dictated by the mood of the subject, such as a fist bump given in response to a challenge and the traditional action is that dictated by habits, beliefs which have become reflections rooted in long-term practice'' [8, pp. 550-562].
In addition, values do not exist objectively, they do not belong to the sensitive or transcendent world, but they are the fruit of human decisions, as existence is made up of a series of choices, with the help of which people build a system of reference values.
Accordingly, the social sciences are responsible for comprehending the set of human choices by which individuals have constructed their system of values.
Applied methodology and materials Our aim with this investigation is to gain an overview of the availability of life areas which have a value for both Moldovan adolescents in the Republic of Moldova and Moldovan adolescents in Italy.This goal will give us both a complex picture, which is related to the problems of some age peculiarities or those related to the circumstances of migration, and a sketch of the young generation in the diaspora with regard to the characteristics imposed by the status of foreigner, as well as the individualization of its influencing mechanisms on the prioritization of adolescent values.
For this reason, we planned to investigate the following aspects: 1. Areas of life with a high and low level of availability; 2. The value of discrepancies between the desirability and availability of life areas.In order to achieve this goal, the questionnaire on The Value-Accessibility Ratio in Various Life Areas, developed by E. B. Fantalova [11], was administered.
The questionnaire on The Value-Accessibility Ratio in Various Life Areas contains 12 values: An active lifestyle; Health; Interesting jobs; Beauty of nature and art; Love; Material wealth; Presence of good friends; Self-confidence; Knowledge; Independence and freedom of action; Happy family life; Creation.

Seria ,,Ştiinţe ale educației" Psihologie ISSN 1857-2103
Values are represented in 2 matrices.Each of these values matches a numerical rating.Thus, the respondents are instructed to select only one numerical rating from each cell.This way, no pair is omitted.Matrix 1 represents the choice of the most important value, while Matrix 2 represents the choice of the most accessible value in the near future.As a result, the choices of the subjects are counted and this allows us to obtain a total score for each value.
The research took place between December, 2018 and October, 2019.As follows, the research sample consisted of 215 adolescents (110, being from Moldova, Chișinău and Florești and 105, being from Italy, Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna, Liguria and Veneto).The adolescents were between 14 and 18 years old.

Results obtained and discussions
The results we obtained after our investigation are shown in the following figures and tables.Figure 1.highlights the fact that very few adolescents in the Republic of Moldova consider an active lifestyle, health and happy family life as having a high level of availability in their lives, while other areas of life seem to be labeled as totally unavailable to them.This situation is quite problematic and makes us believe that adolescents feel a state of confusion, which limits their hierarchy of accessible values.We consider that this can be interpreted as an alarm signal, which tells us about the suffering and vulnerability of adolescents, creating conditions for rigidity or complete closure of personal boundaries, which certainly does not favor positive participation in civil life.

