Intergenerational Similarity Research Articles

The intergenerational transmission of sexual frequency

ABSTRACT Intergenerational relationships are one of the most frequently studied topics in the social sciences. Within the area of family, researchers find intergenerational similarity in family behaviors such as marriage, divorce, and fertility. Yet less research has examined the intergenerational aspects of a key proximate determinant of fertility: sexual frequency. We use the National Survey of Families and Households to examine the relationship between sexual frequency of parents and the sexual frequency of children when adults. We link parental sexual frequency in 1987/1988, when children were ages 5–18, to the sexual frequency of the children in 2001–2003 when these grown children were ages 18–34. We find a modest, yet significant association, between parental and adult children sexual frequency. A mechanism behind this association appears to be the higher likelihood of being in a union among children of parents with high sexual frequency.

Socioeconomic origin, future expectations, and educational achievement: A longitudinal three-generation study of the persistence of family advantage.

Expectations about the future direct effort in goal-oriented action and may influence a range of life course outcomes, including educational attainment. Here we investigate whether such expectations are implicated in the dynamics underlying the persistence of educational advantage across family generations, and whether such dynamics have changed in recent decades in view of historical change. Focusing on the role of domain-specific (educational) and general (optimism and control) expectations, we examine parallels across parent-child cohorts in (a) the relationships between parental socioeconomic status (SES) and children's future expectations and (b) the associations between children's future expectations and their academic achievement. We estimate structural equation models using data from the prospective multigenerational Youth Development Study (N = 422 three-generation triads [G1-G2-G3]; G1 Mage in 1988 = 41.0 years, G2 Mage in 1989 = 14.7 years, G3 Mage in 2011 = 15.8 years; G2 White in 1989 = 66.4%, G3 White in 2011 = 64.4%; G1 mean annual household income, converted to 2008 equivalents = $41,687, G2 mean annual household income in 2008 dollars = $42,962; G1 mode of educational attainment = high school, G2 mode of educational attainment = some college). We find intergenerational similarity in the relationships between parental educational attainment and children's future expectations. Children's educational expectations strongly predicted their academic achievement in the second generation, but not in the third generation. With educational expansion, the more recent cohort had higher educational expectations that were less strongly related to achievement. Overall, the findings reveal dynamics underlying the persistence of educational success across generations. The role of future expectations in this intergenerational process varies across historical time, confirming a central conclusion of life span developmental psychology and life course sociological research that individual functioning is influenced by sociocultural contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotion socialization in mothers who experienced maltreatment: Mentalizing the past may help the present.

Adults who experienced childhood maltreatment (CM) are at increased risk for parenting problems. Mentalization capacity may disrupt intergenerational patterns of problematic parenting among mothers with a CM history. In this study, we examine: (a) parents' use of negative emotion socialization practices as one path of intergenerational transmission of risk in mothers with CM and (b) whether mothers' ability to mentalize about the emotion socialization behaviors of attachment figures diminishes intergenerational similarity in negative emotion socialization practices. Mentalization was operationalized as the frequency of cognitive processing words in mothers' narrative responses to questions about how and why attachment figures responded to their negative emotions during childhood. Participants included 154 mothers with and without a self-reported CM history in a case-control design, matched on child age, gender, maternal education, and race/ethnicity. Mothers with CM recollected more unsupportive responses to their negative emotions during childhood, which in turn predicted using more punishing, ignoring, and magnifying responses toward their own child's negative emotions (i.e., a significant indirect effect). However, greater cognitive processing language when describing the emotional climate of childhood diminished this pathway (i.e., a significant moderated effect). Among mothers who recollected unsupportive responses to emotions from their parents, those whose narratives included more cognitive processing words did not act in similar ways toward their own child whereas those who used fewer cognitive processing words did. These preliminary findings support the growing body of research suggesting that the quality of mentalization can be a protective factor among adults who experienced childhood maltreatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Developing Children’s Justice: Evidence from Intergenerational Similarity and Peer Homophily

