Intergenerational Transmission Of Values Research Articles

Schooling and the Intergenerational Transmission of Values

AbstractWe present a model of the evolution of identity via dynamic interaction between the choice of education and the transmission of values in a community from parents to children, when parents care about the preservation of their traditional community values, different from the values of the host society. We compare the educational and socioeconomic outcomes in different scenarios (melting pot versus multiculturalism). If schooling shifts children's identity away from their parents' values, parents may choose lower levels of education for their children, at the cost of reducing their future earnings. We show how this effect can be attenuated and reversed when the school or, indeed, the host society are willing to accommodate the values of the community and/or to adjust to these values; otherwise the community gradually becomes alienated. This approach may be applied to the analysis of temporal changes in values and attitudes in a community of immigrants, as well as ethnic, religious, or other minority groups.

Międzygeneracyjna transmisja wartości w rodzinach polskich w Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej w kontekście ideologii wychowawczej państwa w latach 1918–1939

Międzypokoleniowy przekaz wartości jest niezbędnym warunkiem zachowania ciągłości kultury, a tym samym gwarantem przetrwania grupy. Wprowadzanie w świat wartości jest nieodłącznym elementem wychowania młodego pokolenia. Najstarszym i najważniejszym środowiskiem wychowawczym jest rodzina, gdzie w sposób naturalny kształtuje się osobowość dziecka i kreuje jego tożsamość. Wskutek międzygeneracyjnej transmisji wartości dziecko przyswaja wiedzę, która jest sumą doświadczeń wielu minionych pokoleń. Oprócz nabywania umiejętności odróżniania dobra od zła i uczenia się podstawowych zasad oraz norm, regulujących stosunki międzyludzkie, dziecko przyswaja szereg elementów, składających się na kulturę – język, historię, tradycję, wierzenia, symbole religijne i narodowe, obyczaje i zwyczaje. W międzywojniu, w społeczeństwie polskim, funkcjonował system wartości oparty na kanonie ukształtowanym w okresie zaborów. Ogromne znaczenie przypisywano tym wartościom, które sprzyjają zachowaniu własnej odrębności kulturowej i narodowej. Naczelne miejsce w hierarchii wartości zajmowały: ojczyzna, rodzina, religia katolicka, historia kraju, tradycja, symbole narodowe. Wśród wysoko cenionych i pożądanych cech moralnych znajdowały się: patriotyzm, odwaga, gotowość do ponoszenia ofiar i poświęceń, pracowitość, obowiązkowość, sprawiedliwość i uczciwość. Mimo dużego rozwarstwienia społecznego w II Rzeczypospolitej daje się zauważyć zbieżność wartości, będących przedmiotem międzypokoleniowego przekazu w rodzinach polskich, bez względu na ich status społeczny, majątek czy wykształcenie. Charakterystyczna dla dwudziestolecia międzywojennego była również zgodność systemu wartości deklarowanego i realizowanego w rodzinie, z tym który propagował Kościół, jak również tym, który wdrażały państwowe instytucje oświatowo-wychowawcze. Efektem tego było jednolite wychowanie młodego pokolenia, z jasno określonymi i spójnymi celami wychowawczymi, konsekwentnie realizowanymi przez współpracujące ze sobą, najważniejsze środowiska wychowawcze.

Experiences of Families Transmitting Values in a Rapidly Changing Society: Implications for Family Therapists

Intergenerational value transmission affects parent-child relationships and necessitates constant negotiation in families. Families with adolescents from rapidly changing societies face unique challenges in balancing the traditional collectivistic family values that promote harmony with emerging values that promote autonomy. Using modern Turkey as an example of such a culture, the authors examine the transmission process in families that hold more traditional and collectivistic values than their adolescent children. Special consideration is given to generational and cultural differences in the autonomy and relatedness dimensions.

Entrepreneurship and the intergenerational transmission of values

There is mounting empirical evidence that there is intergenerational transmission of parental preferences for entrepreneurship. However, much of the work on this topic is not explicit about the role of values in this transmission process. Furthermore, nearly all studies neglect potential heterogeneity of values among entrepreneurial parents. This paper contributes to the literature by making use of a natural experiment that allows (1) identifying a group of entrepreneurial parents who have a distinct priority of challenging existing conditions (“mastery”) and (2) detecting whether this value orientation is transmitted. Comparing German entrepreneurs two decades after Reunification reveals that the children of self-employed parents who encountered a great deal of resistance in the socialist German Democratic Republic due to their self-employment are much more likely to give mastery as the reason for running their own venture compared to entrepreneurs whose parents did not have to overcome this sort of challenge.

