Values (e.g., achievement, helping) describe what is important to people in their lives. Past studies show that children's values are similar across ages and resemble the values of adults, but this study investigated areas in which concepts of values may vary with age. N = 122 children aged 5 to 12 (mean = 8.97, SD = 1.88) were interviewed regarding values important and unimportant to them. Responses were coded for their level of adherence to conceptual elements in the definition of values. Above and beyond verbal expression abilities, older children's value descriptions were more abstract, transcended specific situations, and were motivation, not behaviour based. In particular, 9–12‐year‐old children consistently outperformed 5–8‐year‐old children across value conceptualization measures. Furthermore, across ages, girls and children valuing self‐transcendence and openness to change described their values more abstractly than boys and children valuing self‐enhancement and conservation. Findings suggest children's values undergo processes of conceptual formation.

中文翻译：

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儿童的个人价值观

价值观（例如成就，帮助）描述了人们生活中重要的内容。过去的研究表明，儿童的价值观在各个年龄段都相似，并且与成年人的价值观相似，但是这项研究调查了价值观观念可能随年龄变化的领域。N = 122名5至12岁的儿童（平均= 8.97，SD= 1.88）接受了关于重要和不重要的价值观的访谈。根据对值的定义中对概念元素的遵守程度对响应进行编码。除了口头表达能力外，年龄较大的儿童的价值描述更为抽象，超越了特定情况，并且具有动机，而非基于行为。特别是，在价值概念化指标上，9至12岁的儿童始终胜过5至8岁的儿童。此外，在各个年龄段中，重视自我超越和开放变化的女孩和儿童比重视自我增强和保护的男孩和儿童更抽象地描述了他们的价值观。研究结果表明，儿童的价值观经历了概念形成的过程。