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The Preadult Origins of Post-Materialism: A Longitudinal Sibling Study

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  • Martin Kroh

Abstract

Using a research design that traces siblings' preferences for postmaterialistic values in Germany over two decades, this paper provides new evidence on the origins of value preferences. Focusing on Inglehart's thesis of value change, we test the combined socialization and scarcity hypothesis against the social learning hypothesis, a prominent rival account of preadult value preference formation. Sibling estimates show that the shared preadult environment does indeed exert lasting effects on the permanent component of preferences for post-materialistic policies. In addition to weak effect of the shared experience of socioeconomic scarcity, we find that the intergenerational transmission of postmaterialism - which is disregarded by Inglehart's original thesis - plays a significant role in value preference acquisition. We discuss the implications of our individual-level findings for forecasts of aggregate-level trends in value change.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Kroh, 2008. "The Preadult Origins of Post-Materialism: A Longitudinal Sibling Study," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 797, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp797
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Inglehart, Ronald & Abramson, Paul R., 1994. "Economic Security and Value Change," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(2), pages 336-354, June.
    2. Anders Skrondal & Sophia Rabe-Hesketh, 2003. "Multilevel logistic regression for polytomous data and rankings," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 68(2), pages 267-287, June.
    3. Searing, Donald & Wright, Gerald & Rabinowitz, George, 1976. "The Primacy Principle: Attitude Change and Political Socialization," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(1), pages 83-113, January.
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    5. Inglehart, Ronald, 1971. "The Silent Revolution in Europe: Intergenerational Change in Post-Industrial Societies," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(4), pages 991-1017, December.
    6. Tedin, Kent L., 1974. "The Influence of Parents on the Political Attitudes of Adolescents," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(4), pages 1579-1592, December.
    7. Brian Francis & Regina Dittrich & Reinhold Hatzinger & Roger Penn, 2002. "Analysing partial ranks by using smoothed paired comparison methods: an investigation of value orientation in Europe," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 51(3), pages 319-336, July.
    8. Gary Solon & Mary Corcoran & GRoger Gordon & Deborah Laren, 1991. "A Longitudinal Analysis of Sibling Correlations in Economic Status," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 26(3), pages 509-534.
    9. Clarke, Harold D. & Dutt, Nitish, 1991. "Measuring Value Change in Western Industrialized Societies: The Impact of Unemployment," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 85(3), pages 905-920, September.
    10. Solon, Gary, 1992. "Intergenerational Income Mobility in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(3), pages 393-408, June.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Value preferences; postmaterialism; sibling estimates; intergenerational transmission; hierarchical regression modeling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities

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