Delineating personal values in a diverse middle childhood sample

Abstract

The Portrait Values Questionnaire – Child Version (PVQ-C) assesses 10 basic human values in childhood but has been used only sparingly in research on child individual differences. The present study examined PVQ-C values in the context of associations with child personality traits and endorsement differences between gender and racial/ethnic identities. In a diverse sample of 350 children (Mage = 9.81, SDage = 0.66; 52.9 % female; 29.7 % Black, 24.8 % Hispanic, 30 % white), results revealed theoretically coherent shared variance between children’s self-reported personal values and their parent-reported personality traits. Gender and racial/ethnic differences emerged for seven childhood personal values. These findings point toward a comprehensive framework of children’s personality that incorporates multiple indicators of individual differences including personality traits and personal values.