Running head: VALUE SELF-SELECTION VS. SOCIALIZATION 1 Value Stability and Change during Self-Chosen Life Transitions: Self-Selection Versus Socialization Effects

Socialization Effects Recent findings suggest that although values are largely stable, when they do change, such change is theoretically meaningful (e.g., Values Values convey important life goals (e.g., achievement, tradition). They are general beliefs about personally desirable end states or behaviors, ordered by their personal importance, and they guide evaluation and behavior Values are one aspect of a person's personality, if personality is broadly defined. They can be seen as characteristic adaptations in broad models of personality (McRae & VALUE SELF-SELECTION VS. SOCIALIZATION 4 Costa, e.g., 1999). Consequently, they are related to other aspects of the personality including traits (e.g., Unlike values, people do not choose their needs (see The most prevalent theory of values to date is the Schwartz (1992) value theory, which we employ here. This theory defines ten values according to the motivations that underlie them, and their structure is portrayed in Value-Fit to Life Situations A good value-fit to a life situation refers to holding values that can be readily pursued in that environment and avoiding values whose pursuit would be blocked. There is some evidence for the existence such value-fit. Specifically, workers held values that fit their occupations If they value conformity and power, they are more likely to be motivated to enforce (through VALUE SELF-SELECTION VS. SOCIALIZATION 5 power values) the law (through conformity values) even in difficult situations, and are thus able to behave in line with their role expectations. Second, values serve as justifications for behavior How does such value-fit come about? In self-chosen life settings, such as the ones studied in this paper, there can be three broad ways to value-fit: People may choose the life setting based on their values (i.e., self-selection); people may gradually acquire the values that are regarded as appropriate and desirable in the life setting (i.e., socialization Vocational training, education, and migration. We next review the literature on self-selection vs. socialization in each of these settings. In each section, we begin by reviewing research that used personality variables other than values and continue with research that used values. Self-Selection into a New Life Setting In the organizational literature, That is, people are attracted to organizations that fit them; organizations select employees who fit them; and those who do not fit the organization end up leaving it (evidence reviewed in Schneider, Socialization into a New Life Setting There is some evidence for the socialization of personal attributes as a result of a life transition. For example, Cable and Parsons (2001) found that during the first two years of a job, new employee's work-related attributes (e.g., attention to detail) became more similar to the organizational culture the more they experienced support from other employees and the clearer the requirements for career progression were to them. Regarding basic personality traits, conscientiousness increased in young adults the more they were engaged in life transitions that required this trait Finally, in educational settings, attitudes became more in line with one's university major VALUE SELF-SELECTION VS. SOCIALIZATION 8 (reviewed in Values, however, may be less amenable to socialization compared to attitudes. Because values are more abstract than most attitudes (see In the educational domain, context-specific job values (e.g., independence in the job) tended to remain stable throughout the three years of university studies thereby showing no socialization effects A study of immigration of Ingrian-Finns back to Finland (Lönnqvist et al., 2011) from generations of residing in Russia could potentially test for socialization effects. However, it is not clear how much of the original Finnish culture was maintained in the sample during their life in Russia, and therefore it is not clear how much value socialization was needed upon returning to Finland. Overall, there is currently no longitudinally-based evidence in the literature for value socialization during adulthood, although this process seems plausible and has been suggested previously (e.g., Combined Effects of Self-Selection and Socialization It is plausible that both self-selection and socialization occur during a life transition. People may self-select into a life transition based on their personality but continue to increase their fit to the new life situation as time goes by (see, e.g., To summarize, the literature reviewed above provides imperfect evidence with regard to value-based self-selection into educational and vocational life transitions, and there are currently no studies that examined this question in the migration context. With regard to value socialization into a life transition, there is currently no published evidence that could support or refute this proposition. Moreover, there are currently no published studies that provide evidence for the interplay between value-based self-selection vs. socialization into life transitions. Hence, it is important to conduct longitudinal studies that will examine this question systematically across different life transitions. The Current Research and its Analytical Strategy The current set of studies contrasted evidence in line with value-based self-selection into a self-chosen life transition vs. value socialization to the new life setting. To enable generalization, we examined this question across three different life transitions -vocational training, education, and migration. These contexts differed in the key values that were central to the new life setting. The studied contexts also differed in the number of aspects of life (e.g., social environment, place of residence) that changed as part of the life transition and the studies are ordered from the least to most aspects of life that were likely to change. Study 1 tested this question in a vocational training setting, during a training course of new VALUE SELF-SELECTION VS. SOCIALIZATION 11 police recruits, where the main life context that changed was working day activity. Study 2 tested the same question in an academic setting, where participants underwent changes in both their working day and evening social activities, and often place of residence. Study 3 tested this question within an acculturation setting, in a longitudinal study of Polish migrants to Britain, where many aspects of life changed (working day activity, social environment, place of residence; but also culture, language, and public services, such as health services)