Resumen de Postmaterialism as a lifetime learning process. A longitudinal analysis of intra-cohort value change in western europe
Raül Tormos i Marín
Research on value change and stability tends to underline the importance of generational factors, being Inglehart‟s theory of postmaterialism an example of it. In his theory, formative experiences shape the values of each age cohort, and social change takes place progressively due to the force of generational replacement. However if we analyze cross-section data covering a wider period of observations, we also find relevant changes inside each generation over time. Then it is possible to talk about an adult learning process in the field of postmaterialist values. 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 trend linked to the European economic prosperity of the last decades.
