Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T07:25:48.513Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

15 - Similarity of Life Goals in the Family: A Three-Generation Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Alexander Grob ,
Wibke Weisheit  and
Veronica Gomez
Edited by
Ute Schönpflug
Ute Schönpflug
Affiliation:
Freie Universität Berlin
Get access

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Assumptions about family resemblances are widely held among people all over the world. Old sayings like “it's in the blood,” “an apple doesn't fall far from the tree,” and “like father, like son” reflect people's beliefs in this regard. Psychologists from various backgrounds such as family psychology, behavior genetics, and attachment theory have proposed mechanisms explaining why characteristics such as life goals might run in the family. Yet, convincing arguments suggest that there are few overlaps in terms of life goals: Family members share different parts of their biographies with each other, belong to different societal cohorts, and have been socialized in different historical contexts.

Little attention has been given to life goals from this similarity perspective. This lack of interest is surprising because shared goals are one feature of defining family (Schneewind, 1999). According to this definition, a family's community feeling is characterized by shared goals, shared experiences of positive and negative emotionality, knowledge, and values. Although some research focused on the relationship between parenting and children's goals (Kasser, Ryan, Zax, & Sameroff, 1995), little is known about the resemblance in goals of two or even three family generations. Three-generation family studies in general are quite rare, representing a sharp contrast to the increasing mutual lifetime of family generations. This increase has led to a growing importance of multigenerational families (Bengtson, 2001), providing many opportunities to be in contact and share ideas.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cultural Transmission
Psychological, Developmental, Social, and Methodological Aspects
 , pp. 338 - 369
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amato, P. R., & Keith, B. (1991a). Parental divorce and the well-being of children: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 26–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Amato, P. R., & Keith, B. (1991b). Parental divorce and adult well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 43–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austin, J. T., & Vancouver, J. B. (1996). Goal constructs in psychology: Structure, process, and content. Psychological Bulletin, 120, 338–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Bangerter, A., Grob, A., & Krings, F. (2001). Personal goals at age 25 in three generations of the twentieth century: Young adulthood in historical context. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 60, 59–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bengtson, V. L. (1975). Generation and family effects in value socialization. American Sociological Review, 40, 358–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bengtson, V. L. (1996). Continuities and discontinuities in intergenerational relationships over time. In Bengtson, V. L. (Ed.), Adulthood and aging: Research on continuities and discontinuities (pp. 271–303). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Bengtson, V. L. (2001). Beyond the nuclear family: The increasing importance of multigenerational bonds. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63, 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boehnke, K. (2001). Parent–offspring value transmission in a societal context. Suggestions for a Utopian research design – with empirical underpinnings. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32, 241–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1, Attachment. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bretherton, I. (1985). Attachment theory: Retrospect and prospect. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50, 3–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bretherton, I., Golby, B., & Cho, E. (1997). Attachment and the transmission of values. In Grusec, J. E. & Kuczinsky, L. (Eds.), Parenting and children's internalization of values: A handbook of contemporary theory (pp. 103–134). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Brunstein, J. (1993). Personal goals and subjective well-being: A longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1061–1070.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunstein, J. C. (1999). Persoenliche Ziele und subjektives Wohlbefinden bei aelteren Menschen [Personal goals and subjective well-being among older adults]. Zeitschrift fuer Differentielle und Diagnostische Psychologie, 20, 58–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1990). Origins and functions of positive and negative affect: A control-process view. Psychological Review, 97, 19–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. (1993). How are values transmitted? In Hechter, M., Nadel, L., & Michod, R. E. (Eds.), The origin of values (pp. 305–317). New York: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Clarke, E. J., Preston, M., Raksin, J., & Bengtson, V. L. (1999). Types of conflicts and tensions between older parents and adult children. The Gerontologist, 39, 261–270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Constantine, L. L. (1993). The structure of family paradigms: An analytical model of family variation. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 19, 39–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cross, S., & Markus, H. (1991). Possible selves across the life span. Human Development, 34, 230–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberg, A. R. (1988). Grandchildren's perspectives on relationships with grandparents: The influence of gender across generations. Sex Roles, 19, 205–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elder, G. H., Robertson, E. B., & Conger, R. D. (1993). Tradierung einer Lebensweise: Vom Grossvater zum Vater und Sohn im laendlichen Amerika [Transmission of lifestyle: From grandfather to father and son in rural America]. In Lüscher, K. & Schultheis, F. (Eds.), Generationenbeziehungen in “postmodernen” Gesellschaften [Intergenerational relationships in “postmodern” societies] (pp. 125–142). Konstanz, Germany: Universitaetsverlag.Google Scholar
