“There is in every child at every stage a new miracle of vigorous unfolding.”
-Erik Erikson
A study published in the European Journal of Personality found that the best way to promote healthy values in children is to satisfy their psychological needs through relationships that instill a sense of warmth, autonomy, and support while minimizing the influence of sociocultural messages.
This research was conducted by Jiseul Sophi Ahn, a PhD student at the Université Laval, and Dr. Johnmarshall Reeve, a professor at the Australian Catholic University.
As per the self-determination theory, people’s values exist and function within a motivational system of three basic psychological needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Values are cognitive beliefs about what is desirable and gratifying in life.
On this basis, intrinsic values are goals related to personal growth and well-being. These values work to satisfy one’s own psychological needs and promote positive psychological and social implications.
Extrinsic values are focused on social image, popularity, and financial success. These values usually lead to an unsatisfying search for outside validation and not being able to meet one’s own psychological needs.
The development of these values can occur through three identified pathways: direct-value transmission is when children’s values mimic those of their parents' words and actions. Indirect-value transmission is when children’s values reflect their parents’ values that are showcased through perceived parenting behaviors. Children’s own value origin is when their values emerge as a result of wanting to meet their own psychological needs.
Two hundred and thirty-three Korean mother-child pairs participated in this longitudinal study. The children were late elementary students, and the families were mostly of middle socioeconomic status.
They participated in an online, one-year long survey, during which data was collected at 4 different time points about 3-4 months apart. The results were then statistically analyzed using a structural equation model.
There were three primary measures used in this questionnaire. First, researchers measured each participant's intrinsic and extrinsic values by instructing them to rate the importance of statements such as “it is important for me to be admired by lots of different people.” The second measure required the child participants to complete a questionnaire to assess two types of parenting styles: needs supportive parenting (e.g., “my mom lets me know that she loves me”) and needs-thwarting parenting (e.g., “my mom thinks I am always in the way”). Finally, needs-experience was measured by a 24 item Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration Scale based on the children’s own needs satisfaction and needs frustration.
The findings displayed that a child's own need satisfaction was a strong predictor of change in their intrinsic values. Changes in children’s extrinsic values were determined by the mother’s extrinsic values.
Specifically, intrinsic values matured from the preadolescents’ own experiences and developed based on their psychological needs. When these psychological needs are satisfied through the experience of support and warmth, it gives children the energy to explore, and choose their own values.
On the other hand, the preadolescent extrinsic values developed through exposure to sociocultural messages. Their mothers’ endorsement of these messages played a large role in its effect on their child's extrinsic values. If you’ll recall, these extrinsic values often encourage individuals to seek external validation, rather than internal self-satisfaction.
In conclusion, the researchers found that intrinsic values developed from the satisfaction of psychological needs while extrinsic values emerged from sociocultural messages that were endorsed by one’s mother. Thus, supporting the psychological needs of children while minimizing the endorsement of sociocultural, extrinsic values may be the key to promoting healthy value development in children.