Changing Values and Identities in the Post-Communist World by Nadezhda Lebedeva Radosveta Dimitrova & John Berry

Author:Nadezhda Lebedeva, Radosveta Dimitrova & John Berry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Conclusions. The Consequences of the Confirmation of the Conservation Hypothesis

The conservation hypothesis was confirmed, as the investigated social strata were characterized by a series of transgenerational patterns. Thus, high interdependence, modest independence, high self-esteem, dominant externalism and low self-determination were highlighted at the attitudinal level, whereas conservatism and low affective and intellectual autonomy values were noted at an axiological level. Young Romanians seem to be the most vulnerable, dependent and less willing to take their life in their own hands, when compared to the other cohorts. Additionally, young people structure their implicitly assumed values and attitudes in the same way as the older generation, ‘their parents’, even if children these days sometimes condemn their parents for complicity and ‘shameful disposals’ in the communist times. Such narrative recurrences appear frequently in the oral interviews with individuals who are part of the young cohorts, despite the persistence of transgenerational fatalistic attitudes (Gavreliuc, 2016). Nevertheless, the studies we conducted have some shortcomings. For example, the studies were limited to only one historical moment. Moreover, only one regional area from Romania was studied, with its own specificity (Sandu, 2003). A longitudinal research with representative samples could have tested the hypotheses more directly.

Furthermore, it is important to take into account the link between the current tendencies and other structural and individual factors that have proven to be relevant, such as the economic level (Inglehart, 2016; Inglehart & Welzel, 2005), previous types of political regime and dominant economic and social structures (Rupnik, 1988) or religiosity (Fontaine, Duriez, Luyten, Corveleyn, & Hutsebaut, 2005; Schwartz & Huismans, 1995). Lastly, a qualitative approach would complement the current study.

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