diff --git a/Appraisals b/Appraisals
index 90179a1..5876a44 100644
--- a/Appraisals
+++ b/Appraisals
@@ -25,3 +25,20 @@ appraise "rails-6" do
   gem "activesupport", "6.0.0"
   gem "activerecord", "6.0.0"
 end
+
+appraise "rails-7.0.4" do
+  gem "activesupport", "7.0.4"
+  gem "activerecord", "7.0.4"
+end
+
+appraise "rails-7.1" do
+  gem "activesupport", "7.1.0"
+  gem "activerecord", "7.1.0"
+  gem "sqlite3", "~> 1.4"
+end
+
+appraise "rails-7.2" do
+  gem "activesupport", "~> 7.2.0"
+  gem "activerecord",  "~> 7.2.0"
+  gem "sqlite3", "~> 2.0"
+end
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9745e31..b0971db 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Or install it yourself as:
 
       preferences do
 
-        preference :taxable data_type: :boolean, required: true
+        preference :taxable data_type: :boolean, required: true, default: true
         preference :vat_no required: false
         preference :max_invoice_items data_type: :integer
 
diff --git a/gemfiles/rails_7.0.4.gemfile b/gemfiles/rails_7.0.4.gemfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c363a4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gemfiles/rails_7.0.4.gemfile
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# This file was generated by Appraisal
+
+source "https://rubygems.org"
+
+gem "activesupport", "7.0.4"
+gem "activerecord", "7.0.4"
+
+gemspec path: "../"
diff --git a/gemfiles/rails_7.0.4.gemfile.lock b/gemfiles/rails_7.0.4.gemfile.lock
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26aa944
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gemfiles/rails_7.0.4.gemfile.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+PATH
+  remote: ..
+  specs:
+    serial_preference (1.3.0)
+      activerecord (>= 3.0.0)
+      activesupport (>= 3.0.0)
+
+GEM
+  remote: https://rubygems.org/
+  specs:
+    actionpack (7.0.4)
+      actionview (= 7.0.4)
+      activesupport (= 7.0.4)
+      rack (~> 2.0, >= 2.2.0)
+      rack-test (>= 0.6.3)
+      rails-dom-testing (~> 2.0)
+      rails-html-sanitizer (~> 1.0, >= 1.2.0)
+    actionview (7.0.4)
+      activesupport (= 7.0.4)
+      builder (~> 3.1)
+      erubi (~> 1.4)
+      rails-dom-testing (~> 2.0)
+      rails-html-sanitizer (~> 1.1, >= 1.2.0)
+    activemodel (7.0.4)
+      activesupport (= 7.0.4)
+    activerecord (7.0.4)
+      activemodel (= 7.0.4)
+      activesupport (= 7.0.4)
+    activesupport (7.0.4)
+      concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0, >= 1.0.2)
+      i18n (>= 1.6, < 2)
+      minitest (>= 5.1)
+      tzinfo (~> 2.0)
+    appraisal (2.4.1)
+      bundler
+      rake
+      thor (>= 0.14.0)
+    builder (3.2.4)
+    concurrent-ruby (1.1.10)
+    crass (1.0.6)
+    date (3.5.1)
+    debug (1.11.1)
+      irb (~> 1.10)
+      reline (>= 0.3.8)
+    diff-lcs (1.5.0)
+    erb (6.0.1)
+    erubi (1.12.0)
+    i18n (1.12.0)
+      concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0)
+    io-console (0.8.2)
+    irb (1.16.0)
+      pp (>= 0.6.0)
+      rdoc (>= 4.0.0)
+      reline (>= 0.4.2)
+    loofah (2.19.1)
+      crass (~> 1.0.2)
+      nokogiri (>= 1.5.9)
+    method_source (1.0.0)
+    minitest (5.17.0)
