Age and the subjective importance of personal values. (April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Borg, Ingwer
• Is Part Of: Personality and individual differences. Volume 173(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-04
• Subjects: Personal values -- Value circle -- Age-related change; Personality -- Periodicals; Individuality -- Periodicals; Individuality -- Periodicals; Personality Development -- Periodicals; Personnalité -- Périodiques; Individualité -- Périodiques; 155.205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110605
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0191-8869

Abstract

Abstract: Previous research has shown that persons' ratings of the importance of personal values are correlated with age: The older the persons, the more they favor conservation-related values, and the less they prioritize stimulation and change. We here take a closer look at these findings and show with four large representative surveys using two value scales that (1) all basic personal values are essentially linearly related to age; (2) stimulation/hedonism and power/achievement values drop in importance with increasing age, tradition-related values become more important, and self-transcendence values remain essentially stable; (3) the subjective importance of security remains stable at a high level for all age groups; (4) the rated importance of a personal value depends on the value's components addressed by the measurement instrument; (5) gender has essentially no effect on the age-value relation.