Survey data from countries containing over 90 percent of the world’s population demonstrate that, in recent decades, rising levels of economic and physical security have been reshaping human values and motivations, and thereby transforming societies. Eco¬nomic and physical insecurity are conducive to xenophobia, strong in-group solidarity, au¬thoritarian politics and rigid adherence to traditional cultural norms; conversely secure conditions lead to greater tolerance of outgroups, openness to new ideas and more egali¬tarian social norms. Analysts working from different perspectives have described these cul¬tu¬ral differences as Collectivism versus Individualism, Materialism versus Postma¬terialism, Survival versus Self-expression values, or Autonomy versus Embeddedness, but they all tap a common dimension of cross-cultural variation that reflects different levels of existential security.
Keywords: Existential security, xenophobia, authoritarianism, individualism, materialism.