The Romanian Parental Values - Comparative Analyze

Abstract

The study is a meta-analysis in a comparative evolution on the importance that Romanian parents give to items/values needed to be develop in the formative socialization years of their children, in the pre-adult phase, like: independence, hard work, feeling of responsibility, imagination, thrift, saving money and things, religious beliefs and altruism. The evaluating indicators that have been used were taken from two waves of the international data base World Values Survey (WVS 2010-2014, WVS 2005-2009), on triple generation groups aged under 30 years, 30 - 49 years, respectively over 50 years.The result of the statistical processing reveals both increasing and decreasing tendencies regarding the importance that parents give to the mentioned above values/items, so-called parental values or child-rearing values. In that conditions, it should be noticed - mostly among the young generation - a tendency towards independence and autonomy values which, over the next years, under the natural intergenerational replacement, could modify the present Romanian society profile. The next phases of the present research will include comparative analyses on new data, with reference to the Romanian population that is under 24 years old, in order to observe the maintenance, emphasis or inversion of the already presented tendencies and their implications over the education and leadership fields.

Keywords: Parental valueschild-rearing valuesintergenerational replacement

Introduction

The evolution processes at the individual level and on social changes are interconnected and have an impact on the nature of the society as a whole (Alwin & Krosnick, 1991).Social continuity and social changes are related to the process of generational succession (Alwin &McCammon,2003). The generation term implies a cultural area in which generations are distinguished by provisions, attitudes and values (Gilleard, 2004).

Experiencing different social and political circumstances leads to social changes through the natural replacement process of generations,the study of the succession between these being used to understand the phenomenon of social change.Social changes have a slow rhythm toward the specific of young generations (Alwin &McCammon, 2003),significant impact being noticed in the long term (Inglehart, 2008).The gradual nature of the changes comprises a wide range of social values, including those relating to parental values (Alwin & Krosnick, 1991).Because the change of the early socialization of the new generations, we are witnessing changes in values reflected in the process of intergenerational change (Inglehart, 1971).

Studying the social values preferred by parents to be accustomed to children in the family environment is a major concern for specialized literature (Sieben, 2017).Known as the child rearing values or parental values (Sieben,2017), these are the parents' perceptions about what is desirable for their children (Kohn, 1977), being influenced mainly by the conditions experienced by their parents (Alwin &McCammon, 2007).The term child rearing values has seen a tendency of appreciation of the importance granted by researchers compared to the parental values, which may be a result of the desire to move the emphasis on the child from the parent (Voicu, 2013).

Child rearing values are what adults think the children should learn at home, necessary and useful values to be developed in the future generations (Tufiş, 2008),values linked to the importance attributed to religious explanation, independence, responsibility and obedience (Voicu, 2013).

Special attention was paid by literature to study the parental values from a polar perspective which opposes the dimension of autonomy to authority (Voicu, 2010).The same axis is observed as the modern parental values - traditional parental values (Duvall, 1946), autocontrol - conformism (Kohn, 1959), or autonomy-obedient (Alwin &Krosnick, 1991).

The values associated to autonomy show a preference of parents for the child's developing of an internal reference system,while the values associated with conformism show a concern for the assimilation of an external reference set (Tufis, 2008), internal control against the control of an external authority.

From this dual view, the literature associates values such as responsibility, creativity and independence to autonomy, and obedience and religious values to authority/conformism (Voicu, 2013), or independence, perseverance, imagination to autonomy, and obedience, good manners, religious belief, hard work andsavings to conformism (Xiao, 2000), or individualism, imagination, perseverance to autonomy, and hard work, saving and obedient to conformism (Tufiș, 2008).

Problem Statement

In order to identify whether the Romanian cultural profile could change over the next years, it is important to analyze if the concept of parental values is stable in time or under the natural intergenerational replacement there can be observe an increasing or decreasing trend regarding the importance that parents give to the mentioned above values/items.

Research Questions

The main research questions of our study regarding the evolution of parental values are:

Are the Romanian parental values stable in time? And if not, in what direction are they moving?Are there intergenerational differences? And if so, in what directions?Are there intragenerational differences? And if so, in what directions?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this paper is to analyze from a quantitative perspective the dynamics of the Romanian child rearing values and to observe whether significant changes have occurred in the past 15 years, based on a comparative intergenerational and intragenerational analyze.

Research Methods

In this respect, we conducted a longitudinal research (trend study) based on analysis of data provided by World Values Survey (2010-2014) – Romania 2012 – Wave 6 and World Values Survey (2005-2009) - Romania 2005 – Wave 5 (abbreviated throughout the paper as WVS 6 and WVS 5). The evaluating indicators that have been used were taken from the two waves above mentioned, on triple generation groups aged under 29 years, between 30 - 49 years, respectively over 50 years.

