Family Norms, Social Position, and the Value of Change

Interviews with men who have adult children indicate that those who espouse nuclear family norms with regard to intergenerational relationships are most likely to accept the general value of change and are least likely to see a conflict between family values and economic success values. These same men are most likely to have high levels of education, better jobs, and higher incomes and to have less rural experience and more geographic mobility during their lives. The opposite traits characterize those who espouse extended family norms, and those espousing modified extended family norms occupy a middle position on these traits. The data are interpreted as evidence of an intrapersonality “strain toward consistency” which reflects the inter-institutional relationships in our society.