Personal values and career-related preferences among young adults.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated personal values underlying career-related preferences among young adults deliberating on their career choice. As a fundamental component of one's identity, personal values can offer valuable insights into how individuals prioritize their career-related preferences. METHOD: We employed two complementary approaches: variable-centered and person-centered, using a sample of 636 young adults (69.5% women; Mage = 21.9, SD = 2.12). RESULTS: Using a variable-centered approach, we identified 14 value-expressive career-related preferences, demonstrating that individuals are less willing to compromise on these preferences than on non value-expressive preferences. Using a person-centered approach, we applied latent profile analysis to identify four groups of young adults with distinct value profiles: (1) growth-focus (n = 212; 33.3%), (2) protection-focus (n = 206; 32.4%), (3) self-focus (n = 122; 19.2%), and (4) social-focus (n = 96; 15.1%). Importantly, the four profiles varied in 18 of 31 career-related preferences, revealing the composition of values underlying these career preferences. Fourteen of these preferences were identified as value-expressive in a variable-centered approach. CONCLUSION: The two complementary approaches employed in the present study introduce a fine-grained understanding of the value-expressiveness of career-related preferences.

Values and National Identification in Minority and Majority Youth: Longitudinal Multi-Study Findings.

Collective identification is vital for adolescents, fostering well-being and connection, but scant attention has been given to drivers of national identification and their contextual variations in youth. To address this, two longitudinal studies examined how values, as guiding goals defining what individuals consider important in their lives, relate to the trajectory of national identification in majority and minority youth. Study 1 (N = 568; Mage = 16.24, SD = 0.71) and Study 2 (N = 678; Mage = 13.78, SD = 0.73) focused on majority youth (Jewish-Israelis), while Study 2 also included minority (Arab citizens of Israel). The findings highlight values as important motivators of national identification over time. Conservation values, emphasizing the preservation of the status quo and a preference for stability, were prominent motivators for the majority of adolescents. In contrast, power values, which center around climbing the social ladder and accumulating wealth, held greater significance among their minority counterparts; however, both sets of values correlated with increased national identification. The discussion touches on motivations underlying national identification, their contextual diversity, and implications for future studies.

Sibling Relationships in Families of Autistic and Typical Children: Similarities and Differences in the Perspectives of Siblings and Mothers.

This study investigates mothers' and siblings' perspectives regarding similarities and differences in siblingships with and without autism. Twenty-nine typical children (Mage = 8.78 years, SD = 2.05) whose younger siblings have a diagnosis of autism and their mothers constituted the 'autism group.' Forty-six typical children (Mage = 9.12 years, SD = 2.06) with younger typical siblings and their mothers constituted the 'typical group'. Children and mothers completed the Sibling Relationship Questionnaires and were interviewed. Children's reports illustrated similarities in sibling relationships across groups, with no between-group differences in overall warmth, conflict, rivalry, or relative power in the sibling relationship. Mothers of autistic children reported their children to have less warmth and closeness (F(1,72) = 5.63, p = .02, η2 = .073) and less conflict (F(1,72) = 6.66, p = .012, η2 = .085) with their siblings than mothers of typical children. More disagreement was found between mothers and children in the autism group than in the typical group. Mothers and children reported less intimacy and less quarreling between the siblings in the autism group than in the typical group. The qualitative analysis suggests that siblings focused on the present experience, while mothers also referred to processes in the sibling relationship. Interviewees in the autism group referred to various specificities in the siblingships without explicitly using the term "autism". The findings highlight a typical-like experience for siblings of autistic children. At the same time, mothers' perspectives emphasize differences and challenges in siblingships, reporting a pattern of decreased involvement. It is important to consider both perspectives in research and clinical work with families of autistic children.

Middle childhood development in personal values.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate value change and stability longitudinally in middle childhood. BACKGROUND: Values are the aspect of personality defining one's aspirations. Research identifies meaningful values in middle childhood, yet we know little about the process of their development within individual. METHOD: Children (N = 298; 53.7% girls, Mage = 7 years and 3 months, SD = 7.70 months, at the first time point) four times, annually. RESULTS: Rank-order stability increased with age and decreased with time-span. We found value hierarchy consistency, with value hierarchy similar to adolescents in the priority given to openness to change versus conservation values, and to adults in the priority given to self-transcendence values. Latent growth curve analyses indicated linear increase in openness to change, and curvilinear increase in self-transcendence values, and linear decrease in conservation and self-enhancement values, with some differences across ages. Value structure was better differentiated with age. Compatible values changed in similar, and conflicting values in opposite directions. CONCLUSIONS: This paper suggests that in middle childhood, children can already report stable values. Moreover, middle childhood is characterized by coherent change patterns, of increase in the importance of growth, and decrease in the focus on conflicting protection values.