Emmons, R. A. (1989). The personal striving approach to personality. In Pervin, L. A. (Ed.), Goal concepts in personality and social psychology (pp. 87–126). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Erikson, E. H. (1959). Identity and the life cycle. Psychological Issues, 1, 1–171.Google Scholar
Fingerman, K. L. (1995). Aging mothers' and their adult daughters' perceptions of conflict behaviors. Psychology and Aging, 10, 639–649.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Franks, L. J., Hughes, J. P., Phelps, L. H., & Williams, D. G. (1993). Intergenerational influences on Midwest college students by their grandparents and significant elders. Educational Gerontology, 19, 265–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gatz, M., & Karel, M. J. (1993). Individual change in perceived control over 20 years. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 16, 305–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodnow, J. J. (1994). Acceptable disagreement across generations. In Smetana, J. G. (Ed.), Beliefs about parenting: Origins and developmental implications (pp. 51–64). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Greene, A. L., & Wheatley, S. M. (1992). “I've got a lot to do and I don't think I'll have the time”: Gender differences in late adolescents' narratives of the future. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 21, 667–686.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grob, A., & Flammer, A. (1999). Macrosocial context and adolescents' perceived control. In Alsaker, F. D. & Flammer, A. (Eds.), The adolescent experience: European and American adolescents in the 1990s. Research monographs in adolescence (pp. 99–113). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Grob, A., Flammer, A., & Wearing, A. J. (1995). Adolescents' perceived control: Domain specificity, expectancy, and appraisal. Journal of Adolescence, 18, 403–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grob, A., Little, T. D., & Wanner, B. (1999). Control judgments across the life span. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 23, 833–854.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grob, A., Little, T. D., Wanner, B., Wearing, A. J., & Euronet, (1996). Adolescents' well-being and perceived control across fourteen sociocultural contexts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 785–795.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grolnick, W. S., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1997). Internalization within the family: The self-determination theory perspective. In Grusec, J. E. & Kuczinsky, L. (Eds.), Parenting and children's internalization of values: A handbook of contemporary theory (pp. 135–161). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Grusec, J. E., & Goodnow, J. J. (1994). Impact of parental discipline methods on the child's internalization of values: A reconceptualization of current points of view. Developmental Psychology, 30, 4–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grusec, J. E., Rudy, D., & Martini, T. (1997). Parenting cognitions and child outcomes: An overview and implications for children's internalization of values. In Grusec, J. E. & Kuczinsky, L. (Eds.), Parenting and children's internalization of values: A handbook of contemporary theory (pp. 259–282). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Hagestad, G. O. (1986). Dimensions of time and the family. American Behavioral Scientist, 29, 679–694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Havighurst, R. J. (1948). Developmental tasks and education. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J. (1997). Developmental regulation across adulthood: Primary and secondary control of age-related challenges. Developmental Psychology, 33, 176–187.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoffman, M. A., & Levy-Shiff, R. (1994). Coping and locus of control: Cross-generational transmission between mothers and adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 14, 391–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Homer, P. M. (1993). Transmission of human values: A cross-cultural investigation of generational and reciprocal influence effects. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 119, 345–367.Google Scholar
