Variable Selection from the World Value Surveys
The World Values Surveys (Inglehart 1997) contain several hundred variables, almost all of which could conceivably be useful. But to include them all would risk burying the model in excessive detail and confusing its users. In the light of the analyses carried out during the past year, it seems clear that some of these variables are particularly significant: they tap the two main dimensions of cross-cultural variation that we have discussed, the Traditional/Secular-rational dimension, and the Survival/Self-expression dimension. Even if we narrow our focus to these dimensions, there is a danger of excessive detail, since each of these dimensions taps scores of variables. For purposes of the model, I sought to narrow the input down to a relative handful of key indicators (listed below) that represent the main themes of each dimension. Using just five indicators, we can replicate each of the two major dimensions of cross-cultural variation. The ten variables used to do this are listed below.
Some additional variables are also included because they are substantively interesting, even though they are not central features of these two dimensions. For example, a societyattitudes toward state ownership versus private ownership; or support for democratic institutions, are important indicators of the business climate in a given society. They are among the variables chosen for inclusion, on the following list. (the short name in bold face type is used to designate the variable in the model)
Happy V10. Taking all things together, would you say you are:
1 Very happy
2 Quite happy
3 Not very happy
4 Not at all happy
Auton4 Here is a list of qualities that children can be encouraged to learn at home. Which, if any, do you consider to be especially important? Please choose up to five.
(CODE FIVE ONLY)
* NOT
IMPORTANT MENTIONED
V 15 Independence 1 2
V 21 Determination, perseverance 1 2
V 22 Religious faith 1 2
V 24 Obedience 1 2
The Auton4 Index is constructed using the following formula:
Auton4 Index = (v22+V24) – (V15+V21)
TrustPeople V27. Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can't be too careful in dealing with people?
1 Most people can be trusted
2 Can't be too careful
MATPMat4 V106. If you had to choose, which one of the things on this card would you say is most important?
V107. And which would be the next most important?
First Second
Choice Choice
Maintaining order in the nation 1 1
Giving people more say in important
government decisions 2 2
Fighting rising prices 3 3
Protecting freedom of speech 4 4
[The Materialist/Postmaterialist values index used here is created as follows: if the respondentfirst and second choices are both Materialist items (i.e., maintaining order and fighting rising prices), the score is “1”. If the respondentfirst and second choices are both Postmaterialist items (i.e., giving people more say and protecting free speech), the score is “3”. If the two choices are any mixture of Materialist and Postmaterialist items, the score is “2”].
RespectAuth I'm going to read out a list of various changes in our way of life that might take place in the near future. Please tell me for each one, if it were to happen, whether you think it would be a good thing, a bad thing, or don't you mind?
Don't
Good mind Bad
V114 Greater respect for authority 1 2 3
SignPetit Now I'd like you to look at this card. I'm going to read out some different forms of political action that people can take, and I'd like you to tell me, for each one, whether you have actually done any of these things, whether you might do it or would never, under any circumstances, do it.
* Have Might Would
Done Do Never Do DK
V118 Signing a petition 1 2 3 9
GodImport V190. How important is God in your life? Please use this scale to indicate- 10 means very important and 1 means not at all important.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Not at all Very
Please tell me for each of the following statements whether you think it can always be justified, never be justified, or something in between, using this card.
HomoJustif V197. Homosexuality
Justifiable Justifiable
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10
AbortJustif V199. Abortion
Never Always
Justifiable Justifiable
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10
NationProud V205. How proud are you to be FRENCH? (substitute your own nationality for 'French')
2 Quite proud
3 Not very proud
The "Survival/Self-expression values index" (SurvWellBe)and the "Traditional/Secular-Rational values index" (TradvsSecRat) used to measure a societyposition on the two main dimensions of cross-cultural variation are constructed from the factor scores for each country on the ten variables listed above, using varimax rotation.
ADDITIONAL VARIABLES INCLUDED:
DiscussPol When you get together with your friends, would you say you discuss political matters frequently, occasionally or never?
1 Frequently
2 Occasionally
3 Never
SatisLife V65. All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days? Please use this card to help with your answer.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Dissatisfied Satisfied
MenLeaders V118 Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?…
Strongly Strongly
Agree Agree Disagree Disagree
On the whole, men make 1 2 3 4
better political leaders than women
MatPmat12 V120. People sometimes talk about what the aims of this country should be for the next ten years. On this card are listed some of the goals which different people would give top priority. Would you please say which one of these you, yourself, consider the most important? CODE ONE ANSWER ONLY UNDER "First Choice."
V121. And which would be the next most important? CODE ONE ANSWER ONLY UNDER "Second Choice."
|
|
First Choice |
Second Choice |
|
A high level of economic growth |
1 |
1 |
|
Making sure this country has strong defense forces |
2 |
2 |
|
*Seeing that people have more say about how things are done at their jobs and in their communities |
3 |
3 |
|
Trying to make our cities and countryside more beautiful |
4 |
4 |
|
9 |
9 |
V122. If you had to choose, which one of the things on this card would you say is most important? CODE ONE ANSWER ONLY
V123. And which would be the next most important? CODE ONE ANSWER ONLY
|
|
First Choice |
Second Choice |
|
Maintaining order in the nation |
1 |
1 |
|
*Giving people more say in important government decisions |
2 |
2 |
|
Fighting rising prices |
3 |
3 |
|
*Protecting freedom of speech |
4 |
4 |
|
9 |
9 |
V124. Here is another list. In your opinion, which one of these is most important? CODE ONE ANSWER ONLY
V125. And what would be the next most important? CODE ONE ANSWER ONLY
|
|
First Choice |
Second Choice |
|
A stable economy |
1 |
1 |
|
*Progress toward a less impersonal and more humane society |
2 |
2 |
|
*Progress toward a society in which ideas count more than money |
3 |
3 |
|
The fight against crime |
4 |
4 |
|
9 |
9 |
The MatPMat12 index is constructed by summing the number of Postmaterialist items chosen as either first or second choice in its group (these five items are designated with an asterisk above). This produces an index that runs from 0 (no Postmaterialist items are given high priority) to 5 (all five Postmaterialist items are given high priority).