+    nokogiri (1.14.0-x86_64-darwin)
+      racc (~> 1.4)
+    nokogiri (1.14.0-x86_64-linux)
+      racc (~> 1.4)
+    pp (0.6.3)
+      prettyprint
+    prettyprint (0.2.0)
+    psych (5.3.1)
+      date
+      stringio
+    racc (1.6.2)
+    rack (2.2.6)
+    rack-test (2.0.2)
+      rack (>= 1.3)
+    rails-dom-testing (2.0.3)
+      activesupport (>= 4.2.0)
+      nokogiri (>= 1.6)
+    rails-html-sanitizer (1.4.4)
+      loofah (~> 2.19, >= 2.19.1)
+    railties (7.0.4)
+      actionpack (= 7.0.4)
+      activesupport (= 7.0.4)
+      method_source
+      rake (>= 12.2)
+      thor (~> 1.0)
+      zeitwerk (~> 2.5)
+    rake (13.0.6)
+    rdoc (7.1.0)
+      erb
+      psych (>= 4.0.0)
+      tsort
+    reline (0.6.3)
+      io-console (~> 0.5)
+    rspec (3.12.0)
+      rspec-core (~> 3.12.0)
+      rspec-expectations (~> 3.12.0)
+      rspec-mocks (~> 3.12.0)
+    rspec-core (3.12.0)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.12.0)
+    rspec-expectations (3.12.2)
+      diff-lcs (>= 1.2.0, < 2.0)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.12.0)
+    rspec-mocks (3.12.3)
+      diff-lcs (>= 1.2.0, < 2.0)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.12.0)
+    rspec-rails (6.0.1)
+      actionpack (>= 6.1)
+      activesupport (>= 6.1)
+      railties (>= 6.1)
+      rspec-core (~> 3.11)
+      rspec-expectations (~> 3.11)
+      rspec-mocks (~> 3.11)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.11)
+    rspec-support (3.12.0)
+    shoulda (4.0.0)
+      shoulda-context (~> 2.0)
+      shoulda-matchers (~> 4.0)
+    shoulda-context (2.0.0)
+    shoulda-matchers (4.5.1)
+      activesupport (>= 4.2.0)
+    sqlite3 (1.6.0-x86_64-darwin)
+    sqlite3 (1.6.0-x86_64-linux)
+    stringio (3.2.0)
+    thor (1.2.1)
+    tsort (0.2.0)
+    tzinfo (2.0.5)
+      concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0)
+    zeitwerk (2.6.6)
+
+PLATFORMS
+  x86_64-darwin-22
+  x86_64-linux
+
+DEPENDENCIES
+  activerecord (= 7.0.4)
+  activesupport (= 7.0.4)
+  appraisal
+  debug
+  rspec (>= 3.0.0)
+  rspec-rails
+  serial_preference!
+  shoulda
+  sqlite3
+
+BUNDLED WITH
+   2.4.3
diff --git a/gemfiles/rails_7.1.gemfile b/gemfiles/rails_7.1.gemfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..136eccc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gemfiles/rails_7.1.gemfile
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# This file was generated by Appraisal
+
+source "https://rubygems.org"
+
+gem "activesupport", "7.1.0"
+gem "activerecord", "7.1.0"
+gem "sqlite3", "~> 1.4"
+
+gemspec path: "../"
diff --git a/gemfiles/rails_7.1.gemfile.lock b/gemfiles/rails_7.1.gemfile.lock
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d0968c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gemfiles/rails_7.1.gemfile.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,164 @@
+PATH
+  remote: ..
+  specs:
+    serial_preference (1.3.0)
+      activerecord (>= 3.0.0)
+      activesupport (>= 3.0.0)
+
+GEM
+  remote: https://rubygems.org/
+  specs:
+    actionpack (7.1.0)
+      actionview (= 7.1.0)
+      activesupport (= 7.1.0)
+      nokogiri (>= 1.8.5)
+      rack (>= 2.2.4)
+      rack-session (>= 1.0.1)
