RESEARCH PAPER
Perceived significant others’ values:
Are they important in the relationship between personal values and self-reported prosociality?
1
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy
2
University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy
3
LUMSA University, Rome, Italy
Submission date: 2021-11-15
Final revision date: 2022-05-18
Acceptance date: 2022-06-28
Online publication date: 2022-11-09
Corresponding author
Francesca Danioni
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo A. Gemelli 1, 20123 Milan, Italy, e-mail: francescavittoria.danioni@unicatt.it
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo A. Gemelli 1, 20123 Milan, Italy, e-mail: francescavittoria.danioni@unicatt.it
Current Issues in Personality Psychology 2023;11(2):137–149
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
the role of personality in interpersonal relations and social behaviorsindividual differencespersonality and behavior dynamics
ABSTRACT
Background:
Personal values have been extensively found to be relevant variables linked to prosociality; they are desirable and trans-situational goals that serve as guiding principles in people’s lives to select modes, means and actions, these reflecting what people consider relevant and worthy. Research has investigated how cultural background influences people’s personal values and prosociality, but little is known about the influence of the perception of the values en-dorsed by significant others, namely the people belonging to the micro-relational context with whom daily interac-tions and exchanges are possible. Based on Schwartz’s theory of basic human values, we analyzed the moderating role of the perceptions of significant others’ values in the relationship between personal values and self-reported prosociality.
Participants and procedure:
Two hundred and forty-five Italian young adults (66.9% women) aged between 18 and 30 years (M = 22.58, SD = 2.53) completed a self-report questionnaire.
Results:
Specifically, openness to change values were a significant positive predictor of self-reported prosociality when re-spondents perceived low importance assigned both to openness to change and self-transcendence by significant oth-ers, whereas conservation values were a significant positive predictor of self-reported prosociality when respondents perceived low importance assigned to self-enhancement by significant others.
Conclusions:
Our findings show a complex interplay between personal values and perceived significant others’ values in shaping young adults’ self-reported prosociality.
Personal values have been extensively found to be relevant variables linked to prosociality; they are desirable and trans-situational goals that serve as guiding principles in people’s lives to select modes, means and actions, these reflecting what people consider relevant and worthy. Research has investigated how cultural background influences people’s personal values and prosociality, but little is known about the influence of the perception of the values en-dorsed by significant others, namely the people belonging to the micro-relational context with whom daily interac-tions and exchanges are possible. Based on Schwartz’s theory of basic human values, we analyzed the moderating role of the perceptions of significant others’ values in the relationship between personal values and self-reported prosociality.
Participants and procedure:
Two hundred and forty-five Italian young adults (66.9% women) aged between 18 and 30 years (M = 22.58, SD = 2.53) completed a self-report questionnaire.
Results:
Specifically, openness to change values were a significant positive predictor of self-reported prosociality when re-spondents perceived low importance assigned both to openness to change and self-transcendence by significant oth-ers, whereas conservation values were a significant positive predictor of self-reported prosociality when respondents perceived low importance assigned to self-enhancement by significant others.
Conclusions:
Our findings show a complex interplay between personal values and perceived significant others’ values in shaping young adults’ self-reported prosociality.
REFERENCES (68)
1.
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Sage.
2.
Alessandri, G., Caprara, G. V., Eisenberg, N., & Steca, P. (2009). Reciprocal relations among self‐efficacy be-liefs and prosociality across time. Journal of Personality, 77, 1229–1259. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467....
3.
Arslantürk, G., & Harput, D. (2021). Prosociality, religiosity and values in adolescence: Comparing the im-pact of religious and general schooling in Turkey. Journal of Beliefs & Values, 42, 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/136176....
4.
Bardi, A., & Schwartz, S. H. (2003). Values and behavior: Strength and structure of relations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1207–1220. https://doi.org/10.1177/014616....
5.
Barni, D. (2009). Trasmettere valori. Tre generazioni familiari a confronto [Transmitting values. A compari-son among three family generations]. Unicopli.
6.
Barni, D., Ranieri, S., Scabini, E., & Rosnati, R. (2011). Value transmission in the family: Do adolescents ac-cept the values their parents want to transmit? Journal of Moral Education, 40, 105–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/030572....
7.
Barni, D., Vieno, A., Rosnati, R., Roccato, M., & Scabini, E. (2014). Multiple sources of adolescents’ conserva-tive values: a multilevel study. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 11, 433–446. https://doi.org/10.1080/174056....
