Modernization as Changes in Cultural Complexity: New Cross-Cultural Measurements

Abstract

A cross-cultural modernization scale is constructed using a worldwide sample of 136 societies in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. The operational definition of modernization is a change from traditional customs to ones that are forced or voluntarily borrowed from a dominant society that results in changes in behavior or customs. As a result of analysis using principal component analysis, we interpret the modernization process as a series of four separate stages that societies go through. Five separate hypotheses concerning modernization are tested and receive moderate support. It appears that the first stage (changes in government, trade, and education) and last stage (changes in behavior) of the modernization process are related to the five hypotheses. The second stage (changes in health, technology, and transportation) and the third stage (changes in family structure, religion, and personal toilet) are not.