ONGOING RESEARCH: Cross-Cultural Studies of Children’s Values
Cross-cultural research on the content and structure of human values was one of the main research areas of the former Work Unit “Differential Psychology and Personality Psychology” (1993-2012). From the end of the 1990s onwards, studies have focused increasingly on the values of children and adolescents.
Anna Döring has continued this line of research since then. Her studies have investigated the development of values from early childhood through adolescence to adulthood. Together with her colleagues and students, she explores the impact of the social context (e.g., family, teachers, peers), significant life events and experiences, and individual differences, running cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in a range of countries. She is the developer of the Picture-Based Value Survey for Children (PBVS-C), which is the first instrument to measure children’s values through self-report. The PBVS-C has been adapted for application in 13 countries, and there are more adaptations ongoing.
This research has been funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) / the ESRC, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the German Research Foundation (DFG), and the German-Polish Research Foundation (Deutsch-Polnische Wissenschaftsstiftung).