Abstract
Postmaterialists argue that citizens' values change when economic development expands educational opportunities. In modernized societies, people embrace postmaterialist values such as self-expression and the quality of life, including support for gender equality. We argue that the political processes that accompany modernization influence value formation. Since all societies do not modernize in the same way, citizens in different regions do not share an identical set of values at a particular stage in modernization. We compare East Asia with other regions, arguing that in East Asia, state-driven modernization processes incorporated gender inequality, and citizens' values reflect the norms disseminated by their governments. We use the underutilized Gallup International Millennium Survey, conducted in more than 60 countries in 2000.
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