+      rack-test (>= 0.6.3)
+      rails-dom-testing (~> 2.2)
+      rails-html-sanitizer (~> 1.6)
+    actionview (7.1.0)
+      activesupport (= 7.1.0)
+      builder (~> 3.1)
+      erubi (~> 1.11)
+      rails-dom-testing (~> 2.2)
+      rails-html-sanitizer (~> 1.6)
+    activemodel (7.1.0)
+      activesupport (= 7.1.0)
+    activerecord (7.1.0)
+      activemodel (= 7.1.0)
+      activesupport (= 7.1.0)
+      timeout (>= 0.4.0)
+    activesupport (7.1.0)
+      base64
+      bigdecimal
+      concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0, >= 1.0.2)
+      connection_pool (>= 2.2.5)
+      drb
+      i18n (>= 1.6, < 2)
+      minitest (>= 5.1)
+      mutex_m
+      tzinfo (~> 2.0)
+    appraisal (2.5.0)
+      bundler
+      rake
+      thor (>= 0.14.0)
+    base64 (0.3.0)
+    bigdecimal (4.0.1)
+    builder (3.3.0)
+    concurrent-ruby (1.3.6)
+    connection_pool (3.0.2)
+    crass (1.0.6)
+    date (3.5.1)
+    debug (1.11.1)
+      irb (~> 1.10)
+      reline (>= 0.3.8)
+    diff-lcs (1.6.2)
+    drb (2.2.3)
+    erb (6.0.1)
+    erubi (1.13.1)
+    i18n (1.14.8)
+      concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0)
+    io-console (0.8.2)
+    irb (1.16.0)
+      pp (>= 0.6.0)
+      rdoc (>= 4.0.0)
+      reline (>= 0.4.2)
+    loofah (2.25.0)
+      crass (~> 1.0.2)
+      nokogiri (>= 1.12.0)
+    minitest (6.0.1)
+      prism (~> 1.5)
+    mutex_m (0.3.0)
+    nokogiri (1.19.0-x86_64-darwin)
+      racc (~> 1.4)
+    pp (0.6.3)
+      prettyprint
+    prettyprint (0.2.0)
+    prism (1.8.0)
+    psych (5.3.1)
+      date
+      stringio
+    racc (1.8.1)
+    rack (3.2.4)
+    rack-session (2.1.1)
+      base64 (>= 0.1.0)
+      rack (>= 3.0.0)
+    rack-test (2.2.0)
+      rack (>= 1.3)
+    rackup (2.3.1)
+      rack (>= 3)
+    rails-dom-testing (2.3.0)
+      activesupport (>= 5.0.0)
+      minitest
+      nokogiri (>= 1.6)
+    rails-html-sanitizer (1.6.2)
+      loofah (~> 2.21)
+      nokogiri (>= 1.15.7, != 1.16.7, != 1.16.6, != 1.16.5, != 1.16.4, != 1.16.3, != 1.16.2, != 1.16.1, != 1.16.0.rc1, != 1.16.0)
+    railties (7.1.0)
+      actionpack (= 7.1.0)
+      activesupport (= 7.1.0)
+      irb
+      rackup (>= 1.0.0)
+      rake (>= 12.2)
+      thor (~> 1.0, >= 1.2.2)
+      zeitwerk (~> 2.6)
+    rake (13.3.1)
+    rdoc (7.1.0)
+      erb
+      psych (>= 4.0.0)
+      tsort
+    reline (0.6.3)
+      io-console (~> 0.5)
+    rspec (3.13.2)
+      rspec-core (~> 3.13.0)
+      rspec-expectations (~> 3.13.0)
+      rspec-mocks (~> 3.13.0)
+    rspec-core (3.13.6)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.13.0)
+    rspec-expectations (3.13.5)
+      diff-lcs (>= 1.2.0, < 2.0)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.13.0)
+    rspec-mocks (3.13.7)
+      diff-lcs (>= 1.2.0, < 2.0)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.13.0)
+    rspec-rails (7.1.1)
+      actionpack (>= 7.0)
+      activesupport (>= 7.0)
+      railties (>= 7.0)
+      rspec-core (~> 3.13)
+      rspec-expectations (~> 3.13)
+      rspec-mocks (~> 3.13)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.13)
+    rspec-support (3.13.6)
+    shoulda (4.0.0)
+      shoulda-context (~> 2.0)