Technology integration in emergency remote teaching: teachers' self-efficacy and sense of success.

Sense of success and self-efficacy regarding technology integration in teaching are among the most important factors that influence teachers' well-being and professional development, and may have a substantial impact on student learning. In this quantitative study (N = 735 K-12 teachers in Israel), we explored the factors contributing to sense of success in emergency remote teaching and self-efficacy for integrating technology in teaching following the experience of teaching during COVID-19 days. We use decision-tree models to look at nuanced relations. Overall, our findings highlight the crucial-albeit not surprising-role of experience in teaching with technology as an important factor that promotes sense of success and self-efficacy. Going beyond this factor, we emphasize that emotional difficulties in times of emergency may serve as an important risk factor, and that taking a leading role in school may serve as an important protective factor. We also found an advantage to STEM and Language teachers, compared with Social Sciences and Humanities teachers. Following our findings, we conclude with a set of recommendations that could enhance school-based teaching and learning at large.

Development of intraindividual value structures in middle childhood: A multicultural and longitudinal investigation.

OBJECTIVE: We examined changes in value interrelations during middle childhood. In line with the Personal Values Theory, we expected a value system, with individuals similarly valuing related motivations, and setting priorities between conflicting motivations. We hypothesized this system to develop dynamically during middle childhood as children deepen their understanding of their own values. METHOD: Using unfolding analysis, we estimated intraindividual value structure coherence, that is, the extent to which the interrelations among a child's values are similar to the hypothesized interrelations. Cross-Cultural Study 1 (N = 4615, 6-12-year-old children) included children from 12 countries. Cross-Sequential Study 2 (N = 629, 6-10-year-old children at Time 1) included three annual measurements. RESULTS: In Study 1, we found a curvilinear association between age and intraindividual value structure coherence: Children's values were more coherent at ages 9-10 than before or after. Study 2 confirmed this pattern of within-individual development. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that development in coherence with the theoretical value structure offers insight into children's understanding of values as well as changes in value priorities.

Personal values and sustained attention as predictors of children's helping behavior in middle childhood.

OBJECTIVE: This study tested the effect of personal values (motivation) and sustained attention (cognitive ability) on children's helping behavior. METHOD: Children (N = 162, age range 8-9 years, mean = 8.81, SD = 0.43) completed value ranking and go/no-go tasks, and their helping behavior was examined. RESULTS: Children who valued self-transcendence over self-enhancement helped more than others. Surprisingly, children's lack of sustained attention was associated with more helping among those who valued self-transcendence over self-enhancement or openness-to-change over conservation values. Valuing both self-transcendence and openness-to-change was also associated with more helping. CONCLUSIONS: Children are more likely to help others if they value self-transcendence and openness to change. Notably, children's tendency to act upon these values may be facilitated (rather than obstructed by) low attention skills.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on environmental values.

Environmental values emphasize protection of the natural environment and promote behaviors that express this broad motivational goal. Thus, changes in these values at the community and individual levels are likely to have significant consequences for sustainability efforts. We examined the relative importance of environmental values in Australian adults at five time points over 4 years, including a period of stability (2017-2019) and a period of crisis (early and late in the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic). We found that the relative importance of environmental values increased from 2017 to 2019 and decreased during the pandemic. Importantly, the decrease in 2020 was lessened by individuals' connection with nature. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11625-022-01151-w.

Value Profiles During Middle Childhood: Developmental Processes and Social Behavior.

Little is known about how children's value priorities develop over time. This study identifies children's value priority profiles and follows their development during middle childhood. Australian children (N = 609; ages 5-12 at Time 1) reported their values over 2 years. Latent Transition Analysis indicated four profiles: Social-Focus, Self-Focus, Growth-Focus and Undifferentiated. Within person development was characterized by profile stability or transfer to the Social-Focus profile. Younger children were more likely to have an Undifferentiated profile (or Self-Focus among boys) than older ones. Girls were more likely to have a Social-Focus profile or transfer to it, and less likely to have a Self- or Growth-Focus profile than boys. Social-Focus profile membership over time predicted more prosocial and less aggressive behavior.

The development of internalizing problems in early childhood: The importance of sibling clustering.

