Age and Czechs' attitudes toward the postcommunist economic reforms

The connection between age and attitudes toward social change has been a lo ngstanding research interest in the United States. Hypotheses derived from this tradition are tested in the Czech Republic, a country undergoing a soc ietal transformation since 1989. We have utilized eleven national surveys f rom 1990-1998, allowing an examination not only of the association between age and opinions about the Czech postcommunist reforms but also of the chan ge in these relations during the survey period. Specifically, we first exam ine how respondents' age is related to their recent economic experiences an d the interaction between age and the phase of the reforms on these experie nces, net of demographic controls. The association between age and responde nts' anxiety about the Czech reforms is the second focus, with tests for th e interaction between age and time on this anxiety; controls include econom ic experiences. Then we examine the relation between age and respondents' s upport for the economic reforms, again with tests for the interaction betwe en age and time, while controlling for anxiety as well. Older Czechs were g enerally more conservative about the reforms, net of their economic experie nces and anxiety about them, and these age differences did not change with the phases of the reforms.