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Materialism in Japan Reconsidered: Toward a Synthesis of Generational and Life-Cycle Explanations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Wolfgang Jagodzinski
Wolfgang Jagodzinski*
Affiliation:
University of Cologne
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Abstract

In two recent articles, Inglehart (1981, 1982) arrives at the conclusion that the decline of materialism in postwar Japan is the result of generational change and period effects. Aging effects cannot be demonstrated empirically. This article challenges his views. It will be shown that a life-cycle explanation can claim as much empirical evidence as a generational explanation, as long as the overall goodness of fit and the sign and strength of the age effects and cohort effects are the only criteria the decision is based upon. Particularly, a two-dimensional age-period model fits the data nearly as well as the cohort-period model that Inglehart proposes. Theoretical considerations, however, plead for a three-dimensional solution that includes some cohort effects beside period and aging effects for those generations that grew up in the postwar era. Such a model can also be established empirically.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 77 , Issue 4 , December 1983 , pp. 887 - 894
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1983

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