RELATIVE CONTRIBUTION OF MOTHERS AND FATHERS TO ADOLESCENTS’ VALUES IN ROMANIAN FAMILIES

ABSTRACT

The main goal of this study was to investigate parent-adolescent value similarities in a Romanian sample by taking the relative importance of mothers’ and of fathers’ parenting style into account. More abstract values were studied here, namely individualism and collectivism as well as independence and interdependence. Some theoretical approaches argue for differential effects of fathers and mothers on children’s values, but the results are inconsistent. Dominance Analysis (Azen & Budescu, 2003) was used as methodological procedure, a strategy that allows identifying the most consistent predictor model across all possible subset models within regression analysis. Standardized separate interviews were conducted with mothers and fathers whereas the adolescents filled out the questionnaire in the classrooms (N = 100 families). Parent-adolescent value similarities were found for collectivism only. Parenting contributes stronger to adolescents’ values (collectivism and interdependence) than parental values themselves. Overall, the contributions of fathers’ parenting variables dominated the contributions of mothers to both daughters’ and sons’ values, providing thus weak evidence for the gender role models of socialization theory.

KEYWORDS: similarities, Romania, parenting, dominance analysis

PAGES:239-264