Developing Children’s Justice: Evidence from Intergenerational Similarity and Peer Homophily

Intergenerational influence on sustainable consumer attitudes and behaviors: Roles of family communication and peer influence in environmental consumer socialization

Intergenerational research on sustainable consumption remains scarce, particularly in relation to which factors may affect the level of intergenerational similarity and the direction of intergenerational transmission. The present study addresses these gaps and adds to the growing body of literature in environmental consumer socialization by examining intergenerational influence on sustainable consumer attitudes and behaviors in a sample of 146 dyads comprised of mothers and college-age daughters. In the domain of intergenerational influence, we study two potential moderating factors suggested in past consumer research: communication effectiveness and peer conformity. Using the co-orientational model and nominal dyad method, we reveal the existence of intergenerational similarity in dyads' sustainable consumer attitudes and behaviors—after accounting for nominal effects— and show that stronger parent–child communication between mother–daughter pairs leads to greater intergenerational similarity, whereas stronger peer influence on daughters reduces intergenerational agreement. Our analysis further suggests the presence of reverse environmental socialization, in which intergenerational influence predominantly occurs from daughter to mother. Dyads' subjective knowledge regarding sustainable consumption provides empirical insights for this co-orientational model finding on reverse intergenerational transfer. Overall, outcomes of this study encourage marketing managers to leverage young-adult offspring in the process of communicating sustainable marketing strategies.

The intergenerational similarity of social value orientations in adolescents and emerging adults: Variable-centered and person-centered approaches

The current study examined the intergenerational similarity of middle adolescents’ and emerging adults’ social value orientations (SVO) using different variable-centered and person-centered approaches and whether perceived parental autonomy support and conditional regard would play a role in similarity. The sample consisted of 218 middle adolescents (ages 14–15, eighth and ninth grades) and 219 emerging adults (ages 19–25, attending university) and their mothers and fathers in a metropolitan area of Ankara, Turkey ( N = 437 triads). Our findings revealed that mother-father similarity was higher than parent-child similarity. Results indicated more similarities between emerging adults-parents than adolescents-parents, and autonomy support contributed to the similarity. Higher levels of maternal and paternal SVO has linked with prosociality of offsprings. Besides, when mothers and fathers were incongruent in reporting SVO, the emerging adults’ probability of having prosocial SVO was lower.

Facilitators of intergenerational similarity in social and political attitudes: the role of discussion, sophistication, attitudinal homogeneity, and gender

While parents remain key socializing agents for political attitudes of adolescents, we observe that parent–child similarity in these attitudes is less substantial than initially theorized and seems to vary across studies and type of attitude. We hypothesize that social learning mechanisms explain differences in the strength of parent–child similarity. To assess this proposition, we compare the moderating power of political discussion, political sophistication, parental homogeneity, and gender using data from the Belgian Parent–Child Socialization Study 2013 (N = 1943 families). Our results demonstrate that parents and children resemble in their political and social attitudes and that this similarity is stronger for concrete and socially salient attitudes and reinforced by frequency in political discussion. Results also indicate that social learning practices, or at least the ones considered in this study, are not necessary conditions (anymore) for parent–child correspondence. Frequency of cue-giving in the form of direct communication is important to internalize parental attitudes but political sophistication and consistency in cue-giving less so. Parents and children correspond even in the absence of optimal social learning conditions which suggests that informal learning and observation of parental behavior are crucial to consider as well.

