Adolescents' values and future orientation. Multi-level analyses from 11 cultures in the Value-of-Children study

In this study adolescents from 10 cultures (N = 2618) participating in the international Value-of-Children (VOC)-Study are compared with regard to values (e.g., individualism/collectivism, value of children) and aspects of family-related future orientation. Relationships between values and future orientation are analyzed in a multi-level approach. According to the theory of family models (Kagitcibasi, 1996), Western cultures are characterized by a family model of independence while many traditional cultures are characterized by a family model of interdependence. The current study explores adolescents’ value patterns in relation to this framework and pays special attention to differential relations between variables on the individual as compared to the cultural level. First results showed cross-cultural differences concerning the relations between VOC and the number of children adolescents want to have: in traditional cultures, as expected, high emotional VOC predicted a lower number of children while in some economically advanced cultures it predicted a higher number of children. A relation in the predicted direction occurred on the cultural level: traditional (economic and normative) VOC was substantially positively related to adolescents’ planned fertility. Results are discussed in a cross-cultural framework of adolescent development and with regard to the theory of independent vs. interdependent family models.