How Can the Global Ageing Affect the Global Value System? An Evolutionary Perspective

Social Evolution & History. 2023. Vol. 22. No. 1. P. 57–76.

Korotayev A., Butovskaya M., Shulgin S., Zinkina J.

All demographic forecasts imply that global ageing will continue and even intensify in the coming decades. As some values may change with age, global ageing is likely to cause shifts in global values. Our analysis suggests that a shift towards cooperation is to be expected alongside a shift to conservative values, as these are two main evolutionary adaptations for group stability and increasing chances of offspring survival. These are observed for both males and females. Using the World Values Survey data across various regions and country groups we find that both conservation and cooperation values indeed increase with age even with control for cohort effect. Older respondents tend to be more religious and support Conservation values as opposed to Openness values. They also tend to support values of Self-Transcendence/care for the others rather than Self-Enhancement/self-empowerment, and support pro-social values more, condemning free-riders and various ways of cheating on the social system. Thus, global ageing might not only contribute to growth of conservation values, but also might have beneficial effects by increasing support of pro-social values promoting concern and care for the welfare of others.

Keywords: World Values Survey, старение, ageing, human evolution, global ageing, evolution of human values, pro-social values, глобальное старение, эволюция человека, эволюция человеческих ценностей, просоциальные ценности, Всемирное Исследование Ценностей