Perceived Social Values among Adults in the Fergana Valley: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Shared social values influence how adults interpret everyday conduct, responsibility, interpersonal behaviour, and social expectations. This study described how adults in the Fergana Valley perceive ten paired positive and negative social qualities in the contemporary social image of Uzbek adults. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted during 2025–2026 among 364 adults aged 25 years and older from the Fergana, Andijan, and Namangan regions of Uzbekistan (172 men and 192 women). An author-developed questionnaire presented ten paired qualities and used a seven-category response scale ranging from strong predominance of the positive pole to strong predominance of the negative pole. Percentage distributions were calculated for each response category. Positive poles were predominant across all ten dimensions. Strong positive responses were most frequent for honor (74.44%), culture (67.06%), and conscientiousness (66.94%), whereas diligence had the lowest proportion (49.23%). Perceptions that both poles were equally present were most frequent for modesty–arrogance (8.68%), prudence–imprudence (8.56%), diligence–laziness (8.44%), and contentment–ingratitude (7.85%). The findings describe respondents' social perceptions rather than fixed psychological characteristics of the Uzbek population. They provide a descriptive basis for studying how shared social meanings may shape interpersonal environments and culturally responsive approaches to psychological and health-promotion work. Direct relationships with mental-health or other health outcomes were not assessed and require separate investigation.