Values per decade

Naturally the division of history into decades is merely a human convention, and political life or social change does not happen according to decades, but in order to have a clearer view of what has happened, the data was divided into decades. There were two main questions that fuelled this viewpoint.

First, the timing of value fluctuations and secondly, what was conveyed

191 Translated by the author

through the speeches to be truly important, i.e. how the value preferences have changed. The next sections deal with each one of these questions.

Mean percentage of value mentions per decade

The following table shows the mean percentage of value mentions per decade. The purpose of this table is to track the changes and fluctuations that have taken place from one decade to another. For each decade the highest value has been highlighted.

1809-1819, the first decade of Grand Duchy, seems to set the pattern for the first five decades of the 19^th century. Benevolence, Spirituality and Conformity occupy the primary posts, and other values show rather small variation of frequency. In fact, Benevolence values’ highest points occur during the first five decades.

Conformity values reach their all-time high in the 1820s, and Tradition values peak in the 1830s. Power values are at their lowest in the 1830s. In 1840s Education values reach their highest peak. In 1850s Universalism values are higher than any other decade in the 19^th century. Self-Direction reaches its lowest point in this decade, as do Achievement and Security.

In 1860s Security and Work-related values rise, and also Conformity and Spirituality values are high. Universalism values are at their all-time low, and remain quite low for the last four decades of the 19^th century. In the 1870s and 1890s Spirituality values are at their highest point, whereas Work- related values are at their lowest in 1870s.

In 1880s Achievement are at their highest in the 19^th century, whereas in that decade Benevolence values are at the lowest point in the 19^th century.

Work-related values are also quite high, and so are Education values. In the 1890s Security values are quite high and so are Education values.

In the first decade of the 20^th century Universalism values are at their highest point in a century (although not at their all-time highest, which occurs later). Conformity, Security, and Work-related values are also high, but Spirituality drops quite a lot from the previous decade. Power values rise considerably from the previous decade. The following decade, 1910s, include the highest peaks for Achievement, Self-direction and Security. Spirituality and Tradition are at their lowest. Benevolence values are at their highest in the 20^th century in this decade.

In the 1920s there is a significant drop in Self-direction, Achievement, and Security values. Work-related values rise, as do Tradition and Spirituality (reaching its highest point in the 20^th century). In the 1930s (as well as in the previous decade) Conformity values are at their highest in the 20^th century. Work-related values continue to rise, as do Power values, whereas Spirituality drops to then stay almost at the same level for another two decades. Stimulation values are quite high as well.

Table 21.Mean percentage of values per decade across all speech types DecadePower Achievement HedonismStimulationSelf-DirectionUniversalismBenevolenceConformityTraditionSecurity WorkSpirituality Education 1809-192.81.1 0.2 0 3.1 8.130.512.47 6.83.7 22.22.2 1821-292.51.2 0 0 1 7.7 25.6 16.95.7 4.5 5.5 23.75.8 1830-391.2 1.6 0.7 0.3 1.2 8.72113.9 7.9 3.5 6.627.26.4 1840-492.2 1 0.3 0.1 0.97.7 25.912.94.45.24.8 26.38.2 1850-592.50.5 0.80 0.410.5 29.614.2 6 2.42.2 27.73.3 1860-694.1 2 0.60 1.3 4.621.616.3 3.8 7.86.928.72.3 1870-795.3 2.32.30.61.4 6.618.315.1 4.8 6.32.130.64.3 1880-895.45.61 0.82 6.1 12.415.4 6.95.86.7 25.46.5 1890-993.5 4.3 0 0.43.7 6.514.614.63.47.7 4.430.66.5 1900-099.53.5 0.62.86.611.7 9.7 15.1 4.611.3 8 14.2 2.5 1911-19 5.46.81 1.1 14.89 15.5 12.62 18.46.54 3 1920-296.7 3.5 0 1.2 5 10.2 13.3 14.65.8 9.68.2 18.73.1 1930-39 124.40.7 2.94.47.6 11.9 13.46.29.99.411.9 5.3 1940-4910.3 4.3 0.7 0.86.910 128.96.211.912.511.4 4 1950-599.1 4.90.62.65.3 11.2 12.513.24.8 9.98.1125.9 1960-6916 5.90.1 3.3 4.8 9.611.9 10.3 4.8 6.110.88.77.6 1970-79 13.6 4.90 3 6 13.2 9.512.53.611.5 11 5.1 6.2 1980-898.14.60 2.83.917.413.7 9.1 4.2 15.6 9.56.1 5 1990-20007.6 3 0.3 2.48.2 16 13.89.1 4.3 12.211 6.85.2

In the 1940s Self-direction rises somewhat, as do Universalism, and Security. Work-related values reach their all-time high. There is a slight drop in Education values, and a more marked one in Stimulation values.

Conformity values reach their lowest point.

In the 1950s Conformity values rise, whereas most other values remain similar to the 1940s, with the exception of Stimulation, which rises a little.

Tradition values drop slightly as do Self-direction values.

In 1960s Power values reach their all-time high, as does Stimulation. Also Education values reach their 20^th century highest point. Security and Spirituality values decrease. In the 1970s Spirituality values continue to decrease, reaching their second lowest point, and Benevolence reaches its all-time low. Security values increase quite a lot from the previous decade, and, to a smaller degree, so does Universalism. Power and Work-related values stay fairly high.

