Value Dimensions Versus Social Indicators as Predictors of Individual Modernity.

This investigation is an empirical attempt to locate variables which best predict individual modernity and to explicate causal relationships. The dimensions chosen for analysis are defined by several relevant models in past research. The independent variables include two personal characteristics (age and sex); five structural variables (residence, SES, organizational participation, religion, and exposure to the mass media of communications); and four social psychological variables (identification with community, individualism, familism, and fatalism). The dependent variable is individual modernity. An area in eastern Kentucky, a traditional society in the process of modernization, is chosen as a source for data. A research model is designed, analyzed, and revised. The authors suggest that the variables shown in the revised model may provide a good empirical base for theoretical formation. (Author/SHM)