Family and Educational Institutions (Kindergarten and School) as the Areas of Experiencing Values

At the time when a child is given birth to, its process of rooting in the social world begins and through the two specific phenomena, i.e. socialisation and upbringing, such child becomes a representative of a society. However, there are two institutions inseparable from this process, i.e. kindergarten and school. Nonetheless, a family is the fist and natural upbringing environment for children, teaching them appropriate behavior, providing with code of conduct and values. Intergenerational transmission of values is the mechanisms allowing generational continuity, as it focuses on passing on values crucial for the parents, manifested through a specific contact with their children. On the other hand, kindergarten and school as institutions reflect the period when a child becomes a part of a structured social group, where all pupils are subject to the same rules, by which members of such group build up their knowledge on society and culture, constructing their individual and unique image of own self and the world around. Last but not least, it is also the time of preparing them to undertake autonomous and efficient activities. Such institutions conduct their upbringing activities in intentional and organised manner, in accordance with the curricula, taking into consideration socially established, upbringing objectives involving assistance of pedagogical staf and appropriately adjusted equipment. Therefore, cooperation and engagement of these three institutions allows to establish a coherent image of own self and own position in a society.

The transmission of language and religion in immigrant families: a comparison between mothers and children

The aim of this paper is to explore intergenerational transmission of values in immigrant families, focusing on the mother–child relation. Drawing on qualitative interviews with women and young people of immigrant origin, the paper analyses how mothers and children negotiate parental styles on transmission of cultural values – the importance of language and religion. The following dimensions will be analysed: (1) the language: which language is spoken in the family – mother tongue or Italian – and how the mother tongue is transmitted to children; (2) the importance given to the meanings and the practices of religion that the family professes. For this purpose we are going to compare Asian and East European women and children living in different urban and rural contexts of the Lombardy region.

Politics and parents — Intergenerational transmission of values after a regime shift

Exploiting the “natural experiment” of German reunification, we study whether socialism has an enduring effect on people's basic values. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we show that individuals that lived in the German Democratic Republic assign different importance to six out of nine values. The first subsequent generation differs in a similar way from their West German control group. The positive association between parents' and children's values does not significantly differ between East and West German families. The finding is consistent with the notion that parents are motivated by the belief that their own values are the best for the child to have. The effect of intergenerational transmission on the persistence of values is small to moderate. The link tends to be higher if the importance of a domain is more disputed in the population.

“Grannie's got to go fishing”: meanings and experiences of family leisure for three-generation families in rural and urban settings

The purpose of this interpretive study was to explore how the sociospatial context in Canada (rural vs. urban) shaped the perspectives, meanings and experiences of family leisure for three-generation families (grandparents, parents and adult grandchildren). Sixteen family triads were interviewed about their experience of family leisure. Specifically, rural and urban families were compared to understand similarities and differences in their experiences. Family leisure, although not without its challenges, was found to play a central role in the development of close family bonds. Findings are examined within the context of Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, Shaw and Dawson's theory of purposive leisure and Rye's conceptualization of the rural idyll and suggest that both rural and urban families value the rural context in the development of family cohesion and the intergenerational transmission of values.

The Role of Parental and Child Motivation in the Intergenerational Transmission of Values in East Germany and Shanghai/China

Intergenerational intrafamilial transmission is a process by which acquired information passes from parent to offspring. This investigation examined mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of individualistic and collectivistic values in two societies: East Germany and the Shanghai region in China. To clarify the impact of transmission from mother and father to child, the study analyzed the filter model suggested by Schönpflug, which is based on parental and child’s value orientation, each family member’s motivation in the transmission process and the value climate of the social context. Two matched samples consisting of 216 complete families with one adolescent child in each family participated in both regions. The two-dimensional structure of ten values indicating individualism and collectivism of the Portrait Value Questionnaire (PVQ) developed by Schwartz, Lehman, and Roccas differed somewhat in both regions for adolescents and their fathers, but not for mothers. The level of individualism was higher than collectivism in East Germany, and higher than in the region of Shanghai/China. The level of collectivism was higher than individualism in the Chinese region and than in East Germany. In this mid-European region, only mothers transmitted exclusively individualistic value orientation. In Chinese families, the father was a more influential transmitter of individualistic and collectivistic orientation, and mothers were not influential. Parental motivation to transmit individualism was a significant mediating variable in both samples; parental motivation to transmit collectivism mediated only between Chinese fathers’ and their children’s collectivism.

