Title
Age Differences in Personal Values: Universal or Cultural Specific?
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-2016
Department
Psychology
Language
English
Publication Title
Psychology and Aging
Abstract
Prior studies on value development across adulthood have generally shown that as people age, they espouse communal values more strongly and agentic values less strongly. Two studies investigated whether these age differences in personal values might differ according to cultural values. Study 1 examined whether these age differences in personal values, and their associations with subjective well-being, showed the same pattern across countries that differed in individualism-collectivism. Study 2 compared age differences in personal values in the Canadian culture that emphasized agentic values more and the Chinese culture that emphasized communal values more. Personal and cultural values of each individual were directly measured, and their congruence were calculated and compared across age and cultures. Findings revealed that across cultures, older people had lower endorsement of agentic personal values and higher endorsement of communal personal values than did younger people. These age differences, and their associations with subjective well-being, were generally not influenced by cultural values
DOI
10.1037/pag0000082
Recommended Citation
Fung, Helene H., Yuan Wan Ho, Rui Zhang, Xin Zhang, Kimberly A. Noels, Kim-Pong Tam. "Age Differences in Personal Values: Universal or Cultural Specific?" Psychology and Aging 31, no. 3 (2016): 272-286.
Comments
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