8.
Bayram, A. B. (2016). Values and prosocial behaviour in the global context: Why values predict public sup-port for foreign development assistance to developing countries. Journal of Human Values, 22, 93–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/097168....
9.
Benish-Weisman, M., Daniel, E., Sneddon, J., & Lee, J. (2019). The relations between values and prosocial behavior among children: The moderating role of age. Personality and Individual Differences, 141, 241–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid....
10.
Bernard, M. M., Gebauer, J. E., & Maio, G. R. (2006). Cultural estrangement: The role of personal and societal value discrepancies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 78–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/014616....
11.
Boer, D., & Fischer, R. (2013). How and when do personal values guide our attitudes and sociality? Explain-ing cross-cultural variability in attitude–value linkages. Psychological Bulletin, 139, 1113–1147. https://doi.org/10.1037/a00313....
12.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.
13.
Capanna, C., Vecchione, M., & Schwartz, S. H. (2005). La misura dei valori. Un contributo alla validazione del Portrait Values Questionnaire su un campione italiano [Measurement of values: a contribution to the val-idation of the Portrait Values Questionnaire in an Italian Sample]. Bollettino di Psicologia Applicata, 246, 29–41.
14.
Caplan, R. D. (1987). Person-environment fit theory and organizations: Commensurate dimensions, time perspectives, and mechanisms. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 31, 248–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-8....
15.
Caprara, G. V., Alessandri, G., & Eisenberg, N. (2012). Prosociality: The contribution of traits, values, and self-efficacy beliefs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 1289–1303. https://doi.org/10.1037/a00256....
16.
Caprara, G. V., Barbaranelli, C., Pastorelli, C., Bandura, A., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2000). Prosocial foundations of children’s academic achievement. Psychological Science, 11, 302–306. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9....
17.
Caprara, G. V., Steca, P., Zelli, A., & Capanna, C. (2005). A new scale for measuring adults’ prosocialness. Eu-ropean Journal of Psychological Assessment, 21, 77–89. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5....
18.
Daniel, E., Bilgin, A. S., Brezina, I., Strohmeier, C. E., & Vainre, M. (2015). Values and helping behavior: a study in four cultures. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 186–192. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.1....
19.
Danioni, F., & Barni, D. (2018). Using the Portrait Values Questionnaire to assess children’s perceptions of parental socialization values. TPM: Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 25, 447–467. https://doi.org/10.4473/TPM25.....
20.
Danioni, F., & Barni, D. (2019). The relations between adolescents’ personal values and prosocial and anti-social behaviours in team sports. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 17, 459–476. https://doi.org/10.1080/161219....
21.
Danioni, F., & Barni, D. (2021). Value priorities, impression management and self-deceptive enhancement: Once again, much substance and a little bit of style. The Journal of Social Psychology, 161, 146–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/002245....
22.
Dobewall, H., & Strack, M. (2011). Cultural value differences, value stereotypes, and diverging identities in intergroup conflicts: The Estonian example. International Journal of Conflict and Violence, 5, 211–223. https://doi.org/10.4119/ijcv-2....
23.
Elster, A., & Gelfand, M. J. (2021). When guiding principles do not guide: The moderating effects of cultural tightness on value‐behavior links. Journal of Personality, 89, 325–337. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.1....
24.
Espinosa, A., Salazar, J. F., & Rottenbacher de Rojas, J. M. (2011). Values, pro-social behavior and personal growth in university students after the August 15th, 2007 earthquake. Liberabit, 17, 49–58.
25.
Frazier, P. A., Tix, A. P., & Barron, K. E. (2004). Testing moderator and mediator effects in counseling psy-chology research. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 51, 115–134. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0....
26.
Frenzel, A. C., Goetz, T., Pekrun, R., & Watt, H. M. (2010). Development of mathematics interest in adoles-cence: Influences of gender, family, and school context. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 20, 507–537. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532....
27.
Gaines, S. O. Jr (2016). Personality and close relationship processes. Cambridge University Press.
28.
Grønhøj, A., & Thøgersen, J. (2009). Like father, like son? Intergenerational transmission of values, attitudes, and behaviours in the environmental domain. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29, 414–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenv....
29.
