Over last half of the twentieth century, a silent revolution in post-material values made significant advances around the world. The formation of post-material values also resulted in expanded participation in post-material experiences such as joining voluntary groups, pursuing creativity and independence in the world of work, and engaging in political actions—experiences that go beyond a strict focus on accumulating economic wealth and material possessions. Because social class position matters for being a post-materialist, a class divide exists between middle-class post-materialists and working-class materialists who occupy the lower end of the social class spectrum. This article will show that such a divide occurs, first for participation in post-material experiences and second for the attainment of life satisfaction. Using data from the World Values Survey, evidence will be provided in this article showing that members of the working class participate less in post-material experiences than others and, as a consequence, enjoy lower life satisfaction than others, especially post-materialists. In light of working-class-supported right-wing populism’s recent emergence in the USA and Europe, this social class divide takes on a special significance in explaining shifting trends in politics and public policy.

在二十世纪下半叶，后材料价值观的一场无声革命在世界范围内取得了重大进步。材料后价值的形成也导致了对材料后体验的更多参与例如加入志愿团体，在工作世界中追求创造力和独立性以及从事政治活动，这些经验超出了严格地专注于积累经济财富和物质财富的范围。由于社会阶层的地位对于后物质主义者至关重要，因此在社会阶层中处于较低地位的中产阶级后物质主义者与工人阶级物质主义者之间存在阶级鸿沟。本文将说明这种分歧的发生，首先是参加材料后的体验，其次是获得生活满意度。利用世界价值调查的数据，本文将提供证据，表明工人阶级成员在物质后经历上的参与比其他成员要少，因此享受的生活满意度也比其他人低，特别是后唯物主义者。鉴于工人阶级支持的右翼民粹主义最近在美国和欧洲出现，这种社会阶级鸿沟在解释政治和公共政策的变化趋势方面具有特殊的意义。