"In this chapter I review the three main theories of values, the still limited literature on value change, and the contributions of socialization studies to understanding the dynamics of sociopolitical orientations. I devote special attention to Inglehart's general theory of modernization upon which I base my subsequent empirical analysis. I reflect on what values are and the main approaches to the study of values, those of Rokeach, Schwartz, and Inglehart"--
La investigación sobre estabilidad y cambio de valores tiende asubrayar la importancia de los efectos generacionales, siendo la teoríadel postmaterialismo de Inglehart un ejemplo de ello. En su teoría, lasexperiencias formativas confi guran los valores de cada cohorte deedad, y el cambio social tiene lugar de forma gradual mediante elreemplazo generacional. En este artículo se analizan datos de encuestasque abarcan un período de tiempo más amplio que el que utilizóInglehart para sacar sus conclusiones. Aplicando técnicas de seriestemporales se identifi can cambios relevantes en cada generación a lolargo del tiempo. Se demuestra que ha tenido lugar un importanteproceso de aprendizaje adulto en el ámbito de los valores postmaterialistas,obviado en la literatura empírica. Contradiciendo a Inglehart, seconcluye que los efectos del período no son sólo de carácter menor ycortoplacista, sino que toman la forma de una tendencia sistemática detipo intracohorte. Esta tendencia se vincula a la creciente prosperidadeconómica europea de las últimas décadas.
Abstract This research studies question-order effects in the evaluation of political institutions in socially heterogeneous regions within decentralized countries. Split-ballot experiments were embedded in 3 representative surveys fielded in the Spanish region of Catalonia. Significant consistency effects were spotted in all samples. Respondents who first evaluated the relatively less valued institutions of one governmental level assessed less favorably the relatively better rated institutions of the other level. Clear evidence of the reverse effect was present only in 1 of the experiments. In addition, heterogeneous question-order effects emerged among the 2 distinct national communities coexisting in Catalonia. The article suggests a mechanism beneath this sort of question-order effects and further proposes and empirically tests a remedial solution.
AbstractThis letter studies the impact of past violence and repression on current territorial preferences in a contemporary democracy. Does a violent past lay the grounds for pro-secessionist preferences, or does it lead individuals to cling on to the territorial status quo? We study whether exposure to the events of the Spanish Civil War and its immediate aftermath made people more or less likely to support Catalan secession from Spain. Our analysis employs a dataset that combines a large N of individual-level survey data with historical data about repression and violence in each Catalan municipality. Findings indicate that current preferences for secession tend to diminish among the oldest Catalan generation that was exposed to higher levels of violence in their municipality. Most crucially, we show that exposure to violence created a sense of apathy towards politics among the oldest cohort, which eventually leads to a lower predisposition to support secession, a feeling that was not transmitted to subsequent generations. Our findings qualify some of the existing knowledge on the effects of past political violence on present political attitudes.
Embedding randomized experiments in representative surveys of the Catalan population, this article shows that the survey instrument commonly used to measure citizens' interest in politics is far from gender-neutral. By implicitly associating the political to male-oriented issues and male-dominated actors and domains, it artificially amplifies the gender gap, particularly by depressing women's reported interest. The first experiment captures respondents' interest through both the standard question about general political interest and a battery of specific political issues, randomizing question order. In the second experiment, an additional text helps reformulate the standard question by prompting respondents to think about politics in broader terms, randomizing the presentation of male-oriented and female-oriented political issues to test the effect of cognitive accessibility and recency. By expanding the conceptualization of the political, the priming applied in our experiments completely closes the gender gap, thereby casting doubt on the validity of the traditional survey instrument.
Support for independence from Spain has sharply increased in recent years in Catalonia. According to all available evidence, public opinion has shifted from an overwhelmingly pro-autonomy position to an increasingly pro-independence stance. How can we explain such widespread support for secession in a democratic context? Traditionally, national identity has been regarded as the main explanatory factor, but recent accounts tend to underline the effect of political elite's agency as well as instrumental calculations regarding the economic consequences of secession. However, the identification of this last causal effect is subject to a fundamental challenge: the possibility that economic expectations are mere rationalizations of prior preferences. In order to overcome this identification problem, we combine the analysis of observational survey data with an original survey-embedded experiment that provides a robust test of the causal nature of economic expectations. Our results show how identity, as well as partisanship, are the main drivers of support for secession, but also that economic considerations play an independent role. Results show that economic motivations are more relevant for citizens with ambivalent identity positions and for those that have no party identification, or are partisans of parties with less clear-cut stances on the issue.
IntroductionThe public's justifiability of euthanasia has increased as more countries have adopted laws permitting a range of end-of-life practices. Despite this trend, there is a dearth of longitudinal and comparative studies investigating attitudes toward euthanasia. Consequently, it remains unclear whether this rise in justifiability is a period-specific trend or generational change.MethodsWe analyzed data from the European and World Values Survey from 1981 to 2021 to examine period variations, between-cohort differences, and within-cohort changes across 35 affluent countries. This analysis was conducted using dynamic comparative multilevel regression and a comparative version of the cross-classified random effects regressions.ResultsOur descriptive results supported our hypotheses, indicating an increase in euthanasia's justifiability in virtually all surveyed countries, with both overall and within-cohort changes gravitating toward higher degrees of justifiability. Furthermore, newer periods and younger cohorts were found to be more permissive than their older counterparts. These consistent increases in the justifiability of euthanasia were verified by the multilevel models.DiscussionOur results were in line with modernization theory, observing a gradual change in attitudes between cohorts due to generational replacement. However, we also identified intra-cohort changes related to the processes of human development across various countries. Some robustness checks produced ambiguous results in distinguishing period and cohort effects, yet the combination of these components aligns with substantive theory.ConclusionOur findings indicate a more complex pattern of change than predicted by the impressionable years model, a leading approach in political socialization research. This study contributes significantly to our understanding of evolving attitudes toward euthanasia, bridging the gap in longitudinal and comparative studies on the subject.
Contràriament a l'enfocament tradicional, que diu que les variacions en els valors i orientacions socio-polítiques es donen principalment durant l'adolescència i principi de l'edad adulta, aquesta tesi doctoral llegida a la UAB ha intentat mostrar com els adults ajustem constantment les nostres idees i creences polítiques al temps en què vivim. El treball conclou que els models vigents fins ara eren clarament insuficients per explicar les variacions que s'han donat durant els últims trenta anys en les democràcies industrials. ; Contrariamente al enfoque tradicional, que dice que las variaciones en los valores y orientaciones sociopolíticas se dan principalmente durante la adolescencia y principio de la edad adulta, esta tesis doctoral leída en la UAB ha intentado mostrar cómo los adultos ajustamos constantemente nuestras ideas y creencias políticas al tiempo en que vivimos. El trabajo concluye que los modelos vigentes hasta ahora eran claramente insuficientes para explicar las variaciones que se han dado durante los últimos treinta años en las democracias industriales.