Veiling*

AbstractVeiling among Muslim women is modeled as a commitment mechanism that limits temptation to deviate from religious norms of behavior. The analysis suggests that veiling is a strategy for integration, enabling women to take up outside economic opportunities while preserving their reputation within the community. This accounts for puzzling features of the new veiling movement since the 1970s. Veiling also has surprising effects on the intergenerational transmission of values. Compulsory veiling laws can lead to a decline in religiosity. Bans on veiling can inhibit social integration and increase religiosity.

Intergenerational transmission of values over the family life course

Abstract Literature consistently shows that parents transmit their values to children, but less is known about the persistence and timing of value transmission over the life course, how the quality of intergenerational relationships moderates the strength of transmission, and how transmission may be sensitive to the type of value considered. We addressed our research questions using 1971 and 2000 waves of the Longitudinal Study of Generations (LSOG). The sample consisted of 775 parent–child dyads in which parents averaged 44 years old in 1971 and their offspring averaged 48 years old in 2000. Religious beliefs and gender role attitudes were the two values considered. We found intergenerational value similarity with regard to children's values in 2000 were mostly the result of early transmission. The quality of the parent–child relationship strengthened the contemporaneous transmission of religious beliefs and the lagged transmission of gender role attitudes. The transmission of gender role attitudes was considerably weaker and less stable over time than it was for religious orientation but tended to have a lagged impact under conditions of high solidarity. We discuss the role of parents’ influence on their children's value orientations in terms of a relational, life course, and societal process.

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.

Intergenerational value transmission within the family and the role of emotional relationship quality

Emotional relationship quality of adolescents/emerging adults toward their mothers is addressed: (1) as a transmission belt for the intergenerational transfer of general values and (2) regarding the two-step model of value internalization. The sample consisted of N = 73 dyads of mothers and their 12–25–year-old children (51 daughters, 22 sons) living in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Mothers and adolescents/emerging adults reported on their general value orientations; in addition, adolescents/emerging adults reported on emotional relationship quality toward mothers. In a subsample of n = 46 mother-adolescent/emerging adult dyads, additional information was available regarding maternal socialization goals, adolescents'/emerging adults' perceptions of these goals, and adolescents'/emerging adults' perceived value similarity with mothers. Attachment/closeness of adolescents/emerging adults toward their mothers was related to higher, whereas dislike and worry were related to lower value consensus/congruence. ...

Dialog w rodzinie

Dialog can be understood as the communication between persons or the groups of persons which aim at the mutual understanding resulting in the strengthening of relations and in the fostering of cooperation. In case of a family it can be a consultation in the important matter but also in a broad sense it can be any other communication between the family members in everyday life situations. Such a dialog understood as the daily conversation have vital importance for a family. Families are constituted by more than one person who create a network of relations thus by social sciences families are described as the interaction systems. Conditions of good communication can be described from the point of view of two persons as well as from the point of view of a family as an unit. Correct communication promotes family cohesion, allows to handle daily issues, helps to avoid conflicts, supports intergenerational transmission of values, increase the inner intimacy of family and can be the pattern for the younger generations. Correct communication depends on openness and empathy of family members and can be threaten by the overuse of media among other factors.

Il ritardo economico del Mezzogiorno: uno stato stazionario?

- In this article I maintain that until the mid-Seventies the regions of the Italian Mezzogiorno followed a path first of divergence, then of convergence, reflecting a familiar pattern. The main characteristic in the case of the Mezzogiorno, however, is that the convergence phase led the area to a remarkably unfavorable steadystate. Further, I suggest that the disappointing results obtained in the area with numerous richly financed public policies are partly due to the poorer quality of the institutions in the Southern regions. In the second part of the article I discuss recent contributions that associate this failure of local institutions with the short supply of social capital, and that put its persistence down to mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of values and norms that change very slowly over time. In the final part of the paper I briefly discuss the role of economic policy faced with mechanisms of this nature.EconLit Classification: O120, O400, O430Keywords: Convergence, Institutions and Economic Growth, Social CapitalParole chiave: Convergenza, Istituzioni e crescita economica, Capitale sociale

Like father, like son? Intergenerational transmission of values, attitudes, and behaviours in the environmental domain