Grusec, J. E., & Goodnow, J. J. (1994). Impact of parental discipline methods on the child’s internalization of values: a reconceptualization of current points of view. Developmental Psychology, 30, 4–19. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1....
30.
Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2010). The impact of social interdependence on values education and stu-dent wellbeing. In T. Lovat, R. Toomey, & N. Clement (Eds.), International research handbook on values education and student wellbeing (pp. 825–847). Springer.
31.
Kelley, H. H., & Thibaut, J. W. (1978). Interpersonal relations: a theory of interdependence. Wiley.
32.
Kelley, H. H., Holmes, J. G., Kerr, N. L., Reis, H. T., Rusbult, C. E., & Van Lange, P. A. M. (2003). An atlas of in-terpersonal situations. Cambridge University Press.
33.
Klein, N. (2017). Prosocial behavior increases perceptions of meaning in life. The Journal of Positive Psychol-ogy, 12, 354–361. https://doi.org/10.1080/174397....
34.
Knafo, A., & Schwartz, S. H. (2003). Parenting and adolescents’ accuracy in perceiving parental values. Child Development, 74, 595–611. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8....
35.
Lindeman, M., & Verkasalo, M. (2005). Measuring values with the Short Schwartz’s Value Survey. Journal of Personality Assessment, 85, 170–178. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327....
36.
Locke, K. D., MacDonald, G., Barni, D., Reyes, J. A. S., Morio, H., Vargas-Flores, J. D. J., Ibáñez-Reyes, J., Mastor K. A., & Kamble, S. (2021). Communal motives towards parents and perceived self-parent agreement. Col-labra: Psychology, 7, 22165. https://doi.org/10.1525/collab....
37.
Lönnqvist, J. E., Walkowitz, G., Wichardt, P., Lindeman, M., & Verkasalo, M. (2009). The moderating effect of conformism values on the relations between other personal values, social norms, moral obligation, and single altruistic behaviours. British Journal of Social Psychology, 48, 525–546. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466....
38.
Lönnqvist, J. E., Yijälä, A., Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., & Verkasalo, M. (2012). Accuracy and contrast in national value stereotypes: a case study using Ingrian-Finns as bi-cultural experts. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 36, 271–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijin....
39.
Luengo Kanacri, B. P., Eisenberg, N., Tramontano, C., Zuffianò, A., Caprara, M. G., Regner, E., Zhu, L., Pastorelli, C., & Caprara, G. V. (2021). Measuring prosocial behaviors: Psychometric properties and cross-national validation of the prosociality scale in five countries. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 693174. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.....
40.
Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111–131. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2....
41.
Oh, R. R. Y., Fielding, K. S., Nghiem, L. T. P., Chang, C. C., Carrasco, L. R., & Fuller, R. A. (2021). Connection to nature is predicted by family values, social norms and personal experiences of nature. Global Ecology and Conservation, 28, e01632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecc....
42.
Padilla-Walker, L. M., Fraser, A. M., & Harper, J. M. (2012). Walking the walk: The moderating role of proac-tive parenting on adolescents’ value-congruent behaviors. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 1141-1152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adol....
43.
Ponizovskiy, V., Grigoryan, L., Kühnen, U., & Boehnke, K. (2019). Social construction of the value–behavior relation. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 934. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.....
44.
Roccas, S., & Sagiv, L. (2010). Personal values and behavior: Taking the cultural context into account. Social and Per-sonality Psychology Compass, 4, 30–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751....
45.
Roccas, S., & Sagiv, L. (2017). Values and behavior: Taking a cross-cultural perspective. Springer.
46.
Russo, C., Barni, D., Zagrean, I., & Danioni, F. (2021). Value consistency across relational roles and basic psy-chological needs satisfaction: The mediating role of self-concept clarity. Social Sciences, 10, 291. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci....
47.
Sagiv, L., & Schwartz, S. H. (2000). Value priorities and subjective well‐being: Direct relations and congruity effects. European Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 177–198. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)...<177::AID-EJSP982>3.0.CO;2-Z.
48.
Sanderson, R., & McQuilkin, J. (2017). Many kinds of kindness: The relationship between values and proso-cial behaviour. In S. Roccas & L. Sagiv (Eds.), Values and behavior: Taking a cross-cultural perspective (pp. 75–96). Springer.
49.
Sanderson, R., Prentice, M., Wolf, L., Weinstein, N., Kasser, T., & Crompton, T. (2019). Strangers in a strange land: Relations between perceptions of others’ values and both civic engagement and cultural estrange-ment. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 559. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.....
50.
Scabini, E., & Iafrate, R. (2019). Psicologia dei legami familiari [Psychology of family relations]. Il Mulino.
51.
Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L., Oesterle, S., Hill, K. G., Hawkins, J. D., & Pashak, T. J. (2016). The dimensions of successful young adult development: a conceptual and measurement framework. Applied Developmental Science, 20, 150–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/108886....
52.
Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empiri-cal tests in 20 countries. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 25, pp. 1–65). Academic Press.
53.
Schwartz, S. H. (1996). Value priorities and behavior: Applying a theory of integrated value systems. In C. Seligman, J. M. Olson, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), The psychology of values: The Ontario Symposium (Vol. 8, pp. 1–24). Erlbaum.
54.
Schwartz, S. H. (2010). Basic values: How they motivate and inhibit prosocial behavior. In M. Mikulincer & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Prosocial motives, emotions, and behavior: The better angels of our nature (pp. 221–241). American Psychological Association.
55.
Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An overview of the Schwartz theory of basic values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2, 11. https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0....
56.
Schwartz, S. H., Melech, G., Lehmann, A., Burgess, S., Harris, M., & Owens, V. (2001). Extending the cross-cultural validity of the theory of basic human values with a different method of measurement. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32, 519–542. https://doi.org/10.1177/002202....
57.
Schwartz, S. H., Cieciuch, J., Vecchione, M., Davidov, E., Fischer, R., Beierlein, C., Ramos, A., Verkasalo, M., Lönnqvist, J. E., Demirutku, K., Dirilen-Gumus, O., & Konty, M. (2012). Refining the theory of basic indi-vidual values. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 663–688. https://doi.org/10.1037/a00293....
58.
Sharma, D. (2018). When fairness is not enough: Impact of corporate ethical values on organizational citi-zenship behaviors and worker alienation. Journal of Business Ethics, 150, 57–68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551....
59.
Sharma, D., Borna, S., & Steams, J. M. (2009). An investigation of the effects of corporate ethical values on employee commitment and performance: Examining the moderating role of perceived fairness. Journal of Business Ethics, 89, 251–260. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551....
60.
Shoda, Y. (1999). A unified framework for the study of behavioral consistency: Bridging person×situation interaction and the consistency paradox. European Journal of Personality, 13, 361–387. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)...<361::AID-PER362>3.0.CO;2-X.
61.
Šimunović, M., Reić Ercegovac, I., & Burušić, J. (2018). How important is it to my parents? Transmission of STEM academic values: The role of parents’ values and practices and children’s perceptions of parental influences. International Journal of Science Education, 40, 977–995. https://doi.org/10.1080/095006....
62.
Soper, D. (2013). Interaction (Version 1.7.2211) [computer software]. Retrieved from http://www.danielsoper.com/int....
63.
Streit, C., Carlo, G., & Killoren, S. E. (2020). Ethnic socialization, identity, and values associated with US Lati-no/a young adults’ prosocial behaviors. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26, 102–111. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp000....
64.
Tanner, J. L., & Arnett, J. J. (2011). Presenting “emerging adulthood”: What makes it developmentally distinc-tive? In J. J. Arnett, M. Kloep, L. B. Hendry, & J. L. Tanner (Eds.), Debating emerging adulthood: Stage or process? (pp. 13–30). Oxford University Press.
65.
Toseeb, U., & St Clair, M. C. (2020). Trajectories of prosociality from early to middle childhood in children at risk of developmental language disorder. Journal of Communication Disorders, 85, 105984. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcom....
66.
Valentine, S., & Barnett, T. (2003). Ethics code awareness, perceived ethical values, and organizational commitment. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 23, 359–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/088531....
67.
Vecchione, M., Schwartz, S. H., Davidov, E., Cieciuch, J., Alessandri, G., & Marsicano, G. (2020). Stability and change of basic personal values in early adolescence: a 2‐year longitudinal study. Journal of Personality, 88, 447–463. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.1....
68.
Verplanken, B., & Holland, R. W. (2002). Motivated decision making: Effects of activation and self-centrality of values on choices and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 434–447. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3....
Copyright: © Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk This is an Open Access journal, all articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
Share
RELATED ARTICLE
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.