Page 24 - JCBP-2-2

Journal of Clinical and

Basic Psychosomatics

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Life values in different age groups before and

after global health crisis: A comparison of two
German representative cohorts in 2018 and 2022

1
Beate Muschalla * and Elmar Brähler 2,3
1 Psychotherapy and Diagnostics, Technical University of Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Lower
Saxony, Germany
2 Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Medical Sociology, University Medical
Center of Mainz, Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate Land, Germany
3 Behavioral Medicine Research Unit, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy,
Integrated Research and Treatment Centre Adiposity Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig,
Saxony, Germany

Abstract

Basic life values are known to be stable over a lifetime and are predictive of a
wide range of attitudes and behaviors. However, they may fluctuate in response
to environmental changes or challenges. This study, conducted in two large
representative cohorts, aimed to investigate whether basic life values across different
age groups remained consistent before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Two large
representative cohorts from the German general population were surveyed about
their basic life values using the Short Schwartz Values Scale in 2018 (N = 2412)
*Corresponding author: and 2022 (N = 2499). A comparison was made across age groups and time points
Beate Muschalla
(b.muschalla@tu-braunschweig.de) (pre- and post-pandemic) using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Our
findings revealed a slight discrepancy in values post-global health crisis compared
Citation: Muschalla B, Brähler E. to pre-crisis levels, with lower scores observed for achievement and benevolence
Life values in different age groups
before and after global health and higher scores for hedonism and self-direction following the crisis. However,
crisis: A comparison of two German benevolence, universalism, stability, and self-direction maintained high mean scores
representative cohorts in 2018 and across both time points. Younger individuals were more oriented toward hedonism
2022. J Clin Basic Psychosom.
2024;2(2):2192. and self-direction than older individuals. Differences in values between age groups
https://doi.org/10.36922/jcbp.2192 were evident (partial eta : 0.004–0.110), whereas differences before and after the
2
2
Received: November 6, 2023 pandemic were minor (partial eta <0.004). Basic life values, as observed on a societal
level, did not change significantly despite a short-term external stressor such as a
Accepted: February 5, 2024
pandemic. In conclusion, patients’ individual life values should be considered in
Published Online: April 1, 2024 psychosomatic counseling and treatment, as these values impact health behavior
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). and may lead to mental health problems, such as embitterment, when compromised.
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Keywords: Values; Life events; Pandemic; Cohort; Representative
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited.
1. Introduction
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with Human behavior, whether in daily or unique life situations, is largely influenced by
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional life values. Life values set the frame of reference for behavior in concrete situations.
affiliations. Understanding the distribution of life values within the general population is a basic

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcbp.2192