This article examines the hypothesis that, since World War II, there has been intergenerational change in the fundamental values of particular segments of the population in some Western European countries. Values have shifted, as it were, from prioritizing economic security and social order ("acquisitive values") to intellectual and artistic expression and radical social change ("post-bourgeois" values). We have tested this hypothesis through a questionnaire applied to a variety of social groups. Although the "post-bourgeois" respondents are more likely to be youth, our argument here is that the changes we note should not be attributed to a stage in the life cycle in which people tend to be more open to change and bear less family and social burden: rather, they reflect a deep shift in values linked to the economic affluence of Western European countries after 1945. This change in values also influences political activities and political party preferences. leading, above all, to the emergence and consolidation of a "New Left".
changing values; intergenerational change; acquisitive values; post-bourgeois values; New Left
