Conferences

Research on value change and stability tends to underline the importance of generational factors. One good example is the theory of postmaterialism developed by Ronald Inglehart. Although Inglehart admits the presence of period shocks as a short-term force, he basically points to the relevance of generational effects. Formative experiences shape different age cohorts through their lifetime, and the values of society shift progressively due to the force of generational replacement. In his many publications he shows empirical evidence of wide and constant generational differences. However if we analyze contemporary time series which cover a wider period (Eurobarometer), we also find dramatic changes inside each generation over time. Then it is possible to talk about an important adult learning process in the field of postmaterialism. It is not just a matter of minor short-term period influences affecting the “normal” change due to generational replacement, but a systematic intra-cohort tendency linked to the European economic prosperity of the last decades. Once we compare the contribution of generational replacement to the overall change in postmaterialism with the one of the period, we may find out that the latter could be almost bigger than the former. The fact of postmaterislism showing less intra-cohort stability than it should according to Inglehart’s theory, can question the “socialization hypothesis” based on the formative experiences idea. The concept of generation itself could be adjusted to reflect the lifetime learning processes. I perform a longitudinal analysis of the Eurobarometer data, adding different economic system level information from Eurostat. I analyze a group of Western European countries applying time series and age-period-cohort multilevel techniques.