Value of Children and Family Change: A Three‐Decade Portrait From Turkey

Abstract

L'étude turque sur la valeur conférée aux enfants a porté sur trois générations relevant de trois niveaux socio-économiques dans centre métropolitain et deux zones rurales. Les résultats ont montré qu'il y avait sur les trois derrières décennies un net accroissement des valeurs psychologiques attribuées aux enfants et une chute correspondante des valeurs utilitaires et économiques. La préférence pour le fils a été remplacée par la préférence pour la fille, ce qui traduit un changement de la dynamique et des rôles familiaux. Des modifications analogues dans ce qui est attendu des enfants, les qualités que l'on souhaite trouver chez cux et les nombres réels, désirés et idéaux d'enfants sont cohérents avec les attentes; le modèle du changement familial proposé par Kagitcibasi est ainsi confirmé. Les comparaisons des valeurs attribuées aux enfants sur les trois décennies par génération et niveau social aide à comprendre l'évolution et le changement social de la société turque, voire de sociétés comparables.The Turkish Value of Children Study consisted of three generations from three socioeconomic strata in a metropolitan center and from two rural areas. The findings showed a sharp increase in the psychological, and a corresponding decrease in the utilitarian /economic values attributed to children over the last three decades. Son preference has been replaced by daughter preference, pointing to changing family dynamics and family roles. Corresponding modifications in expectations from (adult) children, qualities desired in children, and actual, desired, and ideal numbers of children are in line with expectations, providing support for Kagitcibasi's Model of Family Change. Comparisons of values attributed to children over three decades and across generations and social strata provide insights for understanding social change and development in Turkish society and possibly in similar societies.

Ethnic differences in family trajectories of young adult women in the Netherlands: Timing and sequencing of events

“…Although family behavior in non-Western societies has also changed over the past decades (Kagitcibasi and Ataca 2005), previous work has indicated that there are still strict norms and values on the timing and sequencing of family transitions in these societies (Koc 2007;Nauck 2002). In the typical patrilineal Turkish and Moroccan societies, the behavior of women especially is bound by rules as they may put the family's reputation at risk through disapproved actions (Bowen and Early 1993).…”

The evolved psychological mechanisms of fertility motivation: hunting for causation in a sea of correlation

“…having someone to continue the family name). Studying 28 years of Turkish history, Kagitcibasi & Ataca [104] found that as socio-economic development increases across time or place, there is less utilitarian/economic value attributed to children and a stronger emphasis on emotional benefits, with a concomitant change in sex preference from boys to girls. Moreover, a survey of adolescents from 12 high and middle income countries showed a decline in the utilitarian value of children with economic development [105].…”

Value of Children and the social production of welfare

“…Publications in this vein included Turkey (Klaus 2008;Kagitcibasi and Ataca 2005), Israel and Palestine (Suckow 2005;, Indonesia (Rudolf 2010), Germany (Klaus, Nauck, and Klein 2005), the Czech Republic (Mares and Mozny 2005), South Korea (Kim and Park 2005), and China (Zheng, Shi, and Tang 2005).…”