Nov.23

Throwback Thursday

Last week, Tilburg University organized Night University. A unique event to give back to society. The Dutch team of the European Values Study was evidently present, as the theme of the evening was “Back to the Future“. Pictures on Instagram below show that this theme was quite visible on campus: the organization were even able to get their hands on a few DeLorean time machine cars!

Because of the theme, we decided to present on the question whether younger people these days have become more conservative – i.e. less postmaterialist – than age cohorts decades back. At least in the US, this concerns seem to be widely shared, not in the least because since the election of Donald Trump. After crunching several waves of the EVS, we showed that young people show, generally, more postmaterialistic values than the same cohorts several decades ago. There is, however, one difference. On the so-called Inglehart materialist-postmaterialist survey items, there is a shift towards more materialist responses. As we are presently collecting new EVS-data, we can update in a few months whether this shift towards materialism among younger age cohorts was an anomaly, or whether value change has been initiated already one decade ago.

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Nov.08

EVS at Night University

On Thursday 16 November 2017, Tilburg University will turn into Night University. Science and society are brought together during this annual fun event. Whereas I was hosting karaoke with Peter Achterberg the last two years, this year I will bring in a more academic focus. In a joint talk with Loek Halman, I will talk about generational effects in social values, based on the European Values Study: is it true that young people are becoming more conservative than their parents? Loek and I will be present in room SZ 31 (Simon Building) from 9:00-9:45pm. Entrance is free!

During the same day, I will be a jury member during University’s Got Talent. This event is part of the Dies Natalis during the 90th anniversary celebrations of Tilburg University. During this event, 10 different acts (music, dance, debate, …) will try to conquer a place at Festival Mundial 2018! Together with Frank van Pamelen and Gino van Eijk, we will select the winner of this unique contest. More soon!

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