Mother–Daughter Work–Family Role Transmission: Effects on Daughters’ Work and Family Satisfaction

This study addresses the impact of intergenerational transmission on women’s work–family life. Drawn from the two-generation sample in the Youth Development Study, this study examines the effects of intergenerational similarity in working status, intergenerational communication, and social support on women’s work and family satisfaction. The study controlled for family of origin socioeconomic status, working hours, relationship duration, and number of children. The results show that intergenerational transmission of work–family configurations from mothers to daughters does exist in their general employment status, but the effects on women’s family satisfaction occur mostly through intergenerational communication. Additionally, social support from both work and family is found to have direct and indirect impacts on women’s work and family satisfaction. The findings can be used to advance a tentative model to examine intergenerational transmission effects and verify the importance of social support in promoting women’s functional outcomes at work and home.

The intergenerational continuity of parental conditional regard and its role in mothers’ and adolescents’ contingent self‐esteem and depressive symptoms

AbstractAlthough research has documented the adverse consequences of parental academic conditional regard in different developmental periods, few studies have examined antecedents and, in particular, the possibility of intergenerational continuity of this parenting dimension. The current study aimed to identify patterns of intergenerational similarity in two types of conditional regard (i.e., positive and negative). Additionally, it examined mothers’ and adolescents’ contingent self‐esteem (CSE) and depressive symptoms as outcomes of this process. In total, 211 mothers and their 10‐ to 16‐year‐old adolescents filled out questionnaires assessing perceived conditional regard in the relationship with their own mother (i.e., grandmothers’, and mothers’ conditional positive (PACPR) and negative regard (PACNR)), contingent self‐esteem (i.e., maternal child‐invested CSE and adolescents’ academic CSE), and maternal and adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Results revealed direct intergenerational similarity for PACPR, but not for PACNR. Within generations, PACPR was related positively to CSE, which, in turn, was related positively to depressive symptoms. Moreover, PACNR was related positively to depressive symptoms. Our findings provide preliminary evidence for the intergenerational continuity of conditional regard, which has important consequences because of its relation to CSE and subsequent depressive symptoms within both generations.

Learning who not to vote for: The role of parental socialization in the development of negative partisanship

In this paper, we explore the importance of negative orientations towards political parties in the political socialization process. We extend the traditional idea that children adopt a certain positive party attachment from their parents, and also take into account the possibility that the family can play an important role in the development of negative partisanship. We test the assumption that within the family, children learn both about the ‘good ones’ and the ‘bad ones’ of the political world, and analyze intergenerational similarities in positive and negative orientations towards the different political parties in the Flemish (Belgium) landscape. Results show that parental socialization can indeed work in two directions. Intergenerational similarity is not only observed in support – as could be expected from earlier research – but can also be observed, to a similar extent, for explicit negative orientations. This is particularly the case for parties at the far ends of the political spectrum such as the radical right Vlaams Belang (and to a lesser extent for the Green party), but this logic also applies for more mainstream, established parties, such as the Christian democrats.

Трансмиссия ценностей и психологическое благополучие подростков: трехпоколенное исследование русских и осетин в Республике Северная Осетия — Алания

Subjective well-being and its predictors are a popular research subject in modern science. Many studies have revealed that intergenerational similarity of values and their transmission contribute to the psychological well-being of adolescents. Our research focuses on the similarities and differences of the relationship between intergenerational value transmission and well-being in Russian and Ossetian adolescents living in the Republic of South Ossetia — the State of Alania. The sample included 645 subjects (109 grandparent-parent-child triads from Russian families and 106 identical triads from Ossetian families). The following techniques were used: the PVQ-R Scale by S. Schwartz, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Satisfaction With Life Scale by Diener. The data was processed using Structural Equationnlebedeva@hse.ru Modeling (SEM) in AMOS. The outcomes of the multigroup analysis showed differences in the relationship between intergenerational value transmission and well-being of the Russian and Ossetian adolescents. Also, we have found that older generations (grandparents) play a significant role in transmitting values to the adolescents in families of the Russian ethnic minority.

Intergenerational Similarity of Religiosity Over the Family Life Course.