To achieve our purpose we covered the following stages:

We gathered data from WVS 6 and WVS 5regarding the importance that Romanian parents give to qualities needed to be learnt at home in the formative socialization years of their children, like: independence, hard work, feeling of responsibility, imagination, thrift, saving money and things, religious beliefs and altruism. Charts were made for each of the items mentioned above.

With the purpose of observing if and in which direction are the Romanian child rearing values evolving and if there can be identify certain trends, we calculated the gross differences and analized if those differences are statistically significant between data gathered from Wave 6 and Wave 5.

We conducted intragenerational analyzes (differences between data from two WVS waves) and intergenerationalanalyzes (differences between data from the same WVS wave).

Findings

With regard to the independence item there is a percentage increase in WVS 6 compared with WVS 5 of the importance that parents assign to the above-mentioned item, in terms both global and each age category analyzed.

In global terms , the absolute difference between the total of the Romanians who have mentioned the independent value as important in WVS 6 (N=1503) compared with WVS 5 (N=1776) is 13.1 percentage points.The differential confidence interval (95% CI) does not include the value 0 (9.81 to 16.35) and the associated significance threshold is less than 0.0001.

Therefore, it can be seen (Table 01 )that the Romanians mentioned as being important the independence to a significantly statistical greater degree in 2012 compared with 2005.

Intrageneration alanalysis reveals that the generations between 30 to 49 years, and over 50 years, mention significantly more frequently (p<0.05) the independent value within WVS 6 than in WVS 5.Under 29 years generation, there is no significant statistical difference (p>0.05) between the options expressed in the two WVS waves.

In 2005, the intergenerational analysis highlights the fact that younger generations choose in a significantly statistical higher measure (95%) the independence value compared to older generations, regardless of the fact that we compare the generation below 29 years with the generations 30 - 49 years and over 50 years, or the 30-49 generation with over 50 years of age (Table 02 ).

At the 2012 level , the intergenerational comparison points out that generations below 29 years and 30 - 49 years of age choose in a significantly statistical higher measure (95%) the independent value compared to the generation over 50 years. If we compare the generation under 29 years old with the 30 - 49 year generation, there is no significant statistical difference (Table 02 ).

Finally, it can be asserted that the results of statistical processing reveal a trend in increasing the importance attributed by the parents to the independent value mainly among young generations.

As regards the hard work item, a percentage reduction trend in WVS 6 is noticeable compared with WVS 5 of the importance that parents assign to the mentioned item, in terms global as well as each age category analyzed.

In global terms , the absolute difference between the total Romanians who have referred the hard work as important in WVS 5 (N=1776) compared with WVS 6 (N=1503) is 6.0 percentage points. The confidence interval associated with the difference (95% CI) does not include the value 0 (3.27 to 8.74) and the associated significance threshold is less than 0.0001.

Therefore, it can be noticed that Romanians considered important in 2005 to a significantly statistical higher extent (95%) the hard work compared with 2012 (Table 03 ).

The intragenerational analysis reveals that the 30-49 and over 50-year-old generations within the WVS 5 wave choose in a significantly statistical higher measure (95%) the hard work item compared to the WVS 6 wave, while the underlying generation 29 years there is no significant statistical difference between the options expressed in the two WVS waves.

In 2005 , the intergenerational comparison shows that generations under 29 and 30 to 49 years of age choose in a significantly statistical lower measure (95%) the hard work compared to the generation over 50 years. If we compare the generations under 29 and 30 to 49 years, it is noted that although there is a difference in absolute terms it does not have statistical significance (Table 04 ).

At the 2012 level , the intergenerational comparison shows that generations under 29 and 30 to 49 years choose less hardly hard work compared to the generation over 50 years, statistically relevant only showing the difference between generations under 29 and over 50 (Table 04 ).

Concluding, it can be argued that the results of the statistical processing reveal a tendency to decrease the importance assigned by the parents to the hard work item, this trend being observable, both at the intragenerational level within the two successive waves of WVS, as well as at the intergenerational level within the same wave from the older generations to the youngest.

With regard to imagination item, the WVS data highlight a trend of percentage increase in WVS 6 compared to WVS 5 of the importance assigned by parents, both in global terms and in each age category analyzed in part.

In global terms , the absolute difference between the total of Romanians who mentioned the value of imagination as important in WVS 5 (N = 1776) compared to WVS 6 (N = 1503) is 14.6 percentage points. The confidence interval associated with the difference (95% CI) does not include the value 0 (11.62 to 17.56), and the associated significance threshold is less than 0.0001.

It is therefore noticed that Romanians considered the value of imagination to be important in 2012 to a statistically significant higher degree (95%) than in 2005 (Table 05 ).

