ABSTRACT
This chapter considers both Cultural Theory and postmaterialist theory using a 1993 Norwegian national survey of environmental attitudes. Cultural Theory is typological, whereas Ronald Inglehart's postmaterialist theory is not. Cultural change is emphasized in both theories, but they differ profoundly on the causes of change and the pervasiveness of change. Postmaterialism is a theory of socialization. The values internalized by the individual during the formative years provide value stability in the adult years. The institutions in which an individual spends his adult life are thus treated as relatively insignificant. Cultural Theory, in contrast, downplays the individual's formative socialization in favor of the formative power of institutions to shape values and beliefs throughout a person's life. For Cultural Theory the role of the economy is marginal. The theory identifies two factors for continuous individual value change. One element points to the bounded rationality of institutionally embedded individuals. The other points out that life itself may defy our expectations.
