Family Background, Socioeconomic Attainment, and the Ranking of Self-Actualization Values

This paper examines the interrelationships connecting family background, socioeconomic attainment, and the evaluation of a set of life goals that focus on the concept of self-actualization. Based on a national sample of Canadians from 1981, the findings suggest modest class differences in the percei...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociological focus (Kent, Ohio) Ohio), 1987-08, Vol.20 (3), p.215-226
Main Authors: Grabb, Edward G., Waugh, S. L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Canada
Child rearing
Correlations
Family background
Occupations
Parents
Personal growth
Scope of employment
Self Actualization
Socialization
Socioeconomic Status
Socioeconomics
Value Orientations
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Summary:This paper examines the interrelationships connecting family background, socioeconomic attainment, and the evaluation of a set of life goals that focus on the concept of self-actualization. Based on a national sample of Canadians from 1981, the findings suggest modest class differences in the perceived importance of self-actualization, with those from the higher strata somewhat more likely to stress this value orientation. Multivariate analyses are performed to assess how much of the class difference in value rankings is attributable to the current socioeconomic attainments of the respondents and how much can be traced, alternatively, to the respondents' earlier class status, as indicated by the socioeconomic backgrounds of their parents. The findings suggest that respondent's education has the greatest direct effect on value differences among the past and current socioeconomic variables considered. However, parents' educational and occupational statuses are found to have appreciable indirect influences on respondents' self-actualization attitudes, lending provisional support to an intergenerational transmission interpretation of value differences between classes. Age is also revealed to have a notable influence on the general pattern of results when it is introduced into the analysis. Consideration is given to the implications of the findings for understanding the adoption and retention of dominant values by individuals in differing class positions or socioeconomic circumstances.
ISSN:0038-0237
2162-1128
DOI:10.1080/00380237.1987.10570953