Structural Validity of the Polish Adaptation of the Picture-Based Value Survey for Children (PBVS-C)

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed an increasing number of studies, also in the field of educational psychology, on values within the framework proposed by Schwartz, involving younger and younger respondents. A fresh impetus to studies on children’s values was given by the Picture-Based Value Survey for Children (PBVS-C), which was developed by Döring and her colleagues. This article presents the development and structural validation of the Polish version of the PBVS-C, which measures Schwartz’s four higher-order values self-transcendence, self-enhancement, openness to change, and conservation. A theory-based multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis performed in a sample of 910 children (aged 8-12 years) revealed a differentiated value structure that closely corresponds to Schwartz’s prototype. These findings are discussed in light of cross-cultural assessment in childhood.

Cross‐cultural evidence of value structures and priorities in childhood

“…Cieciuch et al . () adapted it to Polish and established the structural and construct validity of the German and Polish versions of the PVBS‐C through convergence of findings with the PVQ (Cieciuch et al ., ,b; Döring et al ., ).…”

“…() developed the PBVS‐C, which they administered to middle childhood samples of German and Polish children. They too found that value structures were largely in line with Schwartz's circular model (Bilsky et al ., ; found eight distinct values, Cieciuch et al ., , ,b found seven distinct values, and Döring et al ., found ten distinct values) . In all value structures, the oppositions between the higher order values of self‐transcendence vs. self‐enhancement and of conservation vs. openness to change were present.…”

“…We expect openness to change and conservation values to fall in the middle of the value hierarchies. The middle childhood samples in one German and one Polish study exhibited such a hierarchy (Cieciuch et al ., ; Döring et al ., ). Assuming this value hierarchy is shared across cultures, we expect to find it in our samples from Italy, Bulgaria, the United States, and New Zealand too .…”

“…So far, these questions remain unanswered. Several studies speak to Schwartz's values in adolescence (e.g., Barni & Knafo, ; Daniel et al ., ; Knafo & Schwartz, ; Schwartz, ; Schwartz et al ., ), and a handful of studies treat values in late childhood (Bilsky et al ., ; Bubeck & Bilsky, ; Cieciuch, Döring, & Harasimczuk, ; Cieciuch, Harasimczuk, & Döring, , ; Döring, ; Döring, Blauensteiner, Aryus, Drögekamp, & Bilsky, ; Knafo & Spinath, ). Even less has been published on value structures and priorities in middle childhood, that is, among elementary‐school children.…”

“…In 2010, Döring and colleagues introduced a new measure that provided access to children's self‐reports of their values for the first time: the Picture‐Based Value Survey for Children (PBVS‐C). The first studies conducted with the PBVS‐C (e.g., Cieciuch et al ., , ,b; Döring et al ., ) have provided new insights into the unexplored field of children's values and for the first time showed that German and Polish children structure their values in accordance with Schwartz's circular model.…”