Value structure in late childhood

Recent years witnessed an increasing number of studies on adolescents’ and children’s values and value structures that were conceptually based on Schwartz’s (1992) theoretical model. Because of difficulties with the application of established questionnaires to research values among younger and younger persons, efforts were made to create instruments that are suited to adolescents’ and children’s cognitive-developmental background. In this study, 389 children who were between 7 and 12 years old completed one of these recently developed instruments: the Polish adaptation of the Picture-Based Value Survey for Children (PBVS-C), Döring (Döring, Blauensteiner, Aryus, Drögekamp, Bilsky, in press). We examined the presence of Schwartz’s circular structure of values with a theory-based (weakly-confi rmatory) multidimensional scaling (MDS) approach. To further explore potential developmental differences, we conducted additional analyses in two age groups: (1) younger children aged 7 to 9 years (N = 207, grades 1–3), and (2) older children aged 10 to 12 years (N = 182; grades 4–6).
Differentiated value structures that were organized in Schwartz’s two basic dimensions (selfenhancement versus self-transcendence, and openness to change versus conservation) emerged in the whole sample and in each of the two age groups. Moreover, we found significant differences in structural complexity between both age groups: as compared to the younger children, the older children’s value structures were more differentiated and closer to the theoretical prototype.

Value structure in late childhood

Recent years witnessed an increasing number of studies on adolescents’ and children’s values and value structures that were conceptually based on Schwartz’s (1992) theoretical model. Because of difficulties with the application of established questionnaires to research values among younger and younger persons, efforts were made to create instruments that are suited to adolescents’ and children’s cognitive-developmental background. In this study, 389 children who were between 7 and 12 years old completed one of these recently developed instruments: the Polish adaptation of the Picture-Based Value Survey for Children (PBVS-C), Döring (Döring, Blauensteiner, Aryus, Drögekamp, Bilsky, in press). We examined the presence of Schwartz’s circular structure of values with a theory-based (weakly-confi rmatory) multidimensional scaling (MDS) approach. To further explore potential developmental differences, we conducted additional analyses in two age groups: (1) younger children aged 7 to 9 years (N = 207, grades 1–3), and (2) older children aged 10 to 12 years (N = 182; grades 4–6).
Differentiated value structures that were organized in Schwartz’s two basic dimensions (selfenhancement versus self-transcendence, and openness to change versus conservation) emerged in the whole sample and in each of the two age groups. Moreover, we found significant differences in structural complexity between both age groups: as compared to the younger children, the older children’s value structures were more differentiated and closer to the theoretical prototype.