Ingelhart & Abramson (1994) Economic Security and Value Change

Abstract: Confirming Inglehart’s prediction (1971) of an intergenerational...

A theory of value change, from materialist values (economic and physical security) to post-materialist values (freedom, self-expression) on account of life-cycle effects or intergenerational change.

Life cycle effects: change in values as you age
Intergenerational change: change in values between younger generations and older generations on account of birthright.

Two hypotheses that predict changing values:
Socialization hypothesis: one’s basic values reflect the conditions that prevailed in one’s pre-adult years.
Scarcity hypothesis: an individual’s priorities reflect one’s socioeconomic environment.

Short-term and Long-term value change:
Short-term value changes function like period effects; periods of prosperity lead to postmaterialism during the prosperity. Long-term value changes function like cohort effects; cohorts experience prosperity, develop values, and maintain those values, as a cohort.

Ingelhar's thesis predicts only model gains of about one point per year in post-materialism, since he argues that the trend is driven by generational replacement (long-term value change possible). If generational replacement were the only factor influencing value change, the trend toward postmaterialism would be similar in all these societies, since the speed of generational replacement varies only slightly from country to county.

yet the authors here provide additional evidence using cohort analysis and using two pieice of side information: (1) taking into consideration periods on economic ressession experienced by the countries, and (2) these economic conditions would result in a downward shift toward materialism.

findings:
The rise in the overall percentage difference index occurs because during these 22 yers the older, more materialistic cohorts were gradually dying and being replaced by younger, more postmaterialist cohorts. These results make clear that geernational replacement is a major force driving postmaterialism upward. in otherwards, gradually gains postmaterialism result mainly from the gradual exit of the older cohorts through death.

Yet short-term period effects are also present. In none of the 8 European societies none of them show a simple linear progression toward post-materialism.
Results show that materialist and non-materialist values wax and wane with economic prosperity (also predicted by Inglehart's theory); inflation and postmaterialist values move in tandem, as predicted.