Changing Values, Political Attitudes, and Democracy in Iranian Society in the Fifth and Seventh Waves of Global Values

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics , Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

2 Sociology phd candidate,Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction:Values, as one of culture and personality system components, have an impact on behavioral patterns and sociopolitical preferences, etc. According to Inglehart and Klingman, human societies experience three main directions of social change in the form of socio-economic development, value change, and political change, and value change is considered to precede political change.Therefore, present study compared changes in political values ​​and democracy in Iranian society in fifth and seventh waves among two gender and age groups of the Global Values ​​Survey in order to examine the extent of changes in two time periods and identify symptoms of these changes.
Methodology:Research method was secondary analysis and longitudinal study using existing and available data from the Global Values ​​Survey.Data was analyzed using SPSS software to determine the trend of changes in various components of political values ​​of different age and gender groups in Iranian society.
Results: Findings showed that as a result of increased education levels, the expansion of the media, and a relative improvement in the quality of life, modern values ​​such as political participation, civil liberties, and individual rights have been strengthened, especially among younger generations. Also, according to results, attitudes toward religious rule have increased with age, and in the seventh wave, the age group of 50 and older has become more inclined to interpret laws by religious authorities.
Conclusions: According to the results of study, women are more inclined than men to the existence of religious values ​​in the political system. Respect for individual human rights, which was undervalued in the fifth wave, has been significantly positively evaluated in the seventh wave, which could be a sign of an increase in individualism due to the expansion of cyberspace. This issue needs to be taken into account by those in charge when analyzing the political behavior of society members and designing cultural and social policies.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Almond, G., and Verba, S. (2002). Political Culture (translated by Ahmad Golmohammadi). Tehran: Sima Press.[In Persian]
Akbari, Y., Naderlu, R. and Khodakaramian Gilan, N. (2022). Value and Attitudinal Differences in the Iranian Family Institution Based on the 2020 Global Survey. Iranian Population Studies, 8(2), 317-348. doi: 10.22034/jips.2025.485588.1246.[In Persian]
Arsia, B. and Saei, A. (2019). The impact of social capital of state on political development from point of viewe Tehranian citizans. Journal of Political Knowledge, 15(1), 1-28. doi: 10.30497/pk.2019.2615.[In Persian]
Bell, D. (1976). The coming of post-industrial society: A venture in social forecasting. New York: Basic Books.
Bem, D. J. (1972). Self-perception theory. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 6, pp. 1–62). Academic Press.
Castells, M. (2010). The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture: The Rise of the Network Society (translated by Ali Paya). Tehran: Tarh No Press. [In Persian]
Chalabi, M. (1996). The Sociology of Order: A Theoretical Explanation of Social Order. Tehran: Ney Press. [In Persian]
Claridge, T. (2018). Dimensions of social capital – Structural, cognitive and relational. Social Capital Research. Retrieved from https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com
Drucker, P.F. (1993). Post-capitalist society (free translation). Tehran: Rasa Press. [In Persian]
Eisenstadt, S. N. (1956). From Generation to Generation: Age Groups and Social Structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Eyvazi, M, R, Jahanbin, F.(2012) The trend of value changes in Iran after the Islamic Revolution from 1978 to 2009. Quarterly Journal of Islamic Revolution Studies. 2012; 9 (29): 213-242[In Persian]
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press.
Fichter, J. H. (1976). Sociology. University of Chicago Press.
Giddens, A. (2013). An Introduction to the Institutional Analysis of Modernity, in Modernity and Modernism (translated by Hossein Nozari). Tehran: Nay Press. [In Persian]
Giddens, A. (2018). The Consequences of Modernity (translated by Mohsen Salasi). Tehran: Markazenashr Press. [In Persian]
Gunnell, M. (2007). Global cultural values change and the relationship with telecommunications change: A longitudinal analysis. Capella University Publication.