PrivateBusGov Now I'd like you to tell me your views on various issues. How would you place your views on this scale? 1 means you agree completely with the statement on the left; 10 means you agree completely with the statement on the right; and if your views fall somewhere in between, you can choose any number in between.
V126 Private ownership of Government ownership of
business and industry business and industry
should be increased should be increased
______________________________________________________________________________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
DemocBest I'm going to read off some things that people sometimes say about a democratic political system. Could you please tell me if you agree strongly, agree, disagree or disagree strongly, after I read each one of them?
Agree Disagree
Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly DK
V163. Democracy may have problems
but it's better than any other form
of government 1 2 3 4 9
SatisOfficHol V174. How satisfied are you with the way the people now in national office are handling the country's affairs? Would you say you are very satisfied, fairly satisfied, fairly dissatisfied or very dissatisfied?
1. Very satisfied
2. Fairly satisfied
3. Fairly dissatisfied
4. Very dissatisfied
9. DK
AttendChrch V181. Apart from weddings, funerals and christenings, about how often do you attend religious services these days?
*
1 More than once a week
2 Once a week
3 Once a month
4 Only on special holy days
5 Once a year
6 Less often
7 Never, practically never
ThinkLifePurp V182. How often, if at all, do you think about the meaning and
purpose of life?
1 Often
2 Sometimes
3 Rarely
4 Never
DivorJustif V200. Divorce
Never Always
Justifiable Justifiable
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10
Table 1. Correlates of Traditional/Rational Values
_______________________________________________________________________________
TRADITIONAL VALUES emphasize the following:
God is very important in respondentlife .91 *
Religion is very important in respondentlife .91
It is more important for a child to learn obedience and religious faith
than independence and determination [Autonomy index] .88 *
Respondent believes in Heaven .87
One of respondentmain goals in life has been
to make his/her parents proud .83
Abortion is never justifiable .78 *
There are absolutely clear guidelines about good and evil .78
Respondent has strong sense of national pride .78 *
Respondent believes in Hell .77
Respondent has a great deal of confidence in the countrychurches .76
Respondent attends church regularly .76
Respondent describes self as “a religious person” .74
Respondent gets comfort and strength from religion .74
Respondent favors more respect for authority .72 *
My countryenvironmental problems can be solved without
any international agreements to handle them .64
Work is very important in respondentlife .64
There should be stricter limits on selling foreign goods here .63
Suicide is never justifiable .62
Euthanasia is never justifiable .62
Understanding others’preferences more important than
expressing own preferences clearly .62
Respondent seldom or never discusses politics .58
Respondent places self on Right side of a Left-Right scale .58
Family is very important in respondentlife .58
If a woman earns more money than her husband, it
almost certain to cause problems .55
Divorce is never justifiable .54
Relatively favorable to having the army rule the country .50
One must always love and respect oneparents
regardless of their behavior .50
R. favors having a relatively large number of children .40
SECULAR-RATIONAL VALUES take opposite position on all of above
________________________________________________________________________
The figure in the right hand column shows how strongly each variable is correlated with the Traditional/Secular-rational Values Index. The original polarities vary; the above statements show how each item relates to the Traditional/Secular-rational values index. * = items used in factor analysis
Source: nation-level data from 65 societies surveyed in the 1990 and 1996 World Values Surveys.
Table 2. Correlates of Survival/Self-expression Values
_________________________________________________________________________________
SURVIVAL VALUES emphasize the following:
Respondent is dissatisfied with financial situation of his/her household .89
Men make better political leaders than women .88
R. gives priority to economic and physical security over self expression and
quality of life [4-item Materialist/Postmaterialist Values Index] .86 *
Respondent describes self as not very happy .81 *
A university education is more important for a boy than for a girl .81
R. rejects foreigners, homosexuals and people with AIDS as neighbors .80
[Outgroup Index]
Homosexuality is never justifiable .78 *
R. rejects heavy drinkers as neighbors .78
A woman has to have children in order to be fulfilled .78
R. has not and would not sign a petition .77 *
R. does not describe own health as very good .76
R. favors more emphasis on the development of technology .75
R. is relatively favorable to state ownership of business and industry .74
Hard work is one of the most important things to teach a child .73
R. has not acted to protect the environment .72
When seeking a job, a good income and safe job are more important than
a feeling of accomplishment and working with people you like .71
[Job Motivation Index]
R. does not favor less emphasis on money and material possessions .67
Scientific discoveries will help, rather than harm, humanity .65
Government should take more responsibility to ensure that everyone is provided for .65
One must always love and respect oneparents regardless of their behavior .64
When jobs are scarce, men have more right to a job than women .62
Friends are not very important in life .62
Government should take more responsibility to see that everyone is provided for .60
Leisure is not very important in life .59
Democracy is not necessarily the best form of government .59
Having a strong leader who does not have to bother with parliament and elections
may be a good form of government .59
Prostitution is never justifiable .58
You have to be very careful about trusting people .56 *
R. has not and would not take part in a boycott .55
R. opposes sending economic aid to poorer countries .54
SELF-EXPRESSION VALUES take opposite position on all of above
_________________________________________________________________________