Based on the quantitative analysis model of social representations, a study (N=300) was carried out concerning the opinion of university students on Human Rights (HR), and the social link of this positioning in the students system of values. The results show that the students representations of the involvement in HR comprise four organizing principles: personal-abstract; personal-concrete; governmental-abstract; governmental-concrete. With regard to the social anchorage of the organizing principles of involvement in HR, it has been observed that post-materialist values were positively related to the involvement personal-abstract, whereas adherence to religious values implied a greater involvement in the personal-concrete principle. In addition, adherence to materialist values led to a more positive appraisal of the Brazilian Government involvement in HR, while the post-materialist contributed to a more critical evaluation of the Government. These results are discussed stressing the core of social values in the formation of HR social representations.
Social representations; human rights; value systems
