Values in Fast Motion: Political and Personal Values at the Beginning of the Financial and Economic Crisis 2008

Abstract

This article analyzes changes in political and basic personal values at the beginning of the financial and economic crisis of 2008. In a first step, the paper argues that dramatic events with far-reaching societal implications can result in a change of values and attitudes among citizens. Such a value change is likely if mass media cover a dramatic event over a long period and convey congruent interpretations and judgments to the audience. In a second step, an analysis of two major newspapers illustrates that these preconditions were fulfilled at the beginning of the financial and economic crisis: over several months, the crisis was at the top of the media agenda, and articles presented consistent and explicit moral judgments about causes and culprits. In a third step, the article shows that the advancement of the financial and economic crisis indeed resulted in a change in political values. A growing proportion of Germans (a) gave priority to equality instead of liberty, (b) favored a society which places less importance on money and (c) classified itself as politically ‘left’ rather than ‘right’. Despite these value shifts in regard to politics and society, the respondents’ personal values, which represent general value orientations regarding the world, remained widely unchanged during the covered period.