Intergenerational transmission of values -: The role of transmission belts

Intergenerational transmission is one process leading to cultural continuity. Transmission is assumed to be selective: Not all culturally relevant contents are transmitted. Transmission may be enhanced by "transmission belts:" that is, conditions favorable for transmission in a particular socioeconomic and cultural context, such as personal characteristics of the transmitter and the receiver (resources of education and age), and family interaction variables (parenting styles and parents' marital relationship). This study explores the effects of these transmission belts on the similarity of values between Turkish fathers and their sons. The sample included 200 Turkish father-son dyads of two regions within Germany and 100 living in Turkey. The values transmitted were nine value categories subsumed under the two dimensions of collectivism and individualism. Predominately collectivistic values were transmitted because presumably, they serve group maintenance. Intergenerational transmission was enhanced by most of the transmission belts included in the study with the exception of cultural context.