+      shoulda-matchers (~> 4.0)
+    shoulda-context (2.0.0)
+    shoulda-matchers (4.5.1)
+      activesupport (>= 4.2.0)
+    sqlite3 (1.6.0-x86_64-darwin)
+    stringio (3.2.0)
+    thor (1.5.0)
+    timeout (0.6.0)
+    tsort (0.2.0)
+    tzinfo (2.0.6)
+      concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0)
+    zeitwerk (2.7.4)
+
+PLATFORMS
+  x86_64-darwin-22
+
+DEPENDENCIES
+  activerecord (= 7.1.0)
+  activesupport (= 7.1.0)
+  appraisal
+  debug
+  rspec (>= 3.0.0)
+  rspec-rails
+  serial_preference!
+  shoulda
+  sqlite3 (~> 1.4)
+
+BUNDLED WITH
+   2.3.26
diff --git a/gemfiles/rails_7.2.gemfile b/gemfiles/rails_7.2.gemfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0584516
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gemfiles/rails_7.2.gemfile
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# This file was generated by Appraisal
+
+source "https://rubygems.org"
+
+gem "activesupport", "~> 7.2.0"
+gem "activerecord", "~> 7.2.0"
+gem "sqlite3", "~> 2.0"
+
+gemspec path: "../"
diff --git a/gemfiles/rails_7.2.gemfile.lock b/gemfiles/rails_7.2.gemfile.lock
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5f9d3ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gemfiles/rails_7.2.gemfile.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+PATH
+  remote: ..
+  specs:
+    serial_preference (1.3.0)
+      activerecord (>= 3.0.0)
+      activesupport (>= 3.0.0)
+
+GEM
+  remote: https://rubygems.org/
+  specs:
+    actionpack (7.2.3)
+      actionview (= 7.2.3)
+      activesupport (= 7.2.3)
+      cgi
+      nokogiri (>= 1.8.5)
+      racc
+      rack (>= 2.2.4, < 3.3)
+      rack-session (>= 1.0.1)
+      rack-test (>= 0.6.3)
+      rails-dom-testing (~> 2.2)
+      rails-html-sanitizer (~> 1.6)
+      useragent (~> 0.16)
+    actionview (7.2.3)
+      activesupport (= 7.2.3)
+      builder (~> 3.1)
+      cgi
+      erubi (~> 1.11)
+      rails-dom-testing (~> 2.2)
+      rails-html-sanitizer (~> 1.6)
+    activemodel (7.2.3)
+      activesupport (= 7.2.3)
+    activerecord (7.2.3)
+      activemodel (= 7.2.3)
+      activesupport (= 7.2.3)
+      timeout (>= 0.4.0)
+    activesupport (7.2.3)
+      base64
+      benchmark (>= 0.3)
+      bigdecimal
+      concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0, >= 1.3.1)
+      connection_pool (>= 2.2.5)
+      drb
+      i18n (>= 1.6, < 2)
+      logger (>= 1.4.2)
+      minitest (>= 5.1)
+      securerandom (>= 0.3)
+      tzinfo (~> 2.0, >= 2.0.5)
+    appraisal (2.5.0)
+      bundler
+      rake
+      thor (>= 0.14.0)
+    base64 (0.3.0)
+    benchmark (0.5.0)
+    bigdecimal (4.0.1)
+    builder (3.3.0)
+    cgi (0.5.1)
+    concurrent-ruby (1.3.6)
+    connection_pool (3.0.2)
+    crass (1.0.6)
+    date (3.5.1)
+    debug (1.11.1)
+      irb (~> 1.10)
+      reline (>= 0.3.8)
+    diff-lcs (1.6.2)
+    drb (2.2.3)
+    erb (6.0.1)
+    erubi (1.13.1)
+    i18n (1.14.8)
+      concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0)
+    io-console (0.8.2)
+    irb (1.16.0)
+      pp (>= 0.6.0)
+      rdoc (>= 4.0.0)
+      reline (>= 0.4.2)
+    logger (1.7.0)
+    loofah (2.25.0)
+      crass (~> 1.0.2)
+      nokogiri (>= 1.12.0)
+    minitest (6.0.1)
