Intergenerational Patterns of Values and Autonomy Expectations in Cultures of Relatedness and Separateness

Abstract

This study assessed the assumption that socialization practices relevant to value priorities and autonomy expectations differ between collectivist and individualist cultures. The authors investigated value priorities and autonomy expectations in 58 pairs of Caucasian and 66 pairs of Asian teenagers and their mothers. This pairing enabled them to address similarities on values and autonomy expectations within families, which has not been done previously. Although Asian and Caucasian teenagers showed similarities on many value priorities, Asian participants’ autonomy expectations were delayed compared to those of their Caucasian counterparts. Mother-teenager autonomy expectations were correlated in Asian but not in Caucasian families. Unlike Asian mothers, Caucasian mothers endorsing high value priority for Openness to Change supported earlier autonomy expectations for their teenagers. Parental expectations unpackaged the effect of culture on teenagers’ autonomy expectations. These findings support models that predict persistent family interdependence despite adoption of many individualist values in modernizing collectivist cultures.