Search

A core issue in family research on value transmission is the extent of value similarity between generations, similarity which can originate from the transmission process within the family and from the social-cultural context in which the family lives. The general aim of this three-generational study was to measure parent-child value similarity, removing the effect of the social-cultural context in order to uncover that value similarity that stems from the unique and specific relationship between members of a family. Participants were 381 Italian family triads (father, mother, and one adolescent child); for 257 families one grandmother was also involved. Subjects completed the Portrait Values Questionnaire. Findings empirically showed the strong interaction between family and social-cultural context in determining the level of value similarity.

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.