Fig. 1.1. Assessment of life areas with a high level of availability among Moldovan immigrant adolescents in Italy.
As shown in Figure 1.1.,only 10,5% of immigrant adolescents classify the beauty of nature and art as a life area with a high degree of availability.Then love follows in the 2nd place, interesting service -in the 3rd place and health, material wealth, presence of good friends and creation-in the 4th place.The other areas such as an active lifestyle, self-confidence, knowledge, happy family life and independence and freedom, are rated as totally unavailable to them.According to Figure 2., 50% of Moldovan adolescents in the Republic of Moldova evaluate material wealth as the area of life with the lowest level of availability.Even if 15,5% of young people consider this area less important [12, pp. 65-73], the received results actually tell us about the significance of this sphere of life for adolescents, which is overshadowed by financial dependence on parents, felt in a stressful way and arising from the fact that financial resources represent for young people a way to display their personality and impress their friends.At the same time, we can assume that the inaccessibility of this value in representing the sphere of value in adolescents, in fact, is the reflection of the position of adults who are afraid of becoming unemployed.
Independence and freedom of action is also viewed with a low degree of availability for 43,6% of adolescents, who feel the pressure of different systems, restrictions and social beliefs as invasive components in their lives, thus limiting their desire to experience different facets of their personality, the original ways of dressing, to style, communicate and behave in general, all of which make them feel the bitter taste of ,,not allowed".
With a minimal level of availability, for 38,2% of adolescents, there is also an active lifestyle, which, as mentioned above, seems to be suppressed by parents' demands to be helped or substituted in some jobs by adolescents, misinterpreting the true meaning of an active lifestyle, so necessary for the harmonious development of the adolescent, because the given area is also related to the physical dimension, the pleasure of experiencing their own capabilities and limits.
At the same time, adolescents also rated the presence of good friends as a less available area in their life (36,4%), which is probably due to the difficulty of distinguishing between a true and a false friend.
Happy family life is also listed as an unavailable area for 36,4% of young people, which leads us to believe that for adolescents this standard is very well delimited and difficult to hold, because they associate the family with stability, peace of mind, lack of risks, protection, emotional support and understanding of concerns and interests.Creation is also viewed as having a low level of availability by 36,4% of adolescents, leading us to believe that adolescents are probably not supported and valued in their creative activity [12, p. 65-73].
Figure 2.1.reveals that the area with the lowest degree of availability for immigrant adolescents, is happy family life (68,6%).This is explained by the fact that the immigrant family sometimes lives in precarious conditions, so that it becomes impossible to achieve the complete reunification of its members.This is also reflected on self-confidence, evaluated as an area with a low level of availability by 56,2% of adolescents.This choice can be generated by the position of inferiority, accepted as a form of social recognition, as a result of strategies to negotiate the identity of adolescents [7, pp. 172-181], by the status of their parents which is inferior to that of their Italian peers, or by the less harmonious relationship they have with them.In this sense, M. Moro argues that the low level of availability of this area of life for young immigrants can be related to the grief of migration, which is "the psychological state following the symbolic loss of one's social image, which consequently alters the stability of the identity balance" [5].
The presence of good friends is also seen as having a lower degree of availability in life by 51,4% of adolescents, which is surprising, but equally true.We believe that the explanation of this choice comes from the context of migration, where young people tend to choose their friends based on similarities, being dictated primarily by ethnic tendencies, which are connected to the values of family, school and the majority opinion of the host country.For this reason, filtering friends for adolescents is a challenging and deficient task.
Material wealth is also perceived by 44,8% of adolescents as having a low level of availability in their lives.In our opinion, this is related to the unstable work of the parents of many adolescents, being felt as an uncertainty for the future, causing them fear and insecurity.
Similarly, in this category, 44,8% of adolescents ranked the creation as a less available area in their lives, considering it as an unimportant sphere [12, pp. 65-73].This option is probably supported by the difficulty of access to creative centers, which would be an opportunity for them to develop different skills, thus enriching their integration journey in the host country.
In order to get a clear picture of adolescents' level of adaptation and to identify possible unfavorable adaptive tendencies in case of large discrepancies between the importance and availability of life areas, we set out to assess the discrepancy between the desirability and subjective availability of areas of life.
Data on the mean values between the axiological availability and desirability are reflected in Figures 3  and 3.1.
On the one hand, the negative value indicates that the desirability of the area of life is lower than its availability (in other words the area of life is available, but at the same time, it is seen as unimportant for adolescents).The positive value, on the other hand, indicates that the area of life has a high value for adolescents, but it is only achievable in the future (more simply, this area of life is appreciated by adolescents as very important, but currently it is not available).

Fig. 3. The mean of discrepancies between the desirability and availability of life areas among Moldovan adolescents in the Republic of Moldova.
Figure 3. highlights that the beauty of nature and art is rated by adolescents as available but unnecessary for them.Whereas, independence and freedom of action, a happy family life and health, are evaluated as significant but currently unavailable areas of life.The comparison results show that there are discrepancies in the desirability and availability of life areas for adolescents.Specifically, we observe that Moldovan adolescents in the Republic of Moldova obtained a significantly higher level of discrepancies than Moldovan adolescents in Italy, in the areas of life such as an active lifestyle (T=2,110, p<0,05) and health (T=11,443, p<0,001).At the same time, we can remark significant differences in the areas of interesting jobs (T=-12,462, p<0,001), material wealth (T=-8,184, p<0,001), presence of good friends (T=-4,637, p<0,001) and knowledge (T=-6,546, p<0,001).In this case, Moldovan adolescents in Italy showed significantly larger discrepancies than adolescents in the Republic of Moldova.