+      prism (~> 1.5)
+    nokogiri (1.19.0-x86_64-darwin)
+      racc (~> 1.4)
+    pp (0.6.3)
+      prettyprint
+    prettyprint (0.2.0)
+    prism (1.8.0)
+    psych (5.3.1)
+      date
+      stringio
+    racc (1.8.1)
+    rack (3.2.4)
+    rack-session (2.1.1)
+      base64 (>= 0.1.0)
+      rack (>= 3.0.0)
+    rack-test (2.2.0)
+      rack (>= 1.3)
+    rackup (2.3.1)
+      rack (>= 3)
+    rails-dom-testing (2.3.0)
+      activesupport (>= 5.0.0)
+      minitest
+      nokogiri (>= 1.6)
+    rails-html-sanitizer (1.6.2)
+      loofah (~> 2.21)
+      nokogiri (>= 1.15.7, != 1.16.7, != 1.16.6, != 1.16.5, != 1.16.4, != 1.16.3, != 1.16.2, != 1.16.1, != 1.16.0.rc1, != 1.16.0)
+    railties (7.2.3)
+      actionpack (= 7.2.3)
+      activesupport (= 7.2.3)
+      cgi
+      irb (~> 1.13)
+      rackup (>= 1.0.0)
+      rake (>= 12.2)
+      thor (~> 1.0, >= 1.2.2)
+      tsort (>= 0.2)
+      zeitwerk (~> 2.6)
+    rake (13.3.1)
+    rdoc (7.1.0)
+      erb
+      psych (>= 4.0.0)
+      tsort
+    reline (0.6.3)
+      io-console (~> 0.5)
+    rspec (3.13.2)
+      rspec-core (~> 3.13.0)
+      rspec-expectations (~> 3.13.0)
+      rspec-mocks (~> 3.13.0)
+    rspec-core (3.13.6)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.13.0)
+    rspec-expectations (3.13.5)
+      diff-lcs (>= 1.2.0, < 2.0)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.13.0)
+    rspec-mocks (3.13.7)
+      diff-lcs (>= 1.2.0, < 2.0)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.13.0)
+    rspec-rails (8.0.2)
+      actionpack (>= 7.2)
+      activesupport (>= 7.2)
+      railties (>= 7.2)
+      rspec-core (~> 3.13)
+      rspec-expectations (~> 3.13)
+      rspec-mocks (~> 3.13)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.13)
+    rspec-support (3.13.6)
+    securerandom (0.4.1)
+    shoulda (4.0.0)
+      shoulda-context (~> 2.0)
+      shoulda-matchers (~> 4.0)
+    shoulda-context (2.0.0)
+    shoulda-matchers (4.5.1)
+      activesupport (>= 4.2.0)
+    sqlite3 (2.9.0-x86_64-darwin)
+    stringio (3.2.0)
+    thor (1.5.0)
+    timeout (0.6.0)
+    tsort (0.2.0)
+    tzinfo (2.0.6)
+      concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0)
+    useragent (0.16.11)
+    zeitwerk (2.7.4)
+
+PLATFORMS
+  x86_64-darwin-22
+
+DEPENDENCIES
+  activerecord (~> 7.2.0)
+  activesupport (~> 7.2.0)
+  appraisal
+  debug
+  rspec (>= 3.0.0)
+  rspec-rails
+  serial_preference!
+  shoulda
+  sqlite3 (~> 2.0)
+
+BUNDLED WITH
+   2.3.26
diff --git a/lib/serial_preference.rb b/lib/serial_preference.rb
index 28adf2e..5e39d1e 100644
--- a/lib/serial_preference.rb
+++ b/lib/serial_preference.rb
@@ -2,5 +2,6 @@
 require 'active_record'
 require "serial_preference/version"
 require 'serial_preference/preference_definition'
+require 'serial_preference/safe_yaml_coder'
 require "serial_preference/preferenzer"
 require "serial_preference/has_preference_map"
diff --git a/lib/serial_preference/has_preference_map.rb b/lib/serial_preference/has_preference_map.rb
index e255335..6c25c15 100644
--- a/lib/serial_preference/has_preference_map.rb
+++ b/lib/serial_preference/has_preference_map.rb
@@ -32,7 +32,11 @@ def preference_names
       private
 
