Comparison of Parental Values, Parental Satisfaction, and Well-Being Based on the Perceived level of welfare in Parents

This study was administrated to compare parental values, satisfaction, and psychological well-being in parents living in Tehran. The research method is descriptive and causal-comparative. The participants included, 447 parents (225 mothers and 222 fathers) who were selected by convenience from different regions of Tehran (north, south, center, east, and west) and categorized into different disadvantaged, average and relatively prosperous based on perceived welfare in the neighborhood. Assessment tools included the Adult Goals and Values Questionnaire with internal consistency in the range of .60-.94, (Suizo, 2007), the WHO Well-being Index ) with internal consistency in the range of .92-.94, and the Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale (James et al., 1985) with Cronbach's alpha in the range of .82-.85. The results of MANOVA showed that three groups of parents residing in disadvantaged, average, and relatively prosperous regions had significant differences in the values of tradition and conformity, power and achievement, related to others, generosity and benevolence, separateness, and parental satisfaction, but had no significant difference in psychological well-being (p < .01). The results also showed that parents living in relatively prosperous regions were more likely to nurture values of conformity, achievement, benevolence, and separateness. They had higher parental satisfaction, and parents living in disadvantaged regions focused on religious values in their children. The perceived level of economic affordability of families can be considered one of the factors affecting the prioritization of parenting values and parental satisfaction with parenthood.