Presenter: Raül Tormos (Center for Opinion Studies, Generalitat de Catalunya)
Time: 27 October (Wed), 13-14:15 CET
Abstract: In the book The Rhythm of Modernization, Raül Tormos analyses the pace at which values, and abstract attitudes change across the developed world during the modernization process. It is often assumed that value change follows the slow rhythm of generational replacement. His book, however, reports trends that contradict this assumption in the field of values. Challenging Inglehart’s modernization theory, the transition from traditional to modern values happens much quicker than predicted. Many “baby-boomers” who were church-going, morally conservative materialists when they were young, become unchurched and morally tolerant postmaterialists in their later years. Using surveys from multiple countries over many years, and applying advanced statistical techniques, this book shows how citizens quickly adapt their belief systems to new circumstances throughout their lives.