Postmaterialism and Altruism: A Cross-National Comparison

Year 2016, Volume: 2 Issue: 1, 87 - 110, 30.06.2016

Volkan Yeniaras

Abstract

Altruism is quintessential to human evolution. In this paper it is argued that cultural evolution has an impact on altruism. Using data from the sixth wave of World Values Survey we examined the mechanisms through which altruistic orientations may be affected at both side of the Atlantic. Employing the data that cover the United States and the members of the European Union, it was found that postmaterialism negatively affects altruism in Estonia, Sweden, and the United States. Reciprocity enhances postmaterialism-altruism association in Cyprus while buffering it in Poland. Furthermore, it was established that the importance assigned to an omniscient and omnipotent being enhances this association in the Netherlands, Poland, and the United States. The results also have some public policy implications regarding the adoption of pro-environmental behaviour.

Keywords

Altruism, Reciprocity, Postmaterialism, Automomy, Religious Belief

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