Values and adult age: findings from two cohorts of the European Social Survey

Abstract

Human values are assessed biannually in a multinational sample as part of the European Social Survey (ESS). Based on theories of adaptive ageing, it was predicted that ten lower order values and four higher order values would show age differences that would be invariant across (a) two sample cohorts (2002 and 2008), (b) gender and (c) 12 industrialised nations. The value categories measured by the ESS are the following: conservative values (tradition, conformity and security), openness to change values (self-direction, hedonism and stimulation), self-transcendent values (universalism, benevolence) and self-enhancement values (power, achievement). Of the ten lower order values, shows the strongest positive relation with adult age, while the value of shows the strongest negative relation with age. With regards to the four higher order value categories, conservative values increased across age groups, while openness to change values decreased. Neither of these value types showed cohort or gender differences. Self-transcendence values were greater in midlife and older adults compared with young adults, were higher in women than in men, and higher in the 2008 compared with the 2002 cohort. Self-enhancement values showed a negative relation with age, with men of all age groups scoring higher in this value type than women. Age effects on the four higher order value types were replicated across all 12 countries in the sample, with the single exception of self-enhancement values in Spain, which show no relation with age.

Patterns of Value Change During the Life Span

“…We speculate that other priorities might be more prominent for young adults, such as intimacy and the search for a partner (Kenrick et al, 2010), which could explain the relative decrease in promotion values. A similar pattern was also reported by Robinson (2013, Figure 1), who observed that promotion-related values such as achievement started decreasing at age 20 and only started increasing again after age 60. As expected, men tended to place greater emphasis on promotion values compared to women (Robinson, 2013;Schwartz & Rubel, 2005).…”

“…However, among older individuals, the search for new stimuli becomes less important due to their physical restrictions (Zuckerman, 1994), including general decline in strength, energy, and sharpness of the senses. In support of this notion, previous research has shown that elderly individuals give more importance to values related to upholding social norms but place less priority on values emphasizing sensation seeking, while the opposite holds for young individuals (Robinson, 2013;Schwartz, 2005;Tamayo, 1988).…”

Values Stability and Change in Adulthood

“…Confirming expectations, age had an influence on the absolute levels of the value clusters over time. Supporting recent crosssectional results (Gouveia et al, 2015;Robinson, 2013), older adults showed greater endorsement of Conservation and SelfTranscendence values as guiding principles in their lives, while placing less emphasis on Openness and SelfEnhancement values. (But age differences in the mean level of Self-Enhancement values were not as reliable as for the other value clusters in our sample; see Figure 3.)…”

“…The study was based on a distinct values theory but clear relations between its six basic values and the four Schwartz value clusters can be identified (see, for example, Gouveia, 2003;Lima, 2012). 1 Similar to the findings reported by Robinson (2013), Gouveia et al (2015) found that Conservation-related values increase in importance in older age while Openness-related values decreased in importance. Importantly and extending past research, they also tested non-linear age effects.…”

“…Finally, SelfEnhancement-related values followed a cubic pattern of change, with increases during adolescence, decreases in early adulthood, and increases later in life. Gouveia et al (2015) also reported sex differences similar to those observed in previous studies: Women showed greater endorsement of Conservation-related values, whereas men showed greater endorsement of Openness-related values (e.g., Robinson, 2013;Schwartz & Rubel-Lifschitz, 2009). In contrast to the findings reported by Robinson (2013), no statistically significant sex differences were observed for either Self-Transcendence-related or Self-Enhancementrelated values.…”