The intragenerational comparison reveals that for all generations within WVS 6, parents have chosen the value of imagination to be important to a statistically significant higher degree (95%) than WVS 5 wave.

At the 2005 level, the intergenerational comparison shows that generations under 29 and 30 to 49 years of age choose in a statistically significant greater measure (95%) the imagination value compared to the generation over 50 years. If we compare the generation under 29 to the 30-49 generation, it is noted that although there is a slight difference in absolute terms (d = 0.2) it is not statistically significant (Table 06 ).

At the 2012 level , intergenerational analysis highlights that generations under 29 and 30 to 49 years of age are more likely to choose the imagination value compared to the generation over 50, statistically significant are the differences between the generation under 29 and the generations from 30 to 49 years, respectively over 50 years (Table 06 ).

Concluding, the results of the statistical processing reveal the manifestation of increasing tendencies of the importance attributed by parents to the value of imagination, this trend being observable, both at the intragenerational level within the two successive waves of WVS and at intergenerational level within the same wave from the older generations to the youngest.

With regard to the altruism item , the analysis reveals a tendency to decrease in WVS 6 compared to WVS 5 the importance that parents attribute to this item, both in global terms and in each age category analyzed in part.

In global terms , the absolute difference between the total Romanians who mentioned the value of altruism as important in WVS 5 (N = 1776) compared to WVS 6 (N = 1503) is 10.6 percentage points. The confidence interval associated with the difference (95% CI) does not include the value 0 (7.99 to 13.16) and the associated significance threshold is less than 0.0001.

It is therefore noticed that the Romanians considered important the value of altruism in 2005 in a significantly statistical higher measure (95%) than in 2012 (Table 07 ).

Intragenerational analysis reveals that for all three age categories in WVS 5, in a statistically significant greater degree (95%) was chosen altruism compared to WVS6.

At the 2005 level, intergenerational analysis shows that generations under 29 and 30 to 49 years of age choose to a statistically significant higher degree (95%) altruism compared to the generation over 50 years. If we compare the generation under 29 to the 30-49 generation, it is noted that although there is a difference in absolute terms, it is not statistically significant (Table 08 ).

At the 2012 level, the intergenerational comparison reveals that generations under 29 and 30 to 49 years of age choose to a statistically significant greater extent altruism compared to the generation over 50 years. If we compare the generation under 29 to the 30-49 generation, it is noted that although there is a difference in absolute terms, it is not statistically significant (Table 08 ).

Concluding, it can be argued that the results of the statistical processing show the manifestation of tendencies in the sense of decreasing the importance attributed by the parents to the altruism value, this trend being observable, both at the intragenerational level within the two successive waves of WVS and at intergenerational level within the same wave as aging trend.

With respect to the obedience item, there is a tendency to decrease in WVS 6 compared to WVS 5 the importance that parents attribute to this item, both in global terms and in each age category analyzed in part.In global terms, the absolute difference between the total of Romanians who mentioned the obedience value as important in WVS 5 (N = 1776) compared to WVS 6 (N = 1503) is 4.3 percentage points. The confidence interval associated with the difference (95% CI) does not include the value 0 (1.83 to 6.73) and the associated significance threshold is 0.0007.

It is therefore noticed that the Romanians considered important in 2005 in a statistically significant higher degree (95%) the obedience value as compared to 2012 (Table 09 ).

The intragenerational analysis reveals that, for the generation over 50 years, WVS 5 has been selected to a statistically significant higher measure (95%) the obedience value compared to the WVS 6 wave, whereas for generations under 29 and 30 to 49 for years, although there is a difference in absolute terms, this difference is not statistically significant.

At the 2005 level , the intergenerational analysis reveals that the 30-49-year-old generation chooses the least obedience value, followed by the generations under 29 and over 50 years. The only statistically significant difference is between generations 30-49 and over 50s (Table 10 ).

At the 2012 level , intergenerational analysis reveals that the 30-49 year-old generation chooses the least obedience value, followed by the generation below 29 and the over-50s generation, however none of these differences is statistically significant (Table 10 . Obedience- Gross difference (d) and significance level (p) - intergenerational analyze).

Concluding, it can be argued that the results of the statistical processing reveal a tendency to decrease the importance attributed by the parents to the obedience value, both at the global level and at the individual level of each generation within the two successive waves of WVS.

6.6. Referring to the item Thrift, saving money and things , there is a tendency of decreasing percentage in WVS 6 compared to WVS 5 of the importance that parents assign to this item, both in global terms and in each age category analyzed in part.

In global terms , the absolute difference between the total Romanians who mentioned the value of saving spirit as important in WVS 5 (N = 1776) compared to WVS 6 (N = 1503) is 13.6 percentage points. The confidence interval associated with the difference (95% CI) does not include the value 0 (10.19 to 16.96), and the associated significance threshold is less than 0.0001.

