Differences in value and attitude change over the life course

Abstract

An abundance of research has asserted that there are predictable changes that occur to a person's values and attitudes over the life course. This assertion follows the claim by some theorists that values and attitudes are similar in structure and function. This report tests the assertion that values and attitudes are mutable early in the life course, change to a conservative orientation over time, and eventually stabilize in the later stages of the life course. Period and cohort effects are discussed as possible sources of change and stability. Results are used to reconsider the idea that values and attitudes are similar in structure and function. This effort concludes that values and attitudes show marked differences in both their mutable nature over the life course and in the function each plays in the evaluation process.