SAFETY VALUES AND SAFE PRACTICES AMONG COLLEGE-STUDENTS

During the fall of 1993, a total of 1,126 students who were enrolled i n elective health classes at eight Midwestern universities completed a questionnaire composed of 15 items related to safe practices and 18 i tems related to safety values. This study explored the effect that gen der, class standing, and geographic region had on the participants' sa fe practices and safety values. As confirmed in earlier studies, femal es are more safety conscious than males. Further, class standing signi ficantly affected the safety values of the participants, but had no si gnificant effect on their safe practices. Geographic region did not ha ve any significant influence on either the safe practices or the safet y values of the participants. Safety values were a better predictor of a person's safe practices than the other three factors (gender, class standing, and geographic region) combined.