Age and Social Composition Factors as Explanations for Cleavages in Socio-Political Values

Abstract

While age group differences on social and political values have been frequently documented in survey data, it is often claimed that these differences are due to social composition factors rather than to age itself. In this analysis we test for the effects of age vs. social composition in explaining variation in four attitudinal dependent variables. Using a sample especially drawn to study generational differences, and employing a multivariate statistical model, it was found that age differences were only modestly reduced by social composition variables. It is concluded that nonartifactual age group differences do exist on the dependent variables.