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Abstract

A quarter of a century ago Inglehart (1971) proposed a theory of value change predicting that value priorities in advanced industrial societies would tend to shift away from "materialist" concerns about economic and physical security toward great emphasis on freedom, self-expression, and the quality of life, or "postmaterialist" values. This change, he argued, was generated by generational population replacement, and would therefore be gradual. Fortunately, because the ongoing surveys conducted by the Commission of the European Communities consistently employed Inglehart's basic four-item

The substantialist reason in value research: A critical assessment of two Inglehart theses

“…Per capita GDP correlates with authoritarianism but not with religiosity, which is a further indication that the secular versus traditional construct is misleading. While the 50 plus countries for which we have meaningful constructs do not allow for even a cautious generalization, these findings are at odds with both the postmaterialism thesis and its later, nuanced version focusing on "postmodernization" (Inglehart 1997). It can be nonetheless inferred that the authoritarian variant of religiosity is more likely to weaken with rising national income.…”

“…Growing portions of materialists among the young in a number of European countries (Böltken and Jagodzinski 1985), the absence of significant effect of formative economic experiences on the postmaterialism score in adulthood (Clarke and Dutt 1991;Duch andTaylor 1993, 1994;De Graaf and Evans 1996;Rapkin 1997a, 1997b), and high instability, attributed specifically to random distribution of responses and non-attitudes (Van Deth 1983;Davis and Davenport 1999;Davis, Dowley, and Silver 1999) are documented. Inglehart's response to these challenges has been the reaffirmation of his original theses by pointing out differences between his and his critics' methods, arguing that general trends should be tracked at the ecological rather than at the individual level, stressing that the meaning of the left and right has been changing in line with his theses, and that the overall trend in the West has been an increase in the portion of postmaterialists, even after controlling for inflation (Inglehart 1982(Inglehart , 1983(Inglehart , 1985a(Inglehart , 1985bInglehart and Flanagan 1987;Abramson and Inglehart 1994;Abramson, Ellis, and Inglehart 1997;Inglehart and Abramson 1999).…”

“…With the expansion of the World Values Survey's geographical coverage, Inglehart has refined his thesis of value change, reinterpreting the postmaterialist shift as part of a broader transformation toward self-expression (Inglehart and Abramson 1994;Abramson and Inglehart 1995). To account for this phenomenon, he constructed two more comprehensive indicators that he claims to account for much of the value change taking place across societies with different cultural traditions (Inglehart 1997;Inglehart and Baker 2000) 2 . The secular- 1 The questions making up the full battery used to calculate the Postmaterialism Index are relevant to the specific problems of "30 Glorious Years" following the end of World War II when high growth rates, near full employment, and rapidly decreasing social inequalities were the characteristics of most Western economies.…”

“…Yet, a close inspection suggests that their categorization into "cultural zones" -a typology relying on Huntington's classification of civilizations (1996) -is moot. For example, Inglehart argues that the accelerated technological innovation and high rates of economic growth in a number of East Asian countries, like Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan can be traced back to a "Confucian" value orientation that is "similar" to the modernization "effects" of the Protestant ethic (Inglehart 1997;Hofstede and Bond 1988). 47 The IB cultural indicates similarities between the dominant values of North-West European societies and Japan, the latter closely aligned with "Protestant Europe".…”

Value Change, Value Conflict, and Policy Innovation: Understanding the Opposition to the Market-Based Economic Dispatch of Electricity Scheme in India Using the Multiple Streams Framework

“…Value change in this stream may occur due to changes in societal context, generational turnover, or changes in elite composition. Abramson et al (1997), for instance, have noted a change from economic, materialist, and physical values to values of autonomy and self-expression-a phenomenon they term as postmaterialism-in societies that witness steady economic development. In addition, focusing events can also contribute to value change.…”