Intergenerational continuity in attitudes: A latent variable family fixed-effects approach.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Parental attitudes significantly shape adolescent beliefs and behaviors.
• Intergenerational transmission of attitudes is a key area in developmental psychology.
• Previous research often overlooks the influence of the coparent on attitude continuity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate conditions moderating intergenerational attitude continuity across six domains.
• To examine the role of the coparent's attitudes and adolescent sex as moderators.
• To analyze within-family variance in attitude transmission, accounting for measurement error.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a novel family fixed-effect model specification to analyze within-family variance.
• Data from a two-generation study of 451 adolescents, siblings, and parents.
• Examined attitude continuity in domains including parenting, life goals, gender, deviancy, abortion, and sexual permissiveness.

Main Results:

• Intergenerational continuity was not significant for deviancy attitudes.
• A negative association was found for sexual permissiveness attitudes.
• Continuity was conditional on coparent attitudes for authoritative parenting, conventional life goals, and gender egalitarianism.

Conclusions:

• Intergenerational attitude transmission is complex and context-dependent.
• The coparent's attitudes play a crucial role in shaping adolescent beliefs.
• Findings highlight the need for nuanced models of socialization that include multiple family influences.