New Perspectives on Value Change

Abstract

This article responds to two central questions about value change that are raised by other articles in this volume: (1) Are political cleavages in Western society gradually being transformed from the traditional pattern based on social class and religion, toward one that increasingly reflects the polarization between materialist and postmaterialist goals? (2) Has an intergenerational value shift been taking place in recent decades—or do the observed differences between the priorities of old and young simply reflect an unchanging life cycle pattern? Cohort analysis based on more than 140,000 interviews carried out at numerous time points from 1970 through 1984 demonstrates that a long-term process of intergenerational value change was taking place, based on strong intercohort differences that persisted throughout the tumultous economic ups and downs of the past 14 years. Additional evidence indicates that this process has had a major impact on political cleavages, changing the political meaning of left and right, and the issues and social groups associated with these terms.