European Sociological Review Advance Access originally published online on July 12, 2007
European Sociological Review 2007 23(5):631-648; doi:10.1093/esr/jcm027
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Heterogeneity in Post-materialist Value Priorities. Evidence from a Latent Class Discrete Choice Approach
Guy Moors (to whom correspondence should be addressed), Tilburg University, Department of Methodology and Statistics, P.O. Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands. Phone: + 31 13-466 2249 Fax: + 31 13-466 3002
Correspondence: Email: guy.moors{at}uvt.nl
Protagonists of values theory such as Inglehart—among others—have argued that values should be conceived of as relative priorities rather than absolute preferences. As such they insist on using ranking techniques of measurement which generates choice data. In this study, we aim at validating the measurement of Inglehart's (post-)materialism by means of a latent class discrete choice model. We argue that from a statistical point of view this is the appropriate way of dealing with ranking data. Furthermore, the analyses revealed a heterogeneity in (post-)materialist value priorities that has previously been left unobserved. Consistent with Inglehart's research a post-materialist class is discerned irrespective of the number of latent classes that is selected. However, as far as materialism is concerned three different types of materialist concerns can be distinguished. The validity of the empirical typology is further demonstrated by linking it to key covariates and political attitudes.
Manuscript received: January 1, 2006.