Sunday, July 10, 2011

Values and Postmaterialism

Rokeach is considered to have done the most influential study on values (according to my textbook) by studying all major values of all human cultures (1973).  He argued that the two values that were most related as important were equality and freedom.  He assigned equality the rating from low vs. high and freedom the same and he matched them into four categories as four separate ideologies.  They were as follows:
1. Socialism as high equality and high freedom.
2. Communism as high equality and low freedom.
3. Capitalism as low equality and high freedom.
4. Fascism as low equality and low freedom.

A different study on values by Inglehart (1977) centered on the generational differences, not in terms of left or right but of materialism and postmaterialsim.  He argued that values of recent generations were more inclined to postmaterialism, which to Inglehart meant people "value orientation that emphasizes self-expression and quality of life over financial and physical security." I am more inclined to think that these studies were likely to be characteristic of values by those coming out of the 1960's and early 1970's than post 1980's.  Things changed in the 80's and all the postmaterialist hippies turned into extremely materialist yuppies.  So for me I am surprised that my textbook that was published in 2008 is quoting studies from a different timetable. Nevertheless, the authors then jump into today and state that that such value orientations are tied with how people will vote today and showing a clear bias by stating that Green parties provide a clear example of value orientation by voting for postmaterialist ideals. Nevertheless, they concluded that it is the ideological standing between left-wing and right-wing positions that are of "paramount importance for understanding political behavior."  Just makes me wonder why they bothered citing the other studies when they turned out not to be very relevant.  Or does it serve the purpose of placing heuristics and biases that might become a part of our less conscious and unconscious thinking but may nevertheless influence our thinking unknowingly.  After all that is what influence and change agents do.

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