Historically and instinctually humans are materialist creatures. Materialism can be defined as the mindset of valuing "economic security, law and order, and national defense.1" (Dalton, 2006 84). Our primary goals and values naturally constitute what is necessary for survival. In advanced industrialized nations (typically democracies) society has made significant progress and assured security and sustenance needs so they no longer demand maximum attention. Since so many primary needs are assured in these countries, especially from the 1970's-present the value system of the people has shifted. The resulting post-materialist generations value the intellectual and aesthetic aspects of post-materialism over the more basic materialistic needs of less developed societies.

Ronald Inglehart, a researcher and theorist developed two theories to explain value changes in advancing industrial societies. The first is the scarcity hypothesis. This helps to explain and predict how people......

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Title: Materialist And Postmaterialist
Approximate Word Count: 671
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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