The Innovation of Values: Exploring the Role of News Media Exposure and Communication in Moral Progress in the Netherlands

Abstract

The world has made enormous moral progress since the 1980s. People emphasize universal emancipative values and freedom more. In this research, the role of media use and interpersonal communication therein is studied from a diffusion of innovations perspective. A secondary analysis of World Values Survey data from the Netherlands was conducted (N = 4281). Emancipative values are widely supported; however, worries about loss of freedom and moral regress increasingly lead to societal conflicts. The results show value gaps and different uses of media between adoption categories, especially between laggards and others. Multimedia use is correlated to supporting emancipative values. Early adopters use news media most, while early majority and laggards use digital media more. Outcomes such as lower levels of connectedness in combination with higher standard deviations for emancipative values indicate that media and interpersonal communication can help include laggards more in supporting emancipative values and resolving social conflicts.