Research consistently shows that parents influence children's religiosity. However, few studies acknowledge that there is within-group variation in the intergenerational transmission of religiosity. In this article, we examine whether and how congruence in religiosity between generations changes over the family life course and identifies unique parent-child trajectory classes. We used eight waves of data from the Longitudinal Study of Generations, including 1,084 parent-child dyads beginning in 1971 when the children were adolescents and young adults, followed up to 2005. Growth mixture models (GMM) were tested. GMM revealed four temporal patterns: stable similar, child weakens, child strengthens, and child returns. Results showed that children who were married were more likely to be members of the child-returns class than members of the stable-similar class. Results are discussed in terms of the utility of the separation-individuation process and the life-course framework for understanding intergenerational differences and their stability over time.

Intergenerational similarity in callous-unemotional traits: Contributions of hostile parenting and household chaos during adolescence.

Extant research has examined both genetic and environmental risk involved in the transmission of callous-unemotional traits in youth populations, yet no study has examined the intergenerational similarity of these traits between parents and their offspring. The current study examined whether the association between parent callous-unemotional traits and child callous-unemotional traits was mediated by parenting behavior and whether this association was moderated by household environment. Participants included 115 dyads of adolescents (48% female; Mean age=13.97) and their primary caregivers (87% female; Mean age=42.54). Measures of callous-unemotional traits, hostile parenting, and household chaos were collected from both adolescents and parents. A two group structural equation modeling revealed that hostile parenting serves as a mediating process in the association between parent and adolescent callous-unemotional traits, but only in the context of high household chaos. Our findings suggest that hostile parenting practices are a mediating process that may explain intergenerational similarity in callous-unemotional traits. Additionally, household chaos may exacerbate the effects of hostile parenting on callous-unemotional traits within adolescents, resulting in heightened vulnerability to intergenerational transmission of callous-unemotional traits.

The role of intergenerational similarity and parenting in adolescent self-criticism: An actor–partner interdependence model

Research investigating the development of adolescent self-criticism has typically focused on the role of either parental self-criticism or parenting. This study used an actor–partner interdependence model to examine an integrated theoretical model in which achievement-oriented psychological control has an intervening role in the relation between parental and adolescent self-criticism. Additionally, the relative contribution of both parents and the moderating role of adolescent gender were examined. Participants were 284 adolescents (M = 14 years, range = 12–16 years) and their parents (M = 46 years, range = 32–63 years). Results showed that only maternal self-criticism was directly related to adolescent self-criticism. However, both parents' achievement-oriented psychological control had an intervening role in the relation between parent and adolescent self-criticism in both boys and girls. Moreover, one parent's achievement-oriented psychological control was not predicted by the self-criticism of the other parent.

Have You Set Your Life Priorities Straight?: Intergenerational Differences in Life Goals among European and East Asian Americans College Students and their Mothers

We examined ethnic differences in (a) the life goals of college-enrolled youth as well as their mothers’ goals for them, (b) intergenerational similarity in life goals, and (c) the association between intergenerational similarity in life goal priorities and parent-adolescent relationships and psychological adjustment. East Asian American youth and their mothers (EA-Ams) and European American youth and their mothers (Euro-Ams) rated the importance of life goals and reported upon their depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and relationship quality. Results indicated that family and mate selection goals were more important for EA-Ams. Intergenerational similarity in achievement-related goals was higher for Euro-Ams whereas similarity in family-related goals was higher for EA-Ams. Intergenerational similarities in life goal priorities were differentially correlated with select outcomes.