Fig. 3.1. The mean of discrepancies between the desirability and availability of life areas among Moldovan immigrant adolescents in Italy.
No significant differences were found in the following areas of life: beauty of nature and art, love, selfconfidence, independence and freedom of action, happy family life and creation.Both groups of adolescents have similar levels of discrepancies here.As outlined in the Table 2, according to gender, the discrepancies between axiological availability and desirability are significantly higher in the case of adolescent boys than in the case of adolescent girls, in the life areas such as health (T=2,158, p<0,05), happy family life (T=3,410, p≤0,001) and creation (T=2,355, p<0,05).
In the case of adolescent girls, significantly larger discrepancies were found in the areas of life such as beauty of nature and art (T=-2,150, p<0,05), presence of good friends (T=-3,537, p<0,001), self-confidence (T=-2,896, p<0,01) and knowledge (T=-4,312, p<0,001), compared to adolescent boys.At the same time, in the case of the other areas of life, such as an active lifestyle, interesting jobs, love, material wealth and independence and freedom of action, no statistically significant differences were perceived with regard to the discrepancies between the axiological availability and desirability among Moldovan adolescents in Italy, by gender.

Table 3. Comparisons of the discrepancies between axiological availability and desirability among
Moldovan adolescents in the Republic of Moldova, according to gender.

Name of the area of life
The As shown in Table 3, according to gender, the discrepancies in the desirability and availability of life areas related to an active lifestyle (T=2,109, p<0,05) and presence of good friends (T= 4,752, p<0,001) are significantly higher for adolescent boys than adolescent girls.
In the case of adolescent girls, we can notice significantly larger discrepancies concerning the areas of interesting jobs (T=-4,918, p<0,001) and knowledge (T=-2,037, p<0,05) than in the case of adolescent boys.
However, no statistically significant differences were detected in relation to the discrepancies between desirability and availability of values in the following areas: health, beauty of nature and art, love, material wealth, self-confidence, knowledge, independence and freedom of action, happy family life and creation.
As indicated in Table 4., the discrepancies between the desirability and availability of areas of life, depending on gender and place of living, differ.Thus, we note that adolescent girls in the Republic of Moldova obtained significantly higher discrepancies than Moldovan adolescent girls in Italy in the following areas: health (T=10,963, p<0,001) and a happy family life (T= 3,957, p<0,001).
In the same context, significantly greater discrepancies are attested in the case of Moldovan adolescent girls living in Italy than in the case of adolescent girls living in the Republic of Moldova in the life areas such as interesting jobs (T=-7,769, p<0,001), material wealth (T=-5,650, p<0,001), presence of good friends (T=-7,766, p<0,001) and knowledge (T=-6,811, p<0,001).

Seria ,,Ştiinţe ale educației" Psihologie ISSN 1857-2103
Regarding the other areas of life such as an active way of life, beauty of nature and art, self-confidence, knowledge, independence and freedom of action and creation., no statistically significant differences were observed in terms of the discrepancy between axiological availability and desirability.
Based on the comparisons of axiological availability and desirability by gender and place of living, according to Table 4, we observe that adolescent boys living in the Republic of Moldova obtained significantly higher discrepancies than Moldovan adolescent boys living in Italy in the case of life areas such health (T=7,485, p<0,001), beauty of nature and art (T=2,127, p<0,05) and independence and freedom of action (T=2,533, p<0,05).
In the same way, we note that Moldovan adolescent boys in Italy obtained significantly higher discrepancies than those in the Republic of Moldova in the life areas such as interesting jobs (T=-11,767, p<0,001), material wealth (T=-6,306, p<0,001) and knowledge (T=-4,286, p<0,001).
No statistically significant differences were noted with regard to the discrepancies between the axiological availability and desirability in the case of following life areas: an active lifestyle, love, self-confidence, presence of good friends, happy family life and creation.

