# Opinions on hard-to-discuss topics change more via cohort replacement

## TL;DR

The paper finds that opinions on sensitive topics, like those that are hard to discuss, change more as new generations replace older ones rather than through individuals changing their views.

## Contribution

The study introduces the idea that the sensitivity of an issue influences how much public opinion changes through cohort replacement.

## Key findings

- Opinions on more sensitive issues change more through cohort replacement than through individual attitude shifts.
- The analysis covers 56 survey items across eight countries from 1981 to 2020.
- The study links the sensitivity of survey items to the mechanism of cultural change.

## Abstract

Cohort replacement – the replacement in a population of older cohorts by their successors who developed under different conditions – is an important process behind cultural change. Research on public opinion indicates that a large proportion of aggregate change is the result of cohort replacement rather than of individuals changing their minds. However, some publicly salient issues, like gay rights, appear to be exceptions. Why different issues show different patterns of change is not well understood. In this paper, we investigate whether opinions on sensitive – that is, hard to discuss – issues might change differently than opinions on less sensitive issues. We use data from the 1981–2020 World Values Surveys and newly collected data on the sensitivity of survey items to compare aggregate changes in public opinion on 56 survey items in eight countries. Our key finding is that survey items on more sensitive issues seem to change more through cohort replacement.