Abstract Ronald Ingelhart's contention that post-materialist values arising from increases in GDP per capita ensue from greater affluence and economic security in industrialized countries is examined here. Using the Euro-Barometer dataset, this paper tests variations across eight European countries to determine if post-materialist values: (a) actually shaped citizens' attitudes toward social welfare policies hence its increases; (b) influenced ideological partisanship preferences and dominance of leftist parties; and (c) led to increases in transfer payments when left-of-centre parties are in control. The results of a pooled cross-sectional time series analysis indicate that economic development is negatively associated with social security expansion, but bears a positive relationship to post-materialist values. It also shows that post-materialist values exert only moderate, rather than ‘strong’ influences on ideological political preferences.