       def build_preference_definitions
-        serialize self._preferences_attribute, Hash
+        if serialize_supports_coder?
+          serialize self._preferences_attribute, coder: SerialPreference::SafeYamlCoder, type: Hash
+        else
+          serialize self._preferences_attribute, Hash
+        end
 
         _preference_map.all_preference_definitions.each do |preference|
 
@@ -55,6 +59,11 @@ def build_preference_definitions
 
         end
       end
+
+      def serialize_supports_coder?
+        ActiveRecord::Base.respond_to?(:serialize) &&
+          ActiveRecord::Base.method(:serialize).parameters.any? { |p| p.include?(:coder) }
+      end
     end
 
     protected
@@ -71,6 +80,5 @@ def write_preference_attribute(store_attribute, key, value)
         attribute[key.to_sym] = value
       end
     end
-
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/serial_preference/preference_definition.rb b/lib/serial_preference/preference_definition.rb
index c165170..77601ea 100644
--- a/lib/serial_preference/preference_definition.rb
+++ b/lib/serial_preference/preference_definition.rb
@@ -8,20 +8,20 @@ class PreferenceDefinition
     def initialize(name,*args)
       opts = args.extract_options!
       self.name = name.to_s
-      opts.assert_valid_keys(:data_type,:default,:required,:field_type)
+      opts.assert_valid_keys(:data_type, :default, :required, :field_type)
       self.data_type = @type = opts[:data_type] || :string
-      @column = ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::Column.new(name.to_s, opts[:default], column_type(@type))
+      @column = rails_below_6? ? ActiveRecord::ConnectionAdapters::Column.new(name.to_s, opts[:default], column_type(@type)) : column_type(@type)
       self.default = opts[:default]
       self.required = !!opts[:required]
       self.field_type = opts[:field_type]
     end
 
     def name
-      @column.name
+      @column.respond_to?(:name) ? @column.name : @name
     end
 
     def default_value
-      @column.default
+      @column.respond_to?(:default) ? @column.default : @default
     end
 
     def required?
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ def boolean?
     end
 
     def type_cast(value)
-      v = @column.type_cast(value)
+      v = @column.respond_to?(:cast) ? @column.cast(value) : @column.type_cast(value)
       v.nil? ? default_value : v
     end
 
@@ -61,25 +61,37 @@ def value(v)
         case data_type
         when :string, :password
           v.to_s
-        when  :integer
+        when :integer
           v.respond_to?(:to_i) ? v.to_i : nil
         when :float, :real
           v.respond_to?(:to_f) ? v.to_f : nil
         when :boolean
-          return false if v == 0
-          return false if v == ""
-          return false if v == nil
-          return false if v.to_s.downcase == "false"
-          return false if v == "0"
-          return false if v.to_s.downcase == "no"
-          !!v
+          !!normalize_boolean(v)
         else
           nil
         end
       end
     end
 
+    private
+
     def column_type(type)
+      if rails_below_6?
+        column_type_below_6(type)
+      else
+        column_type_greater_6(type)
+      end
+    end
+
+    def column_type_greater_6(type)
+      begin
+        ActiveModel::Type.lookup(type)
+      rescue ArgumentError
+        ActiveModel::Type::String.new
+      end
+    end
+
+    def column_type_below_6(type)
       if greater_or_equal_rails_42?
         case type
         when :boolean
@@ -98,8 +110,22 @@ def column_type(type)
       end
     end
 
