Bringing Values Back In: The Adequacy of the European Social Survey to Measure Values in 20 Countries

Abstract

Values are prominent in public discourse today. Theorists have long considered values central to understanding attitudes and behavior. The Schwartz (1992) theory of basic human values has promoted a revival of empirical research on values. The semi-annual European Social Survey (ESS) includes a new 21-item instrument to measure the importance of the ten basic values of the theory. Representative national samples in 20 countries responded to the instrument in 2002-3. We briefly describe the theory and the ESS instrument and assess its adequacy for measuring values across countries. Using multiple group confirmatory factor analyses, augmented with mean-structure information, we assess the configural and measurement (metric) invariance of the values-necessary conditions for equivalence of the meaning of constructs, and scalar invariance-a precondition for comparing value means across countries. Only if such equivalence is established can researchers make meaningful and clearly interpretable cross-national comparisons of value priorities and their correlates. The ESS values scale demonstrates configural and metric invariance, allowing researchers to use it to study relationships among values, attitudes, behavior and socio-demographic characteristics across countries. Comparing the mean importance of values across countries is possible only for subsets of countries where scalar invariance holds.

Two theories on the test bench: Internal and external validity of the theories of Ronald Inglehart and Shalom Schwartz

“…Notice that the average size of the correlations between the five values is much lower than those found between the seven value constructs identified by Davidov et al (2008a).…”

Universalism, conservation and attitudes toward minority groups

“…With his theory of basic human values, Schwartz (1992) proposed a definition and structure of the human value system which has been empirically supported by an abundance of studies (e.g., Davidov, Schmidt, and Schwartz, 2008;Fontaine et al, 2008;Schwartz and Boehnke, 2004;Schwartz et al, 2012;Steinmetz, Isidor, and Bäuerle, 2012 In general, negative attitudes toward minority groups may be boosted or reduced by different values (e.g., Asbrock, Sibley, and Duckitt, 2010;Chambers, Schlenker, and Collisson, 2012;Davidov and Meuleman, 2012;Fasel, Green, and Sarrasin, 2013;Feather and McKee, 2012;Herek and McLemore, 2013;Kuntz et al, 2015;Pedersen and Hartley, 2012).…”

Happy to Help? Exploring the Factors Associated with Variations in Rates of Volunteering Across Europe

“…Cultural resources are measured in the form of values, following Musick et al (Davidov, Schmidt, & Schwartz, 2008) and are therefore suitable for our analysis. The ten core values comprise selfdirection, stimulation, hedonism, achievement, power, security, conformity, tradition, benevolence and universalism.…”