Within family sibling clustering of internalizing problems is examined during the early childhood period. Sibling clustering, the ongoing sibling similarity in internalizing problems, may be a result of heritability of internalizing problems, as well as shared environmental effects. Clustering may also result from the time-varying influence of sibling socialization, where 1 sibling is teaching or modeling internalizing problems to the other sibling. We compared a traditional cross-lagged panel model with a recently developed multilevel statistical model that differentiates the 2 mechanisms. Sibling clustering was operationalized as the family level, time-invariant variance in internalizing problems, and differentiated from sibling socialization, the cross-lagged (time-varying) association between earlier child behavior and later sibling behavior. A 3-wave longitudinal study tracked 916 children (age M = 3.46, SD = 2.23) in 397 families using a 2-parent composite score of internalizing problems. Results suggest the importance of accounting for sibling clustering in the context of a panel study, as its inclusion in the model eliminated the identified time-varying, sibling socialization effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The Development of Empathic Concern in Siblings: A Reciprocal Influence Model.

This study utilized actor-partner interdependence modeling to examine the bidirectional effects of younger (Mage  = 18 months) and older siblings (Mage  = 48 months) on later empathy development in a large (n = 452 families), diverse (42% immigrant) Canadian sample. Controlling for parenting, demographic characteristics, sibling relationship quality, and within-child stability in empathic concern, both younger and older siblings' observed empathic concern uniquely predicted relative increases in the other's empathy over a period of 18 months. The strength of the partner effects did not differ by birth order. Sex composition moderated the younger sibling partner effect, whereas age gap moderated the older sibling partner effect. This study highlights the important role that siblings play in enhancing the development of care and concern for others.

Value development during adolescence: Dimensions of change and stability.

OBJECTIVE: Value change stability was examined in a longitudinal sample of Jewish and Arab Israeli adolescents. METHOD: Adolescents (N = 520; 55.4% girls; Mage  = 13.76, SD = 0.52, at initial assessment) reported value importance at four annual evaluations. RESULTS: Adolescents increased in values' internal coherence and rank-order stability. Their value hierarchy was consistent and differentiated from the hierarchy of adults. Latent growth curve analyses indicated a similar pattern of mean-level value change for both ethnic groups: an increase in power and a decrease in tradition values; an increase in self-direction values among Jewish adolescents but not among Arab participants. Overall, the perceived importance of power, achievement, and self-direction values was more likely to increase than decrease, and the importance of conformity, tradition, security, and benevolence values was more likely to decrease than increase. Intraindividual changes in value importance followed the postulated pattern, as compatible values changed together, whereas conflicting values changed in opposite directions. CONCLUSIONS: This article suggests that values become better indicators of individual characteristics during adolescence. Adolescents increase their endorsement of self-focused values and decrease their valuation of other-focused values. They maintain the integrity of their value system despite value changes, confirming and validating value theory.

The role of personal values in children's costly sharing and non-costly giving.

This study examined whether children's values, global and abstract motivations serving as guiding principles, are organized similarly to those of adults, whether values can predict individual differences in children's sharing behaviors, and whether the normative nature of the situation influences the expression of these individual differences. Children (N=243, ages 5-12years) participated in a values ranking task as part of a visit to a science museum. The majority of children (n=150) also participated in a task examining costly sharing (i.e., sharing that results in giving up part of one's own resources) and non-costly giving (i.e., giving that does not influence one's own share). Starting from 5years of age, children showed a structure of values similar to that of adolescents and adults, specifically contrasting preferences for opposing values (i.e., self-transcendence with self-enhancement and openness to change with conservation). Importance given to self-transcendence values related positively to costly sharing but not to non-costly giving, indicating that in situations where it is more normative to share, individual differences in values are less expressed in children's actual sharing. In addition, children's sex and age moderated the relation between values and behavior. Children's values are an important aspect of their developing personalities. Taking them into consideration can greatly promote the research of prosocial and normative development as well as our understanding of individual differences in children's behavior.

An Examination of the Sibling Training Hypothesis for Disruptive Behavior in Early Childhood.

Sibling training for disruptive behavior (one sibling teaching another disruptive behavior) is examined during early childhood. We used a conservative, recently developed, statistical model to identify sibling training. Sibling training was operationalized as the cross-lagged association between earlier child behavior and later sibling behavior, and differentiated from other reasons that contribute to sibling similarity. A three-wave longitudinal study tracked 916 children (Mage  = 3.46, SD = 2.23) in 397 families using multi-informant data. Evidence for sibling training was found. Earlier younger siblings' disruptive behavior predicted later lower levels of older siblings' disruptive behavior. Thus, the sibling training found in early childhood was producing greater dissimilarity, rather than similarity, on disruptive behavior.

Paternal and maternal warmth and the development of prosociality among preschoolers.

