Global attitude measurement: An assessment of the World Values Survey postmaterialism scale

Type Journal Article - American Sociological Review
Title Global attitude measurement: An assessment of the World Values Survey postmaterialism scale
Author(s)
Volume 63
Issue 3
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 1998
Page numbers 452-464
URL http://www.jstor.org/stable/2657558
Abstract
The World Values Survey is the product of an unprecedented collaboration of investigators from five continents. Using this survey, an international "postmaterialism" scale was developed. This scale shows a worldwide trend away from concerns with material well-being toward a postmaterialist value system that emphasizes the free expression of ideas, greater democratization, and the development of more humane societies. I test the assumption that a single latent trait of postmaterialism accounts for the observed response patterns to items that make up the scale. Applying a log-linear Rasch model, I test the assumption that the scale is a consistent cross-national measuring device and find that the scale is not unidimensional. Item bias is identified after controlling for the common stratification variables of gender, education, age, and country.

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