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Western theories of modernization and cultural change suppose that socioeconomic development fosters support for freedom and equality in all societies. Cultural relativism and “Asian Values” thesis challenge such theories of universal human development by arguing that East Asian societies’ cultural legacies predispose them to a distinct pathway of cultural and societal development. This study uses nationally representative data from the World Values Survey and European Values Study to test whether East Asian and hystorically Protestant Western societies hold six domains of freedom aspirations as strongly as their level of socioeconomic development predicts. Protestant Western nations score consistently high on all freedom aspirations, while East Asia’s scores are higher than predicted for personal autonomy and secular identity but lower for the other four domains: individual freedom, gender equality …