Identity representations and intergenerational transmission of values: the case of a religious minority in Israel

  • Bilha Paryente Achva College of Education
  • Emda Orr Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Abstract

The main hypothesis of the paper is that social representations of identity contribute to intergenerational value transmission beyond children’s perception and acceptance of their parental values. The hypothesis was tested on a sample of 412 parental pairs and their 16-18-year-old daughters or sons (N =1236) living in the Religious- Zionist Jewish communities in Israel. Parents’ and children’s values of Tradition and a combined Self-enhancement value score were assessed by Schwartz’s value scale, and two identity representations – Religious- Zionistic and Solidarity-Conflict – were tapped by an original instrument constructed specifically for this research. The values and the identity representations were divided into hegemonic vs. emancipated. Results supported the hypothesis regarding the hegemonic social representations of the value of tradition, but not for those of emancipated representations self -enhancement values. Its import to SRT literature is the unique identity definition as a social representation and the theoretical and the empirical elaboration of the concepts of hegemonic and emancipated representations.

Author Biographies

Bilha Paryente, Achva College of Education

BILHA PARYENTE lives with her husband and five children in a small village in the
northern part of the Israeli Negev. Her doctoral thesis was based on Social
Representations Theory, and she took part in the Israeli SRT group. She published a
number of papers in Hebrew and English and serves as the head of the Child
Development’s Department in the Achva College of Education.

Emda Orr, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

EMDA ORR is a retired Professor living in a Kibbutz in the Israeli Negev desert. Her
academic activity began within the tradition of the American social psychology, but was later concerned with the Theory of Social Representations. From then on, her and her students' research was grounded within SRT. In addition to publications in Hebrew and English, with the support of students, she published a first SRT book as a Hebrew publication (2007) that includes a Hebrew translation of Moscovici's (1984) seminal paper and a special theoretical paper by Wolfgang Wagner.

Published
2010-10-15
Section
Free standing papers