Introduction

Empirical evidence on Ronald Inglehart's theory of value change shows that subsequent generations show a decline in values of physical and economic security (materialism) in favor of an increase in values of self-expression and autonomy (postmaterialism).

Methods

We investigate in a pre-registered study whether Inglehart's theory also applies to partnership, such that millennials think less that they need a partner to be happy. We used data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study on 4540 17-year-olds from 16 birth cohorts.

Results

Results show that adolescents’ estimated importance of a romantic partner for personal happiness decreases on average with each subsequent birth cohort. Further significant predictors were socialization and relationship status of the parents, birth year of the father, as well as education and sex of the adolescent. Socioeconomic status and education level of the parents and birth year of the mother were not significant.

Conclusions

Findings provide initial evidence that as society becomes more individualized, even personal happiness is increasingly seen as independent of significant others. Ronald Inglehart's theory of value change, however, seems to have only limited applicability as an explanatory model for this development.

中文翻译：

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Y世代：千禧一代需要伴侣才能幸福吗？

介绍

Ronald Inglehart 价值变化理论的经验证据表明，后代表现出物质和经济安全（物质主义）价值观的下降，而有利于自我表达和自主价值观（后物质主义）的增加。

方法

我们在一项预先注册的研究中调查了 Inglehart 的理论是否也适用于合作伙伴关系，从而使千禧一代更少地认为他们需要合作伙伴才能快乐。我们使用了德国社会经济小组 (SOEP) 对来自 16 个出生队列的 4540 名 17 岁儿童的研究数据。

结果

结果表明，青少年对浪漫伴侣对个人幸福的估计重要性在每个后续出生队列中平均下降。进一步的重要预测因素是父母的社会化和关系状况、父亲的出生年份以及青少年的教育和性别。父母的社会经济地位、文化程度和母亲的出生年份均不显着。

结论

调查结果提供了初步证据，表明随着社会变得更加个性化，甚至个人幸福也越来越被视为独立于重要他人。然而，Ronald Inglehart 的价值变化理论作为这种发展的解释模型似乎只有有限的适用性。