Postmaterialism

The term postmaterialism refers to a specific set of modern values that form a contrast to traditional “materialistic” values. In his seminal work The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles in Western Publics, Ronald Inglehart introduced this term to the scientific discussion about changing value orientations in advanced industrialized societies. In earlier publications, Inglehart had initially used the term postacquisitive values instead of postmaterialism. Postmaterialism primarily covers values such as environmental protection, quality of life, citizen participation, gender equality, autonomy, and self-actualization. In contrast, materialistic or acquisitive values focus on internal and external security, obedience, material affluence, and economic growth. In Inglehart's understanding, the term postmaterialism (as well as the term materialism) concerns social and not private values. Values are defined as conceptions of the desirable; therefore, postmaterialism describes a specific concept of a desirable type of society and not a concept of the desirable order of private life. As abstract conceptions, social values are not part of the belief systems of individuals. They are cultural objects that exist independently of their supporters. But individuals can internalize such values, so that they become individual value orientations. A value orientation then is a value that a person has accepted as a moral guideline. In contrast to attitudes, value orientations are conceptualized as being more central and more deeply rooted in the belief systems of individuals. Thus, value orientations determine attitudes and are more resistant to change. This relative stability of value orientations is one of their most central definition elements. In this entry, the essentials of Inglehart's theory of the silent revolution are presented first. This is followed by a short description of the most important survey instrument for the measurement of postmaterialism. Finally, the main arguments of Inglehart's critics are summarized.

Inglehart's theory claims that postmaterial value orientations became gradually more widespread among the publics in advanced industrialized societies after World War II. His theory is based on two simple hypotheses: the scarcity hypothesis and the socialization hypothesis. The first states that an individual's priorities reflect one's socioeconomic environment, while the second postulates that to a large extent, one's basic values reflect the conditions that prevailed during one's preadult years. To put Inglehart's theory in a nutshell, the need structure of human beings develops as Abraham Maslow predicts in his theory of the need hierarchy. There are lower needs, such as hunger, thirst, and the need for housing and security. Inglehart calls these needs material. Furthermore, there are higher needs, such as the desire for social integration, esteem, and self-realization. Inglehart calls these needs postmaterial. In the logic of the need hierarchy, higher needs do not gain priority as long as lower needs are not satisfied. Inglehart further assumes that in the pre-adult years, the fundamental need structure of a person is cognitively transformed into social value [Page 2094]orientations, which remain relatively stable in the adult years. The next step in his argument is that after World War II, the great majority of the population grew up under conditions of peace, security, and economic prosperity. Their material needs were satisfied, so they developed higher order needs that were cognitively transformed into post-material value orientations. Even if Inglehart allows for period effects, that is, short-term value fluctuations in response to altered environmental circumstances, he sees the major force of value change in the generational change. In his theoretical perspective, the postwar generations are the demographic basis of postmaterialism, and when the older generations disappear, the society as a whole develops toward postmaterial values. Inglehart calls this process the “silent revolution” because generational change works only slowly.

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