It is therefore noticed that the Romanians have chosen in 2005 to a statistically significant higher degree (95%) the saving value compared to 2012 (Table 11 ).

Intragenerational analysis reveals that for all age categories a statistically significant greater degree (95%) was chosen to saving value in WVS 5 as compared to the WVS 6 wave.

At the 2005 level , the intergenerational analysis reveals that with the aging trend the tendency to choose the saving value is more and more pronounced, statistically significant being the differences between the categories under 29 and 30 - 49, respectively over 50 years. Although there is a difference in absolute terms between the 30-49 and over 50s, it is not statistically significant (Table 12 ).

At the 2012 level , intergenerational analysis reveals that the 30-49-year-old generation chooses the saving value of the least extent, followed by the generation below 29 and the generation over 50 years. Significant from a statistical point of view are only the differences between generations under 29 and over 50, respectively from 30 to 49 years and over 50 years (Table 12 ).

Concluding, it can be argued that the results of the statistical processing reveal a tendency to decrease the importance attributed by the parents to the saving value, both at the global level and at the individual level of each generation, within the two successive waves of WVS.

6.7. With regard to the religious faith item , there is a tendency of procentual decreasing in WVS 6 compared to WVS 5 of the importance that parents attribute to this item, both in global terms and in each age category analyzed in part.

In global terms , the absolute difference between the total of Romanians who mentioned religious belief as being important in WVS 5 (N = 1776) compared to WVS 6 (N = 1503) is 11.10 percentage points. The confidence interval associated with the difference (95% CI) does not include the value 0 (7.70 to 14.46) and the associated significance threshold is less than 0.0001.

It is therefore noticed that Romanians have choose in 2005 in a statistically significant higher measure (95%) the religious faith item compared to 2012 (Table 13 ).

The intragenerational analysis revealed that for all age groups was chosen in a significant statistically higher measure the religious faith in WVS 5 compared with WVS 6.

At the 2005 level , the intergenerational analysis reveals that with the aging trend the choice of religious faith item is more and more accentuated, statistically significant being the differences between the categories below 29 and over 50, respectively 30 to 49 years and over 50 years. Although there is a difference in absolute terms between categories under 29 and 30 to 49 years, it is not statistically significant (Table 14 ).

At the 2012 level, the intergenerational analysis reveals that for the year 2012, the generation under 29 years chose to the least extent the religious faith item, followed by the generation of 30-49 years, and ultimately the generation over 50 years. Significant from a statistical point of view is just the difference between generations under 29 and over 50 years (Table 14 ).

Concluding, it can be argued that the results of the statistical processing reveal a tendency to decrease the importance attributed by parents to religious belief, both at the global level and at the individual level of each generation, within two successive waves of WVS.

Conclusion

The results of the statistical processing reveal the display of some tendencies both in the sense of growth and decrease of the importance attributed by the parents to the items previously analyzed. Thus, regarding the items of independence and imagination , there is a marked tendency to increase their importance, both in global terms and at the level of each generation individually analyzed, in WVS 6 as compared to WSS 5. An opposite trend of diminishing the importance assigned by parents could be noticed at the level of hard work, obedience, altruism, thrift, saving money or things and religious beliefs at a general level, respectively at the level of each individually analysed generation.

Regarding older generations there is a process of maintaining of some reflexes (Inglehart, 2008) inherited from the communist period. Although the institutional and economic systems have changed in the post-revolutionary Romania, we can still find value reflexes that go towards obedience and authority, typical of the communist period (Voicu, 2001), especially at the generation over 50 years old.

On the other hand, the intergenerational analysis highlights the fact that the importance the parents give to the items of independence, imagination and altruism is at higher levels for younger generations as compared to the elderly. Regarding items like hard work, obedience, thrift, saving money or things and religious beliefs, older generations consider them more important, as compared to younger generations.

Following a corroboration of the intergenerational analysis with the longitudinal analysis of the data provided by the measurements of two distinct waves of the World Walues ​​Survey, there is a tendency to shift and maintain the level of importance attributed to the autonomous values ​​from the generation under 29 years of the 2005 wave to the generation 30-49 in the 2012 wave, namely the 30-49 generation to the generation over 50 years, which supports the hypothesis that, over the years, the natural changing of generations can lead to changes in value orientations in the entire society (Inglehart & Abramson, 1995).

Under these circumstances, there is a migrating trend of the young generation towards independence and autonomy, along with a decrease for values ​​related to saving, engagement in work, obedience or religious belief, which could modify the profile of thecurrent Romanian society over the years, taking into consideration the natural intergenerational replacement.

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