In 1980s Universalism values reach their all-time high. Security values are at their second highest point. Benevolence values increase. Power values decrease clearly, as do Conformity values. There is also a smaller decrease in Self-direction values, Work-related values and Education values.

In the last decade of the 20^th century Self-direction values increase reaching their second highest point. Work-related values and Spirituality values also increase slightly. Universalism values decrease slightly from the previous decade, but are still at their second highest point. Security values drop as well.

Value hierarchies per decade: the top ten

The following table presents the rank order of values across speeches for each decade. The rank order was calculated based on the mean percentage of the value across the speeches per decade. The Non-SVT Finnish values have been highlighted to make clearer their position in the ranking order.

The ranking order of values shows great stability during the period of the Grand Duchy, i.e. the period of the Czars as rulers (1809-1911). Benevolence, Conformity and Spirituality are the most endorsed values, forming a fairly stable threesome. Under the Grand Duchy period, greater variation is seen in the ranking order of the values from the 4^th till the 10^th place. Universalism is the fourth most endorsed value during six decades, in 1809-1839, 1850s, 1870s, and the first decade of 1900s (the last one a shared position with Benevolence).

The first decade of 1900s shows a different pattern from the previous decades in that Security occupies the 3^rd place. During this decade Universalism values are equal to Benevolence values. Security values become more important also 1860s and in 1890s, occupying the 4^th place, and in 1870s the 5th.

Table 22.Rank order per decade Grand Duchy ranking order1. 2.3. 4. 5. 6. 7.8. 9. 10. 1809-19 Benevolence Spirituality Conformity UniversalismTradition Security Work-relatedSelf-DirectionPowerEducation 1820-29 Benevolence Spirituality Conformity UniversalismEducationTradition Work-relatedSecurity PowerSelf-Direction 1839-39 Spirituality Benevolence Conformity UniversalismTradition Work-relatedEducationSecurity Achievement Self-Direction 1840-49 Spirituality Benevolence Conformity EducationUniversalismSecurity Work-relatedTradition PowerAchievement 1850-59 Benevolence Spirituality Conformity UniversalismTradition EducationPowerSecurity Work-relatedHedonism 1860-69 Spirituality Benevolence Conformity Security Work-relatedUniversalismPowerTradition EducationAchievement 1870-79Spirituality Benevolence Conformity UniversalismSecurity PowerTradition Education AC /HE 1880-89 Spirituality Conformity Benevolence Work-relatedTraditionEducationUniversalismSecurity Achievement Power 1890-99 Spirituality Conformity Benevolence Security UniversalismEducationWork-relatedAchievement Self-DirectionPower 1900-11 Conformity Spirituality Security UN/BEPowerWork-relatedSelf-DirectionTraditionAchievement Independence ranking order1. 2.3. 4. 5. 6. 7.8. 9. 10. 1917- 19Security Self-Direction Benevolence Conformity UniversalismAchievement Work-relatedPowerSpirituality Education 1920-29 Spirituality Conformity Benevolence UniversalismSecurity Work-relatedPowerTradition Self-DirectionAchievement 1930-39Conformity PowerBE/SPSecurity Work-relatedUniversalismTradition EducationSelf-Direction 1940-49 Work-relatedBenevolence Security Spirituality PowerUniversalismConformity Self-DirectionTraditionAchievement 1950-59 Conformity Benevolence Spirituality UniversalismSecurity PowerWork-relatedEducation Self-DirectionAchievement 1960-69 PowerBenevolence Work-relatedConformity UniversalismEducationSpirituality Security Achievement Self-Direction 1970-79PowerUniversalismConformity Security Work-relatedBenevolence EducationSelf-DirectionSpirituality Achievement 1980-89 UniversalismSecurity Benevolence Work-relatedConformity PowerSpirituality Education Achievement Tradition 1990-2000UniversalismBenevolence Security Work-relatedConformity Self-DirectionPowerSpirituality EducationTradition

Education values rise in importance in the 1840s (being in the 4^th place), as do Security values in 1860s and in 1890s. Work-related values are mainly the 7^th most cited ones (in 1810s, 1820s, 1840s, 1890s, and the first decade of 1900), except for in 1830s when they are 6^th, and in 1860s and 1880s when they occupy the 4^th place.

The least favored values are Achievement and Hedonism, together with Self-Direction. The least favored is Stimulation, which never reaches the top ten lists.

In the period of Independence (1917-2000) the ranking order shows much greater variation than during the Grand Duchy period. Benevolence is still among the top three, although it no longer is the highest ranking in any of the decades. Conformity is the highest in 1930s and again in 1950s, and it is the 2^nd in 1920s, and 3^rd in 1970s. Spirituality is the highest in 1920s, but altogether Spirituality values are markedly less endorsed, being 3^rd 1950s, 4^th in 1940s and at a shared 3^rd place with Benevolence values in 1930s.

Power and Universalism occupy the highest place for two decades each at the end of the 20^th century. Work-related values are the highest in the 1940s.

In 1960s they are the 3^rd most important values, and in 1980s and 1990s the 4^th. Security values are also generally higher than in the previous period, being the most important in first period (1917-19) and 2^nd in 1980s and 3^rd in importance in 1940s and 1990s.