“What is important to me, is important to us”: The relation between individual and couple values and coparenting

Values have been for a long time conceptualized and operationalized as an individual, organizational or cultural construct. Values may also be conceptualized as qualities of proximal microsystems, such as the couple. Indeed, the couple is an entity, with a unique identity that may hold specific values priorities which only partially correspond to those of the individuals that compose it, and which may in turn be related to couple qualities.
In Study 1 we investigated whether the discrepancy between personal and couple values among a sample of 546 parents (54.1% women; Mage = 41.52 years, SD = 7.19) of children aged 0-13 was related to coparenting, namely the extent to which parents share parental responsibility building a solid alliance, trusting and supporting each other. Results showed that as discrepancy among personal and couple self-transcendence and conservation values increases, coparenting decreases. In Study 2 we investigated whether the discrepancy between couple values of heterosexual intimate partners (167 couples; Mage of women = 42.14 years, SD = 6.78; Mage of men = 45.41 years, SD = 7.57), having children aged 0-13, related to both respondents’ coparenting. In this case, no statistically significant relation emerged. All in all, findings of both studies support that it is the discrepancy at the individual-couple level, rather than the one between the two partners of the couple, which relates to coparenting. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings will be discussed.