How is young people's pro-environmental orientation related to their parents' pro-environmental values, attitudes, and behaviours? To answer this question, we examine parent–child similarities of general values as well as specific attitudes and behaviours related to three common household practices: purchasing environmentally friendly products, curtailing electricity use, and handling waste responsibly in a sample of 601 Danish families. Significant and positive, but weak correlations between parents' and children's values are found across all of Schwartz's ten value domains. The parent–child correlations are stronger for specific pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. The positive correlations suggest that family socialization exert a significant influence on young consumers' pro-environmental orientation. Still, the young generation is, on average, significantly less environmentally concerned than their parents' generation. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Disrupting Pathways of Intergenerational Transmissions of Gender Ideology and Practice

This article examines pathways to intergenerational transmission of gender values, norms and ideology with a particular focus on contexts where there is a strong intersection between gender and poverty. The first part explores the multiplicity of conduits of knowledge and influence across generations. The potential for reversing the direction of intergenerational influence and challenging its unilinearity are further examined in a study of a project supporting child leaders in Egypt. The article explores the opportunities and challenges in facilitating children's agency in poor communities and argues that although they were able to challenge social values on various levels, their agency was limited by structural factors. The last section examines some of the structural dynamics associated with the demise of the gender contract (in practice but not in ideology) on intergenerational transmission of values and ideas, and how they may bring possibilities for disruptions in gender ideas and values, both positive and negative.

The Intergenerational Transmission of Values in National and Immigrant Families: The Role of Zeitgeist

Correspondence in value orientation between parents and their offspring may be due to actual transmission processes between generations, but it may also be due to influences from the general value context in society that are common to parents and their offspring. This common value context is referred to as Zeitgeist. The present study deals with one family relationship value (i.e., parents' and adolescents' obligations toward the family). Participants were 1,252 immigrant and 726 national adolescent-parent dyads from 10 Western countries. There were significant relationships between the value placed on family obligations among parents and offspring, and these were independent of gender. Zeitgeist effects, both intergenerational and intragenerational, were found. The strength of these Zeitgeist effects depended on the basis for defining Zeitgeist, either a person's own ethnic group or the wider community including both nationals and immigrants. For explaining national adolescents' acceptance of their family obligations, both the ethnic and the national Zeitgeist played a role, whereas in the immigrant groups only the ethnic Zeitgeist played a significant role. In short, in an immigration context it makes sense to distinguish the influence of a person's own ethnic group from the influence of the wider community, including other ethnic groups. Explanations are suggested and implications are discussed.

The socialization of hierarchic self-interest

The article reports research on family socialization of dominance values among adolescents. Dominance values were studied as expressed in Hierarchic Self-Interest (HSI), a value pattern that is typical for highly competitive market-oriented societies and has negative behavioural consequences. In analyzing socialization, the study concentrates on authoritarian and achievement-focused parenting, as well as structural and ideological predictors thereof. The relevance of HSI for attitudes and behaviours is studied by considering xenophobia and delinquency as its consequences. Using panel data of 443 families (mothers, fathers, and adolescent offspring) from Berlin (Germany), a structural equation model is estimated. Results show that adolescent HSI can be traced back to social-structural variables and parenting modes, but also develops through intergenerational value transmission. It has assumed negative consequences.

Bequests, Inheritances and Family Traditions

Do influence bequest behavior? If an individual receives an inheritance from his parents, is he more likely to give a bequest to his children, even after controlling for the boost in wealth conferred by the inheritance? Family traditions are pertinent to a host of issues connected with intergenerational transfers: Ricardian equivalence and crowding out, the role of bequests in wealth accumulation, and the responsiveness of bequests to tax changes. Traditions also matter for issues related to behavioral economics, such as mental accounts, social learning, and the intergenerational transmission of values. Partially due to the paucity of data, few studies to date have analyzed bequests in conjunction with inheritances. We draw upon the U.S. Health and Retirement Survey, one of the few data sets with comprehensive information on both bequests and inheritances. We find that receipt of inheritances and intended bequests are positively and significantly related (both behaviorally and statistically) even after controlling for a host of household characteristics, most importantly household net worth. Discerning how to label this partial correlation is a daunting task. We provide a precise definition of and we show how they differ from other channels of influence. Our explanation of the nuances of traditions hinges on measuring the flexibility of bequest plans when wealth or other circumstances change. (For instance, will a wealth shortfall have a smaller impact on an inheritor who may be attempting to carry on a family tradition?) We find evidence in support of the idea that the propensity to bequeath out of wealth differs depending upon whether current wealth is large or small relative to inheritances received. We conclude that economists interested in intergenerational transfers should pay attention to the role of family traditions in bequest behavior.