Russian Parental Values in the Cross-Country Context from 1990–1991 to 2017–2020

ABSTRACT

The article analyzes parental values in Russia and 33 other countries, and considers how these values have changed from 1990–1991 to 2017–2020. Russian dynamics are analyzed via seven waves, while the international dynamics are assigned two waves. We used a combination of data from the World Values Survey and the European Values Study and discovered that in 1990 the Russian value agenda regarding children was highly survival oriented. By 2017–2020 certain changes had occurred: Russians no longer accented survival values (e.g., hard work, thrift, and obedience), with the exception of religiosity, which has markedly increased; self-expression values (e.g., independence and imagination) became more popular, while humanistic values lost much of their importance for Russians. In 33 countries, humanistic values remained as popular as in 1990, while survival values became less important. The change in Russian parental values runs parallel to the change in Russian personal values.

KEYWORDS:

• children
• European Values Study
• modernization
• moral upbringing
• parental values
• self-expression values
• survival values
• World Values Survey

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Empirical data

Inglehart, R.; C. Haerpfer; A. Moreno; C. Welzel; K. Kizilova; J. Diez-Medrano;M. Lagos; P. Norris; E. Ponarin; B. Puranen, et al. (eds.) (2014) World Values Survey: Round Two—Country-Pooled Datafile Version: www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV2.jsp. Madrid: JD Systems Institute.

Inglehart, R.; C. Haerpfer; A. Moreno; C. Welzel; K. Kizilova; J. Diez-Medrano; M. Lagos; P. Norris; E. Ponarin; B. Puranen, et al. (eds.) (2014) World Values Survey: Round Three—Country-Pooled Datafile Version: www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV3.jsp. Madrid: JD Systems Institute.

Inglehart, R.; C. Haerpfer; A. Moreno; C. Welzel; K. Kizilova; J. Diez-Medrano; M. Lagos; P. Norris; E. Ponarin; B. Puranen, et al. (eds.) (2014) World Values Survey: Round Four—Country-Pooled Datafile Version: www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV4.jsp. Madrid: JD Systems Institute.

Inglehart, R.; C. Haerpfer; A. Moreno; C. Welzel; K. Kizilova; J. Diez-Medrano; M. Lagos; P. Norris; E. Ponarin; B. Puranen, et al. (eds.) (2014) World Values Survey: Round Five—Country-Pooled Datafile Version: www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV5.jsp. Madrid: JD Systems Institute.

Inglehart, R.; C. Haerpfer; A. Moreno; C. Welzel; K. Kizilova; J. Diez-Medrano; M. Lagos; P. Norris; E. Ponarin; B. Puranen, et al. (eds.) (2014) World Values Survey: Round Six—Country-Pooled Datafile Version: www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV6.jsp. Madrid: JD Systems Institute.

Inglehart, R.; C. Haerpfer; A. Moreno; C. Welzel; K. Kizilova; J. Diez-Medrano; M. Lagos; P. Norris; E. Ponarin; B. Puranen, et al. (eds.) (2020) World Values Survey: Round Seven—Country-Pooled Datafile. Madrid, Spain & Vienna, Austria: JD Systems Institute & WVSA Secretariat. DOI:https://doi.org/10.14281/18241.1.

EVS/WVS (2021) European Values Study and World Values Survey: Joint EVS/WVS 2017–2021 Dataset (Joint EVS/WVS). JD Systems Institute & WVSA. Dataset Version 1.1.0. DOI:10.14281/18241.11.

GESIS-Variable Reports No. 2013│25. EVS 1990—Variable Report. Integrated Dataset. Documentation release 2013/09/30. GESIS Study No. ZA4460, Version: 3.0.0. DOI:10.4232/1.10790.

EVS (2012) European Values Study 1999—Russia. GESIS Data Archive. Cologne. Datafile ZA3802. Version 3.0.1. DOI:https://doi.org/10.4232/1.11551.

EVS (2016) European Values Study 2008: Integrated Dataset (EVS 2008). GESIS Data Archive. Cologne. Datafile ZA4800. Version 4.0.0. DOI:https://doi.org/10.4232/1.12458.

Notes

1. There are synonyms in English-language sources: socialization values, parental/parenting values, upbringing values, child-rearing values.

2. This is indicated by the significantly greater popularity of this quality in the national republics of the Russian Federation, particularly in the North Caucasus [16].

3. In the 1960s, the two researchers found class and religious differences in the teaching of independence and obedience to children. Following their research, sociologists have noted the systematic increase in the importance of independence and the decrease of obedience in Western countries.

4. At the same time, in 2017–2020, South Korea ranked high in the data set in terms of the level of support for the imagination.