The Intergenerational Transmission of Interpersonal Problems: An Exploration

This paper presents results on the intergenerational transmission of interpersonal problems. Ninety-eight German mothers, fathers, and their young adult offspring completed the German version of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-D64), which is conceptually based on the assumption of a circumplex structure of eight interpersonal problems. Model learning and psychodynamic theories were used to formulate assumptions about possible intergenerational similarity and dissimilarity, as well as about effects of family and societal context. The results showed the highest intergenerational correlations for three of the eight interpersonal problems in the IIP-D64, namely nonassertiveness, overly strong accommodation, and self-sacrificing tendencies. Intergenerational similarity was found only for mother–offspring dyads for two other problems: domineering and vindictiveness tendencies. No significant intergenerational similarity was found for coldness, social inhibition, or intrusiveness. In-depth analyses revealed higher similarities in families in which at least one parent had an overall IIP-64 score equal to or more than one standard deviation from the norm sample mean (as opposed to families where both parents had overall IIP-64 scores closer to the normative German mean). The findings are tentatively interpreted as suggesting that intergenerational transmission occurs only for problems on one axis of the interpersonal circumplex, i.e., the agency axis, but not for problems on the communality axis.

The intergenerational transmission of need for closure underlies the transmission of authoritarianism and anti-immigrant prejudice

Previous research has identified need for closure (NFC) as an important motivational-cognitive basis of authoritarianism and prejudice. However, to date, the role of NFC in the intergenerational similarity in authoritarianism and prejudice has remained unclear. In a sample of 169 parent–child dyads, we investigated the similarity between parents and children in NFC and tested whether this intergenerational similarity may account for the intergenerational similarity in authoritarianism and anti-immigrant prejudice. Our results revealed that parental levels of NFC were indeed concordant with the levels of NFC in their children. Even more importantly, parental NFC was indirectly related to child authoritarianism and prejudice in two ways. The first pathway proceeded through the direct relationships between parental and children’s levels of authoritarianism and prejudice. The second pathway, however, bypassed parental levels of authoritarianism and prejudice and proceeded through the intergenerational similarity in NFC. Our findings thus indicate that a significant portion of children’s levels of authoritarianism and anti-immigrant prejudice can be explained by parent–child similarity in motivated cognition. Implications for developmental theories of prejudice acquisition are discussed.

Family models of independence/interdependence and their intergenerational similarity in Germany, Turkey, and India

Family change theory suggests three ideal-typical family models characterized by different combinations of emotional and material interdependencies in the family. Its major proposition is that in economically developing countries with a collectivistic background a family model of emotional interdependence emerges from a family model of complete interdependence. The current study aims to identify and compare patterns of family-related value orientations related to family change theory across three cultures and two generations. Overall, N = 919 dyads of mothers and their adolescent children from Germany, Turkey, and India participated in the study. Three clusters were identified representing the family models of independence, interdependence, and emotional interdependence, respectively. Especially the identification of an emotionally interdependent value pattern using a person-oriented approach is an important step in the empirical validation of family change theory. The preference for the three family mode...

Parent-child value similarity and subjective well-being in the context of migration: An exploration

Intergenerational value similarity has a different meaning for migrants and minorities compared to the majority society. Whereas high parent-child value similarity among majority families more likely indicates successful internalization of societal values, high intergenerational similarity among migrants may indicate a lack of social integration into the host society. The present paper links parent-adolescent value similarity among migrant/minority and majority families to subjective well-being in two societies, Germany and Israel (Total N = 977 families). Analyses assess intergenerational similarity on all values from the Schwartz value circumplex. Among majority groups intergenerational value similarity is a predictor of life satisfaction. In minority groups it is more so a low distance of a family's value preferences to the modal values of the majority group that predicts life satisfaction – but only in Israel.

Family and other social contexts in the intergenerational transmission of values

This special issue includes seven studies concerning the role of family relationships and other social contexts in the intergenerational transmission of values between parents and their children. Recent research has shown that value transmission is a complex, bi-directional, and selective process, which involves various pathways and transmission belts, and may produce intergenerational similarity as well as intergenerational change. Together, the studies reported in this special issue provide a complex picture of this process and of parent–child value similarity, as one of the possible outcomes of the transmission. The results of these studies illustrate the interdependent, but not exchangeable, contribution of different sources (family, value climate, group membership, etc.) in children's value acquisition, and suggest implications for parenting practices and for social policies in promoting value continuity.