+    def normalize_boolean(v)
+      if rails_below_6?
+        return false if ["", "0", "false", "no"].include?(v.to_s.downcase)
+        v
+      else
+        return false if !v || (v.is_a?(String) && (v.downcase == "no"))
+        ActiveModel::Type::Boolean.new.cast(v.to_s.downcase)
+      end
+    end
+
     def greater_or_equal_rails_42?
       ActiveRecord::VERSION::MAJOR > 4 || (ActiveRecord::VERSION::MAJOR == 4 && ActiveRecord::VERSION::MINOR == 2)
     end
+
+    def rails_below_6?
+      ActiveRecord::VERSION::MAJOR < 6
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/serial_preference/safe_yaml_coder.rb b/lib/serial_preference/safe_yaml_coder.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8346100
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/serial_preference/safe_yaml_coder.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+module SerialPreference
+  module SafeYamlCoder
+    def self.dump(obj)
+      YAML.dump(obj)
+    end
+
+    def self.load(yaml)
+      return {} if yaml.nil?
+
+      Psych.safe_load(yaml, permitted_classes: [Symbol], aliases: true) || {}
+    rescue Psych::Exception, TypeError
+      YAML.load(yaml) || {}
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/serial_preference.gemspec b/serial_preference.gemspec
index 29fccb0..7946846 100644
--- a/serial_preference.gemspec
+++ b/serial_preference.gemspec
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |gem|
   gem.add_runtime_dependency "activerecord", ">= 3.0.0"
 
   gem.add_development_dependency 'sqlite3'
+  gem.add_development_dependency 'debug'
   gem.add_development_dependency 'rspec', ">= 3.0.0"
   gem.add_development_dependency 'rspec-rails'
   gem.add_development_dependency "shoulda"
diff --git a/spec/preference_definition_spec.rb b/spec/preference_definition_spec.rb
index c132314..45eb2b2 100644
--- a/spec/preference_definition_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/preference_definition_spec.rb
@@ -179,6 +179,69 @@
       end
     end
 
+    context "boolean? behaviour" do
+      it "should be boolean when data_type is boolean" do
+        p = described_class.new("whatever",{data_type: :boolean})
+        expect(p.boolean?).to be_truthy
+      end
+
+      it "should not be boolean for non boolean data types" do
+        [:string, :integer, :float, :decimal, :password, :xyz].each do |dt|
+          expect(described_class.new("whatever",{data_type: dt}).boolean?).to be_falsey
+        end
+      end
+    end
+
+    context "default_value behaviour" do
+      it "should return nil when no default is set" do
+        expect(@blank_pref.default_value).to be_nil
+      end
+
+      it "should return cast default value for boolean" do
+        p = described_class.new("flag",{default: true, data_type: :boolean})
+        expect(p.default_value).to be_truthy
+      end
+    end
+
+    context "normalize_boolean behaviour" do
+      before do
+        @bool = described_class.new("flag",{data_type: :boolean})
+      end
+
+      it "should treat 'yes' as true" do
+        expect(@bool.send(:normalize_boolean, "yes")).to be_truthy
+      end
+
+      it "should treat 'no' as false" do
+        expect(@bool.send(:normalize_boolean, "no")).to be_falsey
+      end
+
+      it "should treat numeric zero as false" do
+        expect(@bool.send(:normalize_boolean, 0)).to be_falsey
+      end
+
+      it "should treat numeric '0' as false" do
+        expect(@bool.send(:normalize_boolean, '0')).to be_falsey
+      end
+    end
+
+    context "value method edge cases" do
+      it "should return default when value is nil and default exists" do
+        p = described_class.new("color",{default: "red"})
+        expect(p.value(nil)).to eq("red")
+      end
+
+      it "should handle boolean strings properly" do
+        p = described_class.new("flag",{data_type: :boolean})
+        expect(p.value("true")).to be_truthy
+        expect(p.value("false")).to be_falsey
+      end
+
+      it "should not coerce non boolean types into boolean" do
+        p = described_class.new("mode",{data_type: :string})
+        expect(p.value("false")).to eq("false")
+      end
+    end
   end
 
 end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index ab4e8f8..2b8f025 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -4,11 +4,13 @@
 require 'active_record'
 require 'yaml'
 require 'rspec'
+require 'debug'
 require 'shoulda'
 require "serial_preference/version"
 require 'serial_preference/preference_definition'
 require "serial_preference/preferenzer"
 require "serial_preference/has_preference_map"
+require 'serial_preference/safe_yaml_coder'
 
 FIXTURES_DIR = File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), "fixtures")
 config = YAML::load(IO.read(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/database.yml'))