The Value of Children in Cross-Cultural Perspective

This volume provides the first comprehensive overview on a large international study on the value of children and families in eight different sociocultural contexts. The editors and initiators of the study come from a psychological (Gisela Trommsdorff) and a sociological (Bernhard Nauck) background, thus enabling an interdisciplinary perspective on the value of children. Nineteen researchers from different countries have contributed to the chapters of this volume. The primary goal of the current project is to improve our understanding of dramatic socio-demographic changes all over the world, and to investigate the social and psychological conditions for having children and for child-rearing practices in different cultures. Each chapter begins with a description of the relevant socio-economic and cultural conditions for each of the eight countries. This is followed by a report on the empirical data on specific value orientations related to children and family life. The respective theoretical implications are integrated from developmental-psychological, sociological, socio-demographic, and cross-cultural perspectives.