Iversen, R. R., & Farber, N. B. (1996). Transmission of family values, work, and welfare among poor urban Black women. Work and Occupations, 23, 437–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kandel, D. B., & Lesser, G. S. (1969). Parental and peer influences on educational plans of adolescents. American Sociological Review, 34, 213–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kasser, T., Koestner, R., & Lekes, N. (2002). Early family experiences and adult values: A 26-year, prospective longitudinal study. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 826–835.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 410–422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kasser, T., Ryan, R. M., Zax, M., & Sameroff, A. J. (1995). The relations of maternal and social environments to late adolescents' materialistic and prosocial values. Developmental Psychology, 31, 907–914.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerckhoff, A. C., & Huff, J. L. (1974). Parental influences on educational goals. Sociometry, 37, 307–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kivnick, H. Q. (1985). Grandparenthood and mental health. Meaning, behavior, and satisfaction. In Bengtson, V. L. & Robertson, J. F. (Eds.), Grandparenthood (pp. 151–158). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Kohli, M. (1985). Die Institutionalisierung des Lebenslaufs: Historische Befunde und theoretische Argumente [The institutionalization of life course: Historical findings and theoretical arguments]. Koelner Zeitschrift fuer Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 37, 1–29.Google Scholar
Kohn, M. L. (1983). On the transmission of values in the family: A preliminary formulation. Research in the Sociology of Education and Socialization, 4, 1–12.Google Scholar
Kohn, M. L., Slomczynski, K. M., & Schoenbach, C. (1986). Social stratification and the transmission of values in the family: A cross-national assessment. Sociological Forum, 1, 73–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kopera-Frye, K., & Wiscott, R. (2000). Intergenerational continuity: Transmission of beliefs and culture. In Hayslip, B. J. & Goldberg-Glen, R. (Eds.), Grandparents raising grandchildren: Theoretical, empirical, and clinical perspectives (pp. 65–84). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Landry, P. H. J., & Martin, M. E. (1988). Measuring intergenerational consensus. In Mangen, D. J. & Bengtson, V. L. (Eds.), Measurement of intergenerational relations (pp. 126–155). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Lang, F. R., & Heckhausen, J. (2001). Perceived control over development and subjective well-being: Differential benefits across adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 509–523.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larson, J. H., Benson, M. J., Wilson, S. M., & Medora, N. (1998). Family of origin influences on marital attitudes and readiness for marriage in late adolescents. Journal of Family Issues, 19, 750–768.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lerner, R. M. (1993). The influence of child temperamental characteristics on parent behaviors. In Luster, T. & Okagaki, L. (Eds.), Parenting: An ecological perspective (pp. 101–120). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Lerner, R. M., & Kauffman, M. B. (1985). The concept of development in contextualism. Developmental Review, 5, 309–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitt, M. J., Guacci, N., & Weber, R. A. (1992). Intergenerational support, relationship quality, and well-being. Journal of Family Issues, 13, 465–481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mannheim, K. (1928/1929). Das Problem der Generationen [The problem of generations]. Koelner Vierteljahreshefte Soziologie, 7, 157–330.Google Scholar
Martin, P., & Olson, S. (1996). Die Uebertragung von Interaktionsmustern zwischen Generationen [The transfer of interaction patterns between generations]. In Edelstein, W., Kreppner, K., & Sturzbecher, D. (Eds.), Familie und Kindheit im Wandel [Changes in family and childhood] (pp. 287–295). Potsdam, Germany: Verlag fuer Berlin-Brandenburg.Google Scholar
Michod, R. E. (1993). Biology and the origin of values. In Hechter, M., Nadel, L., & Michod, R. E. (Eds.), The origin of values (pp. 261–271). New York: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Miller, J. Z., & Rose, R. J. (1982). Familial resemblance in locus of control: A twin-family study of the internal–external scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 535–540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neugarten, B. L., & Weinstein, K. K. (1964). The changing American grandparent. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 26, 199–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Novacek, J., & Lazarus, R. S. (1990). The structure of personal commitments. Journal of Personality, 58, 693–715.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nurmi, J.- E. (1989). Development of orientation to the future during early adolescence: A four-year longitudinal study and two cross-sectional comparisons. International Journal of Psychology, 24, 195–214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nurmi, J. E. (1992). Age differences in adult life goals, concerns, and their temporal extension: A life course approach to future-oriented motivation. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 15, 487–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nurmi, J. E., Pulliainen, H., & Salmela-Aro, K. (1992). Age differences and adults' control beliefs related to life goals and concerns. Psychology and Aging, 7, 194–196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Okagaki, L., & Bevis, C. (1999). Transmission of religious values: Relations between parents' and daughters' beliefs. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 160, 303–318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Page, M. H., & Washington, N. D. (1997). Family proverbs and value transmission in single Black mothers. Journal of Social Psychology, 127, 49–58.Google Scholar
