A Sibling Study of Value Preferences: Twenty-Year Panel Data on Post-Materialism

Abstract

Using a research design that traces siblings' preferences for postmaterialistic values in Germany over two decades, this paper provides new evidence on the origins of value preferences. Focusing on Inglehart's thesis of value change, we test the socialization and the scarcity hypotheses against rivalling accounts of value preference formation. Hierarchical regression models show that the shared preadult environment indeed exerts lasting effects on the permanent component of preferences for postmaterialistic policies. Beyond shared experiences of socioeconomic scarcity, however, we find that the intergenerational transmission of post-materialism--disregarded by Inglehart's original thesis--does play a significant role in the similarity in siblings' value preferences. Considering the importance of the intergenerational persistence of post-materialistic values, our findings suggest a decelerated value change by cohort replacement, in contrast to Inglehart's original claim.