Development of intraindividual value structures in middle childhood: A multicultural and longitudinal investigation

Middle childhood development in personal values

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to investigate value change and stability longitudinally in middle childhood.

BACKGROUND

Values are the aspect of personality defining one's aspirations. Research identifies meaningful values in middle childhood, yet we know little about the process of their development within individual.

METHOD

Children (N = 298; 53.7% girls, Mage = 7 years and 3 months, SD = 7.70 months, at the first time point) four times, annually.

RESULTS

Rank-order stability increased with age and decreased with time-span. We found value hierarchy consistency, with value hierarchy similar to adolescents in the priority given to openness to change versus conservation values, and to adults in the priority given to self-transcendence values. Latent growth curve analyses indicated linear increase in openness to change, and curvilinear increase in self-transcendence values, and linear decrease in conservation and self-enhancement values, with some differences across ages. Value structure was better differentiated with age. Compatible values changed in similar, and conflicting values in opposite directions.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper suggests that in middle childhood, children can already report stable values. Moreover, middle childhood is characterized by coherent change patterns, of increase in the importance of growth, and decrease in the focus on conflicting protection values.

Are values stable throughout adulthood? Evidence from two German long-term panel studies

Previous studies have used cross-sectional or short-term longitudinal data, resulting in a truncated view of a phenomenon unfolding across the lifespan. We find that, contrary to the consensus in the literature, people's values continue developing in adulthood, albeit at a slower pace than in previous developmental stages. We use longitudinal data sources with two measurement instruments. We show their comparability using confirmatory MDS in Study 1 (N = 1,027). We examined value development using latent growth models in a convenience sample of highly educated German peace activists (Study 2, N = 1,209) and corroborated these with evidence from a representative sample from the German population (Study 3, N = 19,566). We find that all values change up to age 40 consistent with theoretical expectations. We observe that with age, self-transcendence and conservation values increase while self-enhancement values decrease. At the same time, we find a curvilinear pattern for openness to change in Study 2 and an overall decrease in Study 3. Moreover, the developmental trajectory of conservation and of self-enhancement in the German general population differ between those with tertiary and without tertiary education. We discuss the implication of the present findings for research on value development and for interventions.