A Study on Intergenerational Differences in Personal and Family Value Perceptions and Effects in New Normal Era: Focusing on Individualism, Collectivism, Child Values, Awareness of Parenthood, and Parental Role Confidence

The purpose of this study is to compare the values of individuals and families by intergenerations and to analyze whether the values of individuals affect the perception of values of families. The subjects of the study were divided into four types for generational analysis: Generation Z (teenagers), Generation Z (20s), Generation M (30s), and Generation X (40s). 200 people were selected from each generation, and a total of 800 people were the subjects of the study. First, individualism and collectivism showed differences by generation. Both individualism and collectivism were higher in Generation Z (teenagers) than in other generations. Child values, awareness of parenthood, and parental role confidence tended to be the highest in Generation X (40s), followed by Generation Z (teenagers), and the lowest in the 20s. Second, individualism and collectivism tendencies each affected child values and parental role confidence, while only collectivism affected awareness of parenthood. The results of this study show that there are differences in individual and family-related perceptions by generation, but it is noteworthy that the younger generations had high individualism and collectivism tendencies, and the lowest collectivism was observed among those in their 30s. In addition, it was found that collectivism as well as individualism influences family-related perceptions, suggesting that individualism and collectivism are separate concepts. It is necessary to focus on generational family-related perceptions to develop the policies for solving social problems.