De invloed van waardenoriëntaties op de vormgeving van partnerrelaties: Meer individualistisch, minder afhankelijk?

Samenvatting

The impact of value orientations on the design of unions: more individualistic, less dependent? Summary: In this article, we examine the impact of religious values, postmaterialistic values and values towards women's emancipation on the way members of a couple arrange their lives together. We examine how these values affect three areas of daily life: (1) consumption (activities), (2) production (division of household and caring tasks), and (3) reproduction (birth of children). We use longitudinal data on young men and women in the Netherlands. Values were measured in the 1991 and 1995 waves of the panel and our behavioural outcomes were measured in 1999. We find positive evidence that values affect patterns of consumption, production and reproduction in couples. In general people with traditional values participate more in joint consumption, they participate more in specialized production, and they have children earlier. These findings show that people with traditional values more often engage in activities that make them dependent on a family. In other words, they invest more in family life.