Parental Influences on Children's Values and Aspirations: Bridging Two Theories of Social Class and Socialization

Abstract

The author establishes a framework for tying together two influential approaches linking family socioeconomic status (SES) to children's social psychological outcomes. Families shape children's occupational aspirations and values; however, these two phenomena have been studied in isolation. This article bridges these two literatures by suggesting that occupational aspirations stem, in part, from adolescents' value structures. The framework employs a wider range of values than previously studied so as to get a broader understanding of this relationship. This analysis finds qualified support for both the SES-values and the SES-aspirations literatures, and illustrates the potential of values as an additional explanatory mechanism for understanding family influences on adolescents' orientations during their transition to adulthood.