Cohorts, Diffusion, and Attitude Shifts

科罗拉多大学弗雷德·潘佩尔家庭生活和生育水平普遍变化的一个关键因素是对不同形式的社会行为的更大容忍。然而，一些团体的观点发生了比其他团体更大的变化。这个项目解决了社会科学家的一个关键问题：社会态度的社会经济分布在不同的群体、时期和国家之间发生了怎样的变化？这个问题引发了关于社会变革的问题，在学术文献中引起了相当大的争论。一些人说，社会态度的变化是由于来自高地位背景、受过高等教育、从事高地位工作和享受经济保障的人口比例的增加--这些群体最容易采取宽容的观点。其他人说，二战后几十年，富裕国家的经济繁荣和物质安全导致了自我表达和世俗主义的新价值观。这种广泛的价值观变化在所有或大多数社会群体中培养了宽容的态度。这个项目开发并测试了第三种理论。一种扩散理论认为，社会平等和经济增长最初会增加高社会经济地位群体的宽容态度，从而导致态度两极分化。然而，宽容的态度在队列和时间段之间稳步扩散到其他群体，随着宽容态度变得更加普遍，社会观点的差异正在缩小。该项目使用三个数据集检验相互竞争的理论：1)从1973年到2008年的22项调查的一般社会调查；2)国际社会调查方案，32个国家的最多三波数据(1994年、1998年和2004年)；以及3)世界价值观调查，分布在世界所有主要地区的71个国家，最多五波数据。对数据进行统计分析的结果将有助于人们对人们的态度和价值观如何变化有新的理解。广泛的影响该项目的影响将超越学术研究。容忍非传统行为和群体是自由和公民社会的基本目标。鉴于性少数群体历来和持续受到歧视和虐待，更好地了解宽容态度社会分布的变化是有帮助的。为此，该项目将把研究成果纳入研究生班级，并在为普通读者杂志撰写的文章中公布结果。

SES-1256841Fred PampelUniversity of ColoradoA key component of widespread changes in family life and fertility levels has been the greater tolerance of diverse forms of social behavior. Yet some groups have changed more than others in their views. This project addresses a key question for social scientists: How has the socioeconomic distribution of social attitudes changed across cohorts, periods, and nations? The question raises issues about social change that generate considerable debate in the scholarly literature. Some say that changes in social attitudes occur through increases in the proportion of the population coming from high status backgrounds, having attained high education, working in high status jobs, and enjoying economic security - those groups most prone to adopt tolerant views. Others say that the economic prosperity and material security in rich nations during the post-World War II decades have led to new values of self-expression and secularism. This broad value change has fostered tolerant attitudes among all or most social groups. This project develops and tests a third theory. A diffusion theory posits that social equality and economic growth initially increase tolerant attitudes among high SES groups, thereby leading to polarization in attitudes. However, tolerant attitudes steadily diffuse across cohorts and time periods to other groups, with social differences in views narrowing as tolerant attitudes become more widespread. This project tests the competing theories with three data sets: 1) the General Social Survey with 22 surveys from 1973 to 2008; 2) the International Social Survey Programme with up to three waves of data (1994, 1998, and 2004) for 32 nations; and 3) the World Values Survey of 71 nations located in all major regions of the world and with up to five waves of data. The findings from statistical analysis of the data will contribute new understandings of how attitudes and values change in populations.Broader ImpactsThe project will have impacts that extend beyond scholarly research. Tolerance of non-traditional behaviors and groups is an essential goal of a free and civil society. Given the historical and continuing discrimination and mistreatment of sexual minorities, it helps to have a better understanding of changes in the social distribution of tolerant attitudes. Toward that end, the project will incorporate research results into graduate classes and publicize the results in articles written for general readership magazines.