Adolescent parents’ values: the role played by retrospective perceptions of the family-of-origin

Family-of-origin is an important system in individual’s
lives, and its influence is extensive over the life
cycle. The aim of this study was to investigate, in a sample
of adolescents’ parents, whether their retrospective perceptions
of parenting and relationship qualities within their
families-of-origin during adolescence predicted their current
collectivist and individualist values. Participants included
110 Portuguese adults with a mean age of
46.86 years old. The results of structural equation modeling
supported that retrospective perceptions of parenting
and relationship qualities in the family-of-origin predicted
the adults’ collectivist values but not their individualist
values. This study highlights the importance of retrospective
perceptions of supporting and non-rejecting parenting
for value acquisition. The results also suggest that values
that preserve and protect family connections and collaborations
are more likely to be socialized by families.
Implications for practice and for the theories on parenting,
values, family-of-origin influences and family intergenerational
transmission are discussed.
This work was supported by the Ph.D. grant of
the first author (SFRH/BD/62182/2009), financed by Technology and
Science Foundation (FCT).