Does Contextual Change Affect Basic Human Values? A Dynamic Comparative Multilevel Analysis Across 32 European Countries

This article examines the relationship of stable contextual differences and contextual change with the endorsement of Schwartz's (1992) two basic value dimensionsOpenness-to-Change versus Conservation and Self-Enhancement versus Self-Transcendence. Using six waves of the European Social Survey, an extension of multilevel analysis is used which combines both a cross-national comparative and a dynamic analysis of values. The hierarchical data structure and the covariates for value endorsement are defined at three distinct levels: a first level for individuals (with sociodemographic variables, such as age and gender), a second level for country-waves (with time-varying covariates), and a third level for country (with time-invariant covariates). The main aim is to determine if changes in contextual covariates over time are related to value differences between countries over and above contextual time-invariant covariates. High national wealth and low income inequality predicted high Self-Transcendence values and low Conservation values. Low national unemployment rates were associated with less conservatism. When entered simultaneously into the model, only time-invariant differences in gross domestic product (GDP) remained to be a significant predictor of Schwartz's two basic value dimensions. Finally, we found that an increase in income inequality over time has a certain incremental effect on the endorsement of Conservation over Openness-to-Change values. There were no associations for changes in national wealth and unemployment rates, suggesting that for value endorsement, time-varying contextual effects are less important overall than time-invariant contextual effects.