Although the influence of maternal behavior on child outcomes has been extensively studied, there has not been the same attention to the role of paternal behavior in development. This gap in research stands in contrast to the observable shift in parental roles and responsibilities in contemporary society. The goal of this study was to examine the roles of fathers, mothers, and children in the development of children's prosocial behavior. In the current study we examined the development of reciprocal relations between paternal and maternal behavior and child prosociality over 36 months. Three hundred eighty-one families were assessed when children were 18, 36, and 54 months of age. Fathers and mothers reported on their own warmth and negativity using standardized questionnaires. Child prosociality was measured using averaged parental reports. Actor-partner interdependence models revealed that paternal and maternal warmth predicted subsequent increases in child prosocial behavior, but child prosocial behavior did not predict subsequent parenting. Father and mother parenting practices were reciprocally interrelated. The results point to the important roles paternal and maternal warmth play in the development of children's prosocial behavior.

Cumulative risk disparities in children's neurocognitive functioning: a developmental cascade model.

The current longitudinal study examined the role of cumulative social risk on children's theory of mind (ToM) and executive functioning (EF) across early development. Further, we also tested a cascade model of development in which children's social cognition at 18 months was hypothesized to predict ToM and EF at age 4.5 through intermediary language skills at age 3. We then examined whether this developmental mechanism varied as a function of social risk status. Participants were 501 children recruited when they were newborns, at which point eight psychosocial risk factors were assessed and combined into a metric of cumulative social disadvantage. Families were followed up at 18 months, at which point four social-cognitive skills were assessed using developmentally sensitive tasks: joint attention, empathy, cooperation, and self-recognition. Language was measured at age 3 using a standardized measure of receptive vocabulary. At age 3 and 4.5, EF and ToM were measured using previously validated tasks. Results showed that there were notable cumulative risk disparities in overall neurocognitive skill development, and these effects became more differentiated over time. Support was also found for a developmental mechanism wherein the effect of social cognition at 18 months on ToM and EF in the preschool period operated specifically through children's receptive language ability at age 3. This pathway functioned similarly for children with both low- and high-risk backgrounds. These results extend previous findings by documenting the role of cumulative social disadvantage on children's neurocognition and the pathways that link key neurocognitive abilities across early development.

Multiple social identifications and adolescents' self-esteem.

The research examined the relationship between multiple social identifications and self-esteem. Early adolescents (M = 11.4, SD = .95) and mid-adolescents (M = 15.9, SD = 1.18) from Germany and Israel (n = 2337) were studied. Respondents described their social identification as students, family members, and as members of the majority national group and reported self-esteem. A longitudinal, cross-sectional and cross-cultural design revealed, as predicted, multiple social identifications related positively to self-esteem concurrently; they also related positively to self-esteem longitudinally over the course of a year. Moreover, multiple social identifications were found to be antecedent to self-esteem, not vice versa. Finally, multiple social identifications were found to decrease over time. The article discusses the contribution of multiple social identifications to self-esteem at different ages and in various contexts.

Values and helping behavior: A study in four cultures.

Values are important factors in determining individuals' behaviours. Previous studies have examined the relations between values and helping behaviour, but usually in the context of a single culture. The current study examines the relations between personal value types and helping behaviour among university students (N = 722) in four cultures (Germany, Scotland-UK, Israel and Turkey). Across cultures, the value types of self-transcendence versus self-enhancement and conservation versus openness to change were positively related to helping. Specifically, self-transcendence values were positively related, and self-enhancement and openness to change values negatively related, to helping behaviour. The correlations pattern did not differ significantly between cultures.

Developmental relations between sympathy, moral emotion attributions, moral reasoning, and social justice values from childhood to early adolescence.

This study examined the development of sympathy, moral emotion attributions (MEA), moral reasoning, and social justice values in a representative sample of Swiss children (N = 1273) at 6 years of age (Time 1), 9 years of age (Time 2), and 12 years of age (Time 3). Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed that sympathy predicted subsequent increases in MEA and moral reasoning, but not vice versa. In addition, sympathy and moral reasoning at 6 and 9 years of age were associated with social justice values at 12 years of age. The results point to increased integration of affect and cognition in children's morality from middle childhood to early adolescence, as well as to the role of moral development in the emergence of social justice values.

Brief report: early adolescents' value development at war time.

Values are considered relatively stable individual characteristics, and there is little research to date on the conditions that underlie value-priorities change. This small-scale short-term longitudinal study tested whether a major life event of war changes the priority that early adolescents assign to values. Thirty-nine Israeli adolescents completed the Schwartz Values Survey on four occasions-at the beginning, middle, and end of the 2006 Israeli-Lebanese war during which their hometown was bombed. As hypothesized, anxiety-based values of tradition, power, and security increased in importance, while conformity values decreased in importance. Anxiety-free values of benevolence, universalism, self-direction, stimulation, and hedonism decreased in importance. Achievement values decreased and then increased in importance. Despite methodological limitations, the findings demonstrate that value development, at least during early adolescence, can take place rather quickly under circumstances of major traumatic events such as war.