Relations among Sociopolitical Values in Eastern Europe: Effects of the Communist Experience?

Abstract

Studies of values around the world have revealed that a world at peace, social justice, and equality (universalism values) are ordinarily opposed motivationally to social order and national security (security values). We first establish that these sociopolitical values exhibit an unusual pattern of compatibility in East European samples from eight countries (N = 2770). This pattern suggests a shared meaning for the sociopolitical values similar to that of conformity values and opposed to that of self-direction values. We then hypothesize that this unusual meaning of sociopolitical values reflects the experience of living under East European communist regimes. Comparison of the value priorities of opponents and supporters of the communist regime in Poland supports this hypothesis. Implications for the nature and speed of value change are discussed.