Habibi, F. (2021). Fundamentals of Research Method in Social Sciences. Tehran: Samt Publications. [In Persian]
Hacker, S. K. (2015). The art of cultural transformation: How cultures change through human interaction. Seattle, WA: Transformation Systems International.
Huntington, S. P. (2018). Political order in changing societies. (Translated by M. Solasi). Tehran: Elmi Publication. [In Persian]
Inglehart, R. (1977). The silent revolution: Changing values and political styles among Western publics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Inglehart, R., & Abramson, P. R. (1994). Economic security and value change. The American Political Science Review, 88(2), 336–354.
Inglehart, R., & Baker, W. E. (2000). Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values. American Sociological Review, 65(1), 19–51.
Inglehart, R., & Catterberg, G. (2002). Trends in political action: The developmental trend and the post-honeymoon decline. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston.
Inglehart, R., & Welzel, C. (2005/2007). Modernization, cultural change, and democracy: The human development sequence. Cambridge University Press.
Inglehart, R., & Welzel, C. (2005). Exploring the unknown: Predicting the responses of publics not yet surveyed. International Review of Sociology, 15(1), 173–201.
Inglehart, R., & Norris, P. (2017). Trump and the Populist Authoritarian Parties: The Silent Revolution in Reverse. Perspectives on Politics, 15(2), 443–454. doi:10.1017/S1537592717000111
Kazemi,h.(2013).Institutionalism as a Model for Political Analysis.Pizhūhish-i siyāsat-i nazāri,13(2),1-10. [In Persian]
Kunst, J. R., & Mesoudi, A. (2024). Decoding the Dynamics of Cultural Change: A Cultural Evolution Approach to the Psychology of Acculturation. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 29(2), 111-144. https://doi.org/10.1177/10888683241258406 
Mohammadpour, A. (2013). From Tradition to Modernization: Studying Social Changes through Ethnography. Tehran: Sociologists Press. [In Persian]
Mozadehi Khande-Roy Yazdi, F, Hazrat-e-Sumeh, Z, and Abolhasan Tanhaei, H. (2021). A sociological study of the impact of social capital on familism among young people in Tehran. Iranian Social Development Studies, 13(4), 227-239. SID. https://sid.ir/paper/1063414/fa[In Persian]
Nikgohar, A. (1993). Roundtable on the Status of Sociology in Iran. Journal of the Revolutionary University, No. 97. [In Persian]
Noy, S., & Kanji, M. (2002). Human values and social change: Findings from the World Values Survey. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 43(3–5), 159–180.
Parris, H., Nguyen, T., & Caldwell, R. (2022). Cultural transformation theory and social change: Understanding value shifts in modern societies. Journal of Social Change Studies, 18(3), 45–67.
Parsons, T. (1951). The social system. Harvard University Press.
Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). Communication and persuasion: Central and peripheral routes to attitude change. Springer-Verlag.
Rafipour, F. (2017). Development and Conflict. Tehran: Sahami Enteshar Press. [In Persian]
Rafipour, F. (2018). Anatomy of Society: An Introduction to Applied Sociology. Tehran: Sahami Enteshar Press. [In Persian]
Roche, G. (2007). Social Changes (Translated by M. Vosoughi). Tehran: Ney Press.[In Persian]
Shiri, H. (2022). A generational study of value changes in Iran (secondary analysis of data from waves 4 and 7 of the Global Values Survey). Contemporary Sociological Research (Scientific-Research), 11(20), 197-224. [In Persian]
Schwartz, S. H., & Sagie, G. (2000). Value consensus and importance: A cross-national study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 31(4), 465–497.
Schwartz, S. H., & Sagiv, L. (2005). Value priorities and behavior: Applying a theory of integrated value systems, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 37, pp. 1–63). Academic Press.
Stephenson, J. (2023). Cultural Change. In: Culture and Sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25515-1_6
Taliban, M,R, Mobasheri, M.& Mehrayin, M. (2010). A study of the process of value transformation in Iran (1974-2009). Historical Sociology, 2(3), 23-63. [In Persian]
Tsounis, A., & Xanthopoulou, D. (2024). Social capital theory: Dimensions and implications for collective action. Athens: Hellenic Social Sciences Press.
Vosoughi, M. and Akbari, H. (2010). Trends and factors affecting the change of values. Social Analysis of Social Order and Inequality, 2010(1)
World Values Survey (WVS). (2021). Statistical data files: Wave 4 (1999–2004) & Wave 7 (2017–2020). Retrieved from https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org (Accessed February 2021).

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics