A comprehensive approach to value transmission in the digital age

Project Information

ValueIn

Grant agreement ID: 101076160

DOI

10.3030/101076160

EC signature date 10 July 2023

Start date 1 October 2023

End date 30 September 2028

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 499 750,00

EU contribution

€ 1 499 750,00

Coordinated by

TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY
Israel

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ValueIn (A comprehensive approach to value transmission in the digital age)

Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2026-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The EU aims to promote common values and beliefs among members. Classic research establishes parents as the main role models for such transmission. However, children today learn values from new role models, such as social media influencers (SMIs), users who share content to acquire followers.
The project will construct a comprehensive value transmission theory applicable across contexts and adapted to the digital age. It defines the essential mechanisms of value transmission aspects: source, channel, message, receivers. The source studied is mothers and SMIs. The channel is conversations and online exchange of content and engagement. The message is a set of values motivating prosocial behavior, including but not limited to moral values, and the balance among them. Child and adolescent receivers are considered active partners, choosing, negotiating, and transmitting values.
I am investigating the values important to children and adolescents. Further, I investigate the values held by their mothers and fathers, as well as youth-targeting SMIs. I go on to investigate the value transmission practices used by interaction partners to convey messages, and the effectiveness of practices in promoting moral values, value similarity, and prosocial behavior; Finally, I examine interactions between mothers’ and SMIs’ value transmission processes. I look at the way children and adolescents negotiate and select values when parents and SMIs convey different value messages, and at mediation practices parents can employ to support children and adolescents in understanding SMI’s values. The project puts high emphasis on the integration of research methodologies, including content analysis, qualitative research, interaction coding, longitudinal and experimental designs, twin designs, and integration of artificial intelligence for the identification of individual values and behaviors.
The project sets the stage for research into value transmission across contexts, broadens understanding of the role of family and social media in development, and creates a new standard for research methods in child development.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the past 2 years, we completed data collection for two work packages, and commenced on the data collection for 2 additional work packages. As part of work package 1, we collected a dataset of 107 families, including a child/adolescent, mother and father. Each answered questionnaires about parenting practices and dyads were videotaped conversing about prosocial behavior and values. The conversations are currently coded by trained research assistants to identify practices used to transmit values by children and parents. We expect coding to be completed by March. We are currently in the process of writing two manuscripts on the basis of this dataset. One postdoctoral fellow, one PhD student, two MA students, and a research associate are currently working on this dataset.
As part of work package 2, we collected a dataset of 890 TikToks, posted by 89 influencers targeting children and adolescents. Each post was content analyzed by three research assistants, to identify values and transmission practices. We developed an algorithm that identifies values from TikTok automatically using AI. We are currently scraping a much larger dataset of TikToks, and will apply this algorithm to analyze values as well as identify processes of value change within the network. We submitted one manuscript for publication and are in the process of writing two additional manuscripts. Two postdoctoral students are taking part in the project (one moved to an assistant professor role) as well as two MA students.
In addition to the previously planned work, we collected two additional datasets we believe can further support our understanding of value transmission within a social environment. In one, we investigated the values of adolescents and their parents, as well as their use of social media and mediation strategies parents use to regulate adolescents’ social media use. One publication was submitted using this dataset. In a second dataset, we investigated values over time, as well as attitudes toward social institutions across levels (from communal to country level institutions. One paper was published using this dataset, and a second was submitted for publication. We are currently collecting a third dataset of youth magazines across the decades, to identify values prevalent in them, and compare them to the TikToks we collected. This dataset will offer an understanding of changes in the media targeting children and adolescents over the years.
We are currently finishing the process of design and execution of studies based on work packages 3 and 4. We are finalizing measures, consulting experts, testing equipment, and requesting ethical approval. One PhD student and one MA student are working on this project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Our initial results show that parents’ specific practices are associated with the similarity of values between parents and children. However, the results do not appear to be completely consistent across measures of parenting practices and levels of analysis. These results therefore call for further understanding of the different aspects of parenting, and differences across parents. Once analysis will be completed, we can disseminate them across research communities, as well as among parents.
We can also report that social media influencers targeting children and adolescents are stressing mainly values of self-focus: achievement, power, hedonism, stimulation and self-direction. Those values contrast with values conveyed by parents and educators. We demonstrate that those values can be effectively identified by large language models, thus allowing scaling of the research. We will further this analysis, to understand the mechanisms that allow children and adolescents to learn values from social media. We will disseminate results to research communities, parents, educators, and regulators.
Our initial results also show that parents have the potential to support children and adolescents in navigation of social media values. Our work continues to identify practices that allow parents to mediate social media values and dilemmas arising from social media use. Those results will also be disseminated. To allow successful dissemination, we are working to ensure access to educator and parent organizations.