Stability and Change in American Value Priorities, 1968-1981

In 1968 and 1971, the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) obtained national data for rankings of 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values. In 1974 and 1981, the Institute for Social Research (ISR) obtained additional data for the same 18 terminal values. In a 1985 study, Inglehart compared the 4 sets of terminal value rankings thus obtained and found them to be remarkably stable. These same data also show, however, that Americans underwent dramatic value changes during the same period. The most disturbing finding is that equality, the value previously found to be highly correlated with antiracist and liberal attitudes, decreased more than any other value. This and other value changes contradict well-established NORC, Gallup, and ISR findings showing (a) impressive increases in antiracist attitudes and (b) a "much more variable" and (c) "much lower level of support" for attitudes toward implementation of integration. We propose a theoretical explanation of the three sets of contradictory findings. Moreover, we offer a theoretical explanation of naturally occurring stability and change in American value priorities.