Parents’ Experiences of Intergenerational Value Transmission in Turkey’s Changing Society: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study

Intergenerational value transmission is a systemic phenomenon that affects parent-child relationships. However, there is a dearth of information about bidirectional value transmission processes from the perspectives of the parents. Based on an eco-systemic perspective, the researcher aimed to understand the parents’ experience of transmission of values with their adolescent children. This process included: What they chose to transmit, how they had tried to transmit, and the ways they negotiated value differences. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews in Istanbul, Turkey with 6 upper-middle class parents who had children between the ages of 13 and 19. Interpretative phenomenological analysis revealed 6 main themes that described parents’ experiences: (a) family connectedness, (b) transfer strategies, (c) transformations, (d) a changing world, (e) reflecting on parenting, and (f) process between the parents. The researcher then discusses the implications for clinicians and researchers.