A social values analysis of parental decision making
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Updated: Apr 27, 2026

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Abstract:
Social values theory was used to examine how parents make decisions for their adolescent children. Social values theory states that decision making for others is based on the social value of an action, leading to a norm for how to decide for others, whereas self decisions are influenced by a number of additional factors. Consistent with a risk-aversion norm, in hypothetical health and safety scenarios parents made more risk and inconvenience affected self decisions more risk-averse decisions for their adolescent children than for themselves. Further, the level of riske than decisions for one's child. A second study showed that the norm was stronger for decisions for one's child than for oneself and more related to parents' decisions for their child than for themselves. In sum, parents' decisions for their children seem to be largely determined by a norm stating how they are supposed to decide, at least in the domain of health and safety. Implications for both the judgment and decision making and parenting literatures are discussed.
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