Motivation for agreement with parental values: desirable when autonomous, problematic when controlled

Two studies examined the well-being and parenting correlates of autonomous and controlled motivations for agreement with parental values. We hypothesized that autonomous motivation would be associated with subjective well-being, whereas controlled motivation would be associated with agitation and guilt. Study 1 involved 399 Israeli youth (mean age = 23.8) and Study 2 involved 131 Israeli adolescents (mean age = 16.9). Results of both studies supported the hypotheses. The findings suggest that only autonomous motivation for agreement with parents’ values is positively associated with well-being. This effect is over and above the extent of agreement between offspring values and perceived parents’ values, and highlights the importance of distinguishing between autonomous and controlled endorsement of values.