Do demographic predictors of personal values vary by context? A test of Schwartz's value development theory
Personal values have been shown to shape consequential social beliefs and behaviors in cultures around the world, but relatively little is known about how they develop. Schwartz argues that personal values form as individuals are exposed to social institutions which are themselves informed by cultur...
Main Authors: | , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-01-01
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Series: | Social Sciences and Humanities Open |
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Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291122000183 |
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author | Andrew Miles Catherine Yeh |
author_facet | Andrew Miles Catherine Yeh |
author_sort | Andrew Miles |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Personal values have been shown to shape consequential social beliefs and behaviors in cultures around the world, but relatively little is known about how they develop. Schwartz argues that personal values form as individuals are exposed to social institutions which are themselves informed by cultural values and other macro-level forces. An important but largely unexamined implication of this theory is that nominally similar social categories such as gender or religion will have different effects in different countries because context-sensitive institutions will imbue them with context-specific meanings. We test this claim using eight independent, nationally representative samples that collectively include 32 European countries (total N = 374,729). We find that most relationships between social categories and personal values vary across countries. Further, country-specific effects are patterned by cultural regions, supporting the idea that similarities in macro-level influences lead to similarities in how social institutions shape personal values. These results are consistent with Schwartz's theory. Practically, they suggest that efforts to understand value development should be sensitive the particulars of specific environments. |
first_indexed | 2024-12-18T02:53:45Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-b1f73ae06dcd4764a61eaf73d203a195 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2590-2911 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-18T02:53:45Z |
publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
publisher | Elsevier |
record_format | Article |
series | Social Sciences and Humanities Open |
spelling | doaj.art-b1f73ae06dcd4764a61eaf73d203a1952022-12-21T21:23:23ZengElsevierSocial Sciences and Humanities Open2590-29112022-01-0151100264Do demographic predictors of personal values vary by context? A test of Schwartz's value development theoryAndrew Miles0Catherine Yeh1Corresponding author.; Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, 725 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON M5S 2J4, CanadaDepartment of Sociology, University of Toronto, 725 Spadina Ave, Toronto, ON M5S 2J4, CanadaPersonal values have been shown to shape consequential social beliefs and behaviors in cultures around the world, but relatively little is known about how they develop. Schwartz argues that personal values form as individuals are exposed to social institutions which are themselves informed by cultural values and other macro-level forces. An important but largely unexamined implication of this theory is that nominally similar social categories such as gender or religion will have different effects in different countries because context-sensitive institutions will imbue them with context-specific meanings. We test this claim using eight independent, nationally representative samples that collectively include 32 European countries (total N = 374,729). We find that most relationships between social categories and personal values vary across countries. Further, country-specific effects are patterned by cultural regions, supporting the idea that similarities in macro-level influences lead to similarities in how social institutions shape personal values. These results are consistent with Schwartz's theory. Practically, they suggest that efforts to understand value development should be sensitive the particulars of specific environments.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291122000183Personal valuesCultural valuesCultural zonesValue developmentContext effectsCross-national variation |
spellingShingle | Andrew Miles Catherine Yeh Do demographic predictors of personal values vary by context? A test of Schwartz's value development theory Social Sciences and Humanities Open Personal values Cultural values Cultural zones Value development Context effects Cross-national variation |
title | Do demographic predictors of personal values vary by context? A test of Schwartz's value development theory |
title_full | Do demographic predictors of personal values vary by context? A test of Schwartz's value development theory |
title_fullStr | Do demographic predictors of personal values vary by context? A test of Schwartz's value development theory |
title_full_unstemmed | Do demographic predictors of personal values vary by context? A test of Schwartz's value development theory |
title_short | Do demographic predictors of personal values vary by context? A test of Schwartz's value development theory |
title_sort | do demographic predictors of personal values vary by context a test of schwartz s value development theory |
topic | Personal values Cultural values Cultural zones Value development Context effects Cross-national variation |
url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291122000183 |
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