Conclusions
1.The assessment of the discrepancy between the desirability and subjective availability of life areas, highlighted the negative value of beauty of nature and art for both Moldovan adolescents living in the Republic of Moldova and Moldovan adolescents living in Italy.This fact tells us about the uselessness of this area for young people, while the independence and freedom of action have a positive value for both groups of adolescents, placing it in the proximal zone of accessibility.
2. The results of the comparisons by gender and place of living, regarding the discrepancies between the desirability and availability of values perceived by adolescents, highlighted the following: a) Moldovan adolescents in the Republic of Moldova perceive discrepancies between desirability and availability in the areas of life such as an active lifestyle, health and beauty of nature and art, while Moldovan adolescents in Italy perceive statistically significant discrepancies in the areas such as interesting jobs, material jobs, presence of good friends and knowledge; b) Moldovan adolescent boys in Italy perceive significant discrepancies in the life areas such as happy family life and creation, while Moldovan adolescent girls in Italy perceive significantly larger discrepancies in the areas such as presence of good friends, self-confidence and knowledge; c) Adolescent boys in the Republic of Moldova perceive significantly larger discrepancies in the life areas such as an active lifestyle, health and presence of good friends, while adolescent girls in the Republic of Moldova perceive a significantly large discrepancy only in the area of interesting jobs; d) Moldovan adolescent girls in the Republic of Moldova perceive significantly larger discrepancies in the areas of health and happy family life, while Moldovan adolescent girls in Italy perceive larger discrepancies in the spheres interesting jobs, material wealth, presence of good friends and knowledge; e) Moldovan adolescent boys in the Republic of Moldova perceive significantly larger discrepancies in the life areas such as an active lifestyle, health and self-confidence, while Moldovan adolescent boys in Italy perceive significantly larger discrepancies in the areas such as interesting jobs, material wealth, knowledge and creation.
Therefore, having a picture of the relationship with reality today, in terms of the most significant areas of adolescents' lives, it makes us understand that the characteristics of the socio-cultural context in which adolescents' socialization takes place have a significant impact on their sphere of values.This deserves great consideration in the future when it comes to our diaspora abroad, as well as to adolescents in the Republic of Moldova.

Fig. 1 .
Fig. 1.Assessment of life areas with a high level of availability among Moldovan adolescents in the Republic of Moldova.

Fig. 2 .
Fig. 2. Assessment of life areas with a low level of availability among Moldovan adolescents in the Republic of Moldova.
Seria ,,Ştiinţe ale educației" Psihologie ISSN 1857-2103 293 Accordingly, even if such situations are transient, they certainly influence the perception of a happy family, as adolescents rather experience the feeling of disappointment, derived from their previous expectations.Another factor influencing the view of a happy family life is that the family of immigrant children often remains the only institution of social support.

Fig. 2 . 1 .
Fig. 2.1.Assessment of life areas with a low level of availability among Moldovan immigrant adolescents in Italy.

Fig. 3 . 1 .
Fig. 3.1.showsus that immigrant adolescents rated the beauty of nature and art as an available but meaningless area.At the same time, interesting jobs, material wealth and independence and freedom of action, were rated as important areas[12, pp.65-73], but at the moment, being unavailable.In this context, our objective was to analyze the extent to which values' desirability and availability differ between Moldovan adolescents in the Republic of Moldova and Moldovan adolescents in Italy, both by gender and place of living, by administering the Independent Samples T-Test.The comparison results show that there are discrepancies in the desirability and availability of life areas for adolescents.Specifically, we observe that Moldovan adolescents in the Republic of Moldova obtained a significantly higher level of discrepancies than Moldovan adolescents in Italy, in the areas of life such as an active lifestyle (T=2,110, p<0,05) and health (T=11,443, p<0,001).At the same time, we can remark significant differences in the areas of interesting jobs (T=-12,462, p<0,001), material wealth (T=-8,184, p<0,001), presence of good friends (T=-4,637, p<0,001) and knowledge (T=-6,546, p<0,001).In this case, Moldovan adolescents in Italy showed significantly larger discrepancies than adolescents in the Republic of Moldova.No significant differences were found in the following areas of life: beauty of nature and art, love, selfconfidence, independence and freedom of action, happy family life and creation.Both groups of adolescents have similar levels of discrepancies here.