Trade-Offs in Satisfaction: A United States-Mexican Comparison

Since a country's level of industrialization affects the opportunities of its citizens, it was expected that families living in a postindustrial society would seek a different set of rewards for their children than families living in a less developed but rapidly industrializing society. The hypothesis, based on the economic laws of demand and marginal utility, that U.S. families would devote less of their resources to pursuing material attainment than Mexican families because of the relatively higher affluence in the U.S., was supported.