Americans’ Value Preferences Pre‐ and Post‐9/11*

Objective This article examines the short‐ and long‐term effects of the attacks of 9/11 on Americans’ value preferences. Method Using data from 1994, 2002, and 2005, I estimate a rank‐ordered logit model where the dependent variable is respondents’ rank‐ordered preferences on four values central to American political culture. Results The short‐term effects of 9/11 are significant: Americans’ were willing to “trade” equality and economic security for social order. In the long term, these effects fade and value preferences swing back to pre‐9/11 levels. Conclusion These findings align nicely with a body of literature that suggests that traumatic public events induce feelings of panic and anxiety, thereby causing people to reorder their fundamental political cognitions. As these feelings fade, however, individuals’ fundamental political cognitions revert back toward normal.