ABSTRACT
The findings recounted in Chapter 4 contradict the theory formulated by Ronald Inglehart in The Silent Revolution (1977). The problem is not so much his finding that postmaterialism is mainly observed among the young, the highly educated, and the secular as the theoretical interpreta t ion he attributes to i t . As has been noted, Inglehart is of the opinion that growing up in affluence leads to more or less stable postmaterialist values. In reality, however, the prosperity of the families people grow up in does not appear to play the slightest role.
