Parent-child value similarity: The role of zeitgeist

Reporting a study of German 2-child families, the article focuses on a neglected issue in value transmission studies: contemporaneous societal context. Parent-child value similarity depends not only on family characteristics but also on zeitgeist, the modal value climate of a society. To evaluate the role of zeitgeist in value transmission, differences in parent-child value similarity between families agreeing and disagreeing with the zeitgeist are studied, focusing on a core value of modern societies: hierarchic self-interest. Results show a weak general zeitgeist effect. A family's relative position vis-a-vis the societal value climate, however, is shown to strongly influence intergenerational similarity in hierarchic self-interest, families distant from the zeitgeist showing a much higher intergenerational value similarity than families close to the zeitgeist.