Symposium: INTERGENERATIONAL VALUE TRANSMISSION: THE ROLE OF MOTIVES, TRANSITIONS, AND CONTEXT

Cultural transmission refers to the transfer of knowledge, practices, values and norms through processes of socialization, enculturation and acculturation which can be intentional or implicit. Intergenerational transmission occurs to a large extent within the family as primary socialization agent. Apart from that, values and norms are learnt in contact with peers and friends, in school or through media. Although the last years have seen an increased research interest in these topics, mechanisms are still unclear and open questions remain with regard to moderators of transmission. The present symposium brings together researchers from three different countries – Germany, Italy and Luxembourg – who will focus on factors that might have an impact on intergenerational value transmission at different points in the family life cycle and outside the family. First, Daniela Barni and colleagues examine the impact of relationship quality toward mothers and fathers on adolescents’ motives for internalization of moral values, thereby taking age of adolescents into account. Christian Hoellger and colleagues then focus on later points in the family life cycle. Taking into account specific life course transitions, they find differences in value transmission, which are however moderated by adult children’s gender. Third, Isabelle Albert and colleagues concentrate on intergenerational transmission of values in the context of acculturation, taking into account parental motivation to transmit values in a sample of Portuguese immigrant compared to non-immigrant families with adult children. Finally, Elke Murdock and Maria Stogianni analyze the roles of friendship patterns for the development of ethnic identity of adolescents who live in a culturally highly diverse setting, underlining the importance of experiences in individuals’ biographies in specific contexts that shape their further development. The discussion will focus on the importance of motives to transmit or take over values, context variables and transitions for intergenerational transmission of values within and outside the family