Suggestions of the Postmodern Self: Value Changes in American High School Students, 1976–1996

Abstract

Following Allen and Turner's suggestion “to bring data to bear on the claims of postmodern theory,” this article evaluates one aspect of Kenneth Gergen's theory of social saturation. In The Saturated Self, Gergen proposes that the postmodern self can be seen in the increase in the number and diversity of values that individuals hold to be important. This “populating of the self” also leads to an abandonment of modernist ideas about truth and absolute knowledge. Using data from a nationally representative sample of American high school seniors, I test Gergen's theory about change in the values of individuals. Between 1976 and 1996 the importance of most values in the survey has increased, with only one of the fourteen values (finding meaning in life) declining in importance. These results support Gergen's theory of social saturation and provide an example of an empirical evaluation of a postmodern theory.