Family and other social contexts in the intergenerational transmission of values

Abstract

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.