Pervin, L. A. (1983). The stasis and flow of behavior: Toward a theory of goals. In Page, M. M. (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation (pp. 1–53). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Plomin, R., & Daniels, D. (1987). Why are children in the same family so different from one another? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 10, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodriguez, N., Ramirez, III, M., & Korman, M. (1999). The transmission of family values across generations of Mexican, Mexican American, and Anglo American Families: Implications for mental health. In Sheets, R. H. & Hollins, E. R. (Eds.), Racial and ethnic identity in school practices: Aspects of human development (pp. 141–155). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Rohan, M. J., & Zanna, M. P. (1996). Value transmission in families. In Seligman, C. & Olson, J. M. (Eds.), The psychology of values: The Ontario symposium, Vol. 8. The Ontario symposium on personality and social psychology (pp. 253–274). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Roscoe, B., & Peterson, K. L. (1989). Age-appropriate behaviors: A comparison of three generations of females. Adolescence, 24, 167–178.Google ScholarPubMed
Rossi, A. S., & Rossi, P. H. (1990). Of human bonding: Parent–child relations across the life course. New York: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Rowe, D. C. (1997). Genetics, temperament, and personality. In Hogan, R., Johnson, J., & Briggs, S. (Eds.), Handbook of personality psychology (pp. 367–386). New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salmela-Aro, K., Nurmi, J.-E., Saisto, T., & Halmesmäki, E. (2000). Women's and men's personal goals during the transition to parenthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 171–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Samuel, R., & Thompson, P. (1990). The myths we live by. Florence: Taylor and Francis/Routledge.Google Scholar
Schneewind, K. A. (1999). Familienpsychologie [Family psychology] (Vol. 2., rev. ed.). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.Google Scholar
Schneewind, K. A. (1989). Eindimensionale Erfassung von Kontrollueberzeugungen bei Erwachsenen und Kindern: LOC-E und LOC-K [Unidimensional scales for assessing generalized control beliefs in adults and children: LOC-E and LOC-K]. In Krampen, G. (Ed.), Diagnostik von Attributionen und Kontrollüberzeugungen [Diagnos-tics of attributions and locus of control] (pp. 80–92). Goettingen, Germany: Hogrefe.Google Scholar
Schneewind, K. (1995). Impact of family processes on control beliefs. In Bandura, A.. (Ed.), Self-efficacy in changing societies (pp. 114–147). Cambridge: University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneewind, K. A. (1999). Familienpsychologie [Family psychology] (Vol. 2, rev. ed.). Stuttgart, Germany: Kohlhammer.Google Scholar
Schönpflug, U. (2001). Intergenerational transmission of values. The role of transmission belts. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32, 174–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, S. H., Sagiv, L., & Boehnke, K. (2000). Worries and values. Journal of Personality, 68, 309–346.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, P. K. (1995). Grandparenthood. In Bornstein, M. H. (Ed.), Handbook of parenting, Vol. 3: Status and social conditions (pp. 89–112). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Smith, T. E. (1991). Agreement of adolescent educational expectations with perceived maternal and paternal educational goals. Youth and Society, 23, 155–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stierlin, H. (1994). Individuation und Familie [Individuation and family]. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Strough, J., Berg, C. A., & Sansone, C. (1996). Goals for solving everyday problems across the life span: Age and gender differences in the salience of interpersonal concerns. Developmental Psychology, 32, 1106–1115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Troll, L. E. (1996). Modified-extended families over time: Discontinuity in parts, continuity in wholes. In Bengtson, V. L. (Ed.), Adulthood and aging: Research on continuities and discontinuities (pp. 246–268). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Trusty, J., & Pirtle, T. (1998). Parents' transmission of educational goals to their adolescent children. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 32, 53–65.Google Scholar
Turkheimer, E., & Waldron, M. (2000). Nonshared environment: A theoretical, methodological, and quantitative review. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 78–108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valsiner, J. (1994). Culture and human development: A co-constructionist perspective. Annals of Theoretical Psychology, 10, 247–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valsiner, J., Branco, A. U., & Dantas, C. M. (1997). Co-construction of human development: Heterogeneity within parental belief orientations. In Grusec, J. E. & Kuczynski, L.. (Eds.), Parenting and children's internalization of values: A handbook of contemporary theory (pp. 283–304). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Westholm, A. (1999). The perceptual pathway: Tracing the mechanisms of political value transfer across generations. Political Psychology, 20, 525–551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitaker, C. A., & Keith, D. V. (1981). Symbolic-experiential family therapy. In Gurman, A. S. & Kniskern, D. P. (Eds.), Handbook of family therapy (pp. 187–224). New York: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Wickert, F. W., Lambert, F. B., Richardson, F. C., & Kahler, J. (1984). Categorical goal hierarchies and classification of human motives. Journal of Personality, 52, 285–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, P. M., & Wilson, J. R. (1992). Environmental influences on adolescent educational aspirations. Youth and Society, 24, 52–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winkeler, M., Filipp, S.-H., & Boll, T. (2000). Positivity in the aged's perceptions of intergenerational relationships: A “stake” or “leniency” effect? International Journal of Behavioral Development, 24, 173–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×