IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eurpop/v39y2023i1d10.1007_s10680-023-09677-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Implications of the Theory of Basic Human Values for the Second Demographic Transition: Interdependence and Individualism in the Era of Self-Fulfillment

Author

Listed:
  • Oscar Smallenbroek

    (European University Institute)

Abstract

I examine the implications of a modern psychological theory of values for the Second Demographic Transition (SDT). The SDT derives its values theory and measurement from Maslow, who noted that resource-rich environments cause value shifts towards personal-focused growth values. However, Maslow has been replaced by the theory of basic human values (TBHV) which distinguishes person and social-focused growth values. This distinction has two important implications for the SDT. First, some individualistic and self-expressive values identified by the SDT are not growth but basic need motivated and therefore functions of resource-poor environments. Second, the TBHV values on interdependence and independence are strongly influenced by gender and reflect preferences for family and care or career. Therefore, these values can be used to address critiques of the SDT based on the stalled gender revolution. I show that distinguishing values as described in the TBHV can be useful for the SDT. I find that benevolence (interdependence) is positively and openness to change (autonomy/stimulation) is negatively related to marriage in the Netherlands using longitudinal panel data and discrete event history models.

Suggested Citation

  • Oscar Smallenbroek, 2023. "Implications of the Theory of Basic Human Values for the Second Demographic Transition: Interdependence and Individualism in the Era of Self-Fulfillment," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-26, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:39:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10680-023-09677-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-023-09677-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10680-023-09677-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10680-023-09677-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eva Bernhardt, 2004. "Is the Second Demographic Transition a useful concept for demography?," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 2(1), pages 25-28.
    2. Aart C. Liefbroer & Martine Corijn, 1999. "Who, What, Where, and When? Specifying the Impact of Educational Attainment and Labour Force Participation on Family Formation," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 45-75, March.
    3. Jarl E. Mooyaart & Aart C. Liefbroer, 2016. "The Influence of Parental Education on Timing and Type of Union Formation: Changes Over the Life Course and Over Time in the Netherlands," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(4), pages 885-919, August.
    4. Johan Surkyn & Ron Lesthaeghe, 2004. "Value Orientations and the Second Demographic Transition (SDT) in Northern, Western and Southern Europe: An Update," Demographic Research Special Collections, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 3(3), pages 45-86.
    5. Ron Lesthaeghe, 2010. "The Unfolding Story of the Second Demographic Transition," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 36(2), pages 211-251, June.
    6. Thornton, Arland & Axinn, William G. & Xie, Yu, 2007. "Marriage and Cohabitation," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226798660, October.
    7. Guy Moors, 2008. "The Valued Child. In Search of a Latent Attitude Profile that Influences the Transition to Motherhood," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 24(1), pages 33-57, March.
    8. Frances Goldscheider & Eva Bernhardt & Trude Lappegård, 2015. "The Gender Revolution: A Framework for Understanding Changing Family and Demographic Behavior," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 41(2), pages 207-239, June.
    9. Melinda Mills, 2004. "Stability and Change: The Structuration of Partnership Histories in Canada, the Netherlands, and the Russian Federation," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 20(2), pages 141-175, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sinn Won Han & Mary C. Brinton, 2022. "Theories of Postindustrial Fertility Decline: An Empirical Examination," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 48(2), pages 303-330, June.
    2. Nicoletta Balbo & Francesco C. Billari & Melinda Mills, 2013. "Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 1-38, February.
    3. Julia Hellstrand & Jessica Nisén & Mikko Myrskylä, 2022. "Less Partnering, Less Children, or Both? Analysis of the Drivers of First Birth Decline in Finland Since 2010," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(2), pages 191-221, May.
    4. Julia Hellstrand & Jessica Nisén & Mikko Myrskylä, 2021. "Less partnering, less children, or both? Analysis of the drivers of first-birth decline in Finland since 2010?," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2021-008, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    5. Zuzanna Brzozowska, 2021. "Attitudinal and behavioural indices of the second demographic transition: Evidence from the last three decades in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(46), pages 1115-1132.
    6. Dogan Hatun & David F. Warner, 2022. "Disentangling the Roles of Modernization and Secularization on Fertility: The Case of Turkey," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(3), pages 1161-1189, June.
    7. Jennifer Kane, 2013. "A Closer Look at the Second Demographic Transition in the US: Evidence of Bidirectionality from a Cohort Perspective (1982–2006)," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(1), pages 47-80, February.
    8. Andreas Klärner, 2015. "The low importance of marriage in eastern Germany - social norms and the role of peoples’ perceptions of the past," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 33(9), pages 239-272.
    9. Gusta G. Wachter & Helga A. G. Valk, 2022. "Cohort Succession in the Timing of Marriage Among the Children of Turkish and Moroccan Immigrants," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(3), pages 485-516, August.
    10. Julia Hellstrand & Jessica Nisén & Vitor Miranda & Peter Fallesen & Lars Dommermuth & Mikko Myrskylä, 2020. "Not just later, but fewer: novel trends in cohort fertility in the Nordic countries," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-007, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    11. Andreas Klärner & André Knabe, 2017. "On the normative foundations of marriage and cohabitation: Results from group discussions in eastern and western Germany," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(53), pages 1637-1666.
    12. Emily A. Marshall & Hana Shepherd, 2022. "Variants of Second Demographic Transition: Empirical Evidence from Young Women’s Attitudes About Childbearing," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(6), pages 2531-2554, December.
    13. Zuzanna Brzozowska & Eva Beaujouan & Kryštof Zeman, 2022. "Is Two Still Best? Change in Parity-Specific Fertility Across Education in Low-Fertility Countries," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(5), pages 2085-2114, October.
    14. Olga Isupova, 2015. "Trust, responsibility, and freedom: Focus-group research on contemporary patterns of union formation in Russia," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(11), pages 341-368.
    15. Alessandra Trimarchi & Jan Van Bavel, 2017. "Pathways to marital and non-marital first birth: the role of his and her education," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 15(1), pages 143-179.
    16. Johannes Huinink & Martin Kohli, 2014. "A life-course approach to fertility," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(45), pages 1293-1326.
    17. Nicole Hiekel & Aart Liefbroer & Anne-Rigt Poortman, 2014. "Understanding Diversity in the Meaning of Cohabitation Across Europe," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 30(4), pages 391-410, November.
    18. Anatole Romaniuk & Oleksandr Gladun, 2015. "Demographic Trends in Ukraine: Past, Present, and Future," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 41(2), pages 315-337, June.
    19. Albert Esteve & David S. Reher, 2021. "Rising Global Levels of Intergenerational Coresidence Among Young Adults," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(3), pages 691-717, September.
    20. Arland Thornton & Prem Bhandari & Jeffrey Swindle & Nathalie Williams & Linda Young-DeMarco & Cathy Sun & Christina Hughes, 2020. "Fatalistic Beliefs and Migration Behaviors: A Study of Ideational Demography in Nepal," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(4), pages 643-670, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:39:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10680-023-09677-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.