European Values Survey Research Articles

Relationships Among Belief in God, Well-Being, and Social Capital in the 2020 European and World Values Surveys: Distinguishing Interpersonal and Ideological Prosociality

Analyses of the 2020 combined European and World Values Surveys (124,958 respondents from 77 countries) found that people who believed in God tended to be happier, more satisfied with lives, and healthier than non-believers. Believers trusted people close to them (e.g., neighbors) more than non-believers, although non-believers tended to trust people in general and trust people from other countries more than believers. Non-believers tended to be more ideologically prosocial than non-believers (e.g., belonging to an environmental organization, advocating freedom of speech vs. control). Such differences were stronger in countries in which there were more vs fewer believers. Moreover, these differences remained after controlling for individual differences in sex, age, education, income, and left–right political orientation.

Volunteering in Lithuania: Comparative, Dynamic and Value Perspective

Although volunteering is not a new topic in social research, many questions about people’s motivation to engage in voluntary activities still remain open. The article analyzes the changing attitudes towards volunteering in contemporary society, the demographic profile of volunteers, their intrinsic motivation and the cultural value orientation that supports it. The main purpose of this article is to identify the impact of main sociodemographic and personal characteristics in people’s decision to volunteer. Data from European Values Surveys (1990, 1999, 2008, 2017) are used for this purpose.
 The presented research data provide valuable insights into long-term trends in the development of volunteering in Lithuania, important socio-demographic determinants of volunteering and changing individual motivation to engage in volunteering. As the analysis reveales, although demographic factors – gender, age, education, occupational employment – are important, they only become meaningful when analyzed along with personal characteristics of respondents (such as life satisfaction, trust in people, belief that one is in control of own life) and their value orientations (such as caring, creativity, stimulation, and the pursuit of social justice). In other words, volunteers cannot be treated as a demographically homogeneous group. This means that in order to effectively mobilize people for a specific volunteering activity, it is necessary to take into account not only which socio-demographic groups are generally more likely to be involved, but also the values that are most important to them when planning volunteering strategies and communication. Understanding the determinants of volunteering can serve as a guideline for the development of volunteer-friendly public policies and for properly motivating people to become involved in volunteering, both at the level of the state and specific public organizations.

Are Religiosity and Spirituality Related to Self-Reported Health Expectancy? An Analysis of the European Values Survey

Research on religiosity and health has generally focussed on the United States, and outcomes of health or mortality but not both. Using the European Values Survey 2008, we examined cross-sectional associations between four dimensions of religiosity/spirituality: attendance, private prayer, importance of religion, belief in God; and healthy life expectancy (HLE) based on self-reported health across 47 European countries (n = 65,303 individuals). Greater levels of private prayer, importance of religion and belief in God, at a country level, were associated with lower HLE at age 20, after adjustment for confounders, but only in women. The findings may explain HLE inequalities between European countries.

THE EFFECT OF RELIGIOUS FACTORS ON TRADITIONAL GENDER BELIEFS IN TURKEY

The main purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between religiosity and gender traditionalism in a secular and Muslim country, Turkey. Based on previous research and perspectives several hypotheses were developed to test. A joint data, which is collected by European Value Survey and World Value Survey from Turkey in 2018, was used for analysis. A series of models of linear logistic regression was created to test the effect of each predictor variable on traditional gender beliefs. The results indicated that subjective religiosity and given importance to religion were strongly, significantly, and positively associated with gender traditionalism while prayer practice showed a slight and positive effect on gender traditionalism. Implications of the study were discussed and concluded, limitations were identified for future work.

Early Life Adversity Is Associated With Diminished Social Trust in Adults

Social trust is at the center of democratic societies, but it varies considerably between individuals and cultures. Socioeconomic status has been identified as an important predictor of such variability. Although this association has mostly been reported for measures of socioeconomic status taken in adulthood, recent studies have found unique effects of harsh conditions experienced during childhood on social trust assessed decades later. Here, we report a series of three studies that provide further support for the importance of early childhood conditions in social trust. The first study revealed that higher childhood socioeconomic status was associated with greater social trust in a diverse sample of French participants (N = 915), even after adjusting for current socioeconomic status. The second study confirmed this result using data from the European Values Survey (N = 64,780, 45 countries). In both samples, our analyses revealed that adding childhood socioeconomic status significantly improved the fit of the model thereby providing suggestive evidence of the central role of this variable for explaining variations in social trust. Finally, the last study replicated this association using a behavioral measure of social trust (N = 60 in original study,N = 75 in replication study).

A longitudinal investigation of integration/multiculturalism policies and attitudes towards immigrants in European countries

ABSTRACT A number of recent studies find that integration and multiculturalism policies help soften anti-immigrant attitudes among the broader population. These findings, however, emerge from cross-sectional analyses and are potentially vulnerable to omitted variable bias. The analysis in this paper overcomes that limitation by adopting a longitudinal approach. This approach uses data from repeated cross-sections drawn from the European Social Survey and the European Values Survey. These data can be treated as panels in a longitudinal framework once it is recognised that the relevant variables (including the attitudes variables) can be handled effectively as country-level averages. Multi-level modelling (the default approach in existing research) is not necessary; in particular, there is no need to use individual-level control variables. In a fixed-effects analysis of country-level data, adoption of more open/accommodating integration and/or multiculturalism policies does not lead to a reduction in anti-immigration sentiment. The findings of the cross-sectional studies evidently suffer from significant omitted variable bias.

Valores bajo presión: estudio preliminar sobre el cambio de valores ante la crisis de la COVID-19 en España

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the consequent situation of health emergency, lockdown and paralysation of activities, has led to a crisis of dimensions not experienced before by our generation and effects not yet identifiable or measurable. Risks of crises and catastrophes have increased due to technology, globalization and human interference in the natural environment, what has created an unprecedented situation of risk and unpredictability. When this happens, a great deal of pressure is put on social structures and systems of values and norms, which are in turn readjusted due to this alteration of material conditions. This research note presents the preliminary results of a study using items of the European Values Survey, conductedduring the weeks of lockout in Spain, on a set of value domains, sensitive to readjustment as a consequence of the crisis and collective trauma in Spain. The results show that some values have readjusted to less solidary and more individualistic positions or a perception of lower control over life, whereas other values have maintained their evolution over the last decades, such as growing post-materialist orientations, or a strong preference for the safeguard of individual rights to the detriment of greater security and surveillance.

Is tax morale culturally driven?

AbstractCitizens' tax compliance should not only respond to the quality of formal institutions, but might also be culturally driven. We contribute to this literature by investigating whether tax morale, an individual's intrinsic non-pecuniary motivation to comply with taxes, is associated with the cultural values (following Hofstede's typology) held by this individual. The analysis exploits four waves of the European Values Survey (1981–2010) across 48 countries. The cultural dimensions are constructed through a polychoric principal component analysis on a set of relevant survey items consistent with Hofstede's definitions. Ordered logit estimations suggest that although values of individualism and femininity are associated with higher individual's tax morale, power distance and uncertainty avoidance are associated with lower tax morale. These results remain consistent as we increase the level of granularity of our investigation through within-region analyses and, subsequently, within-cohort analyses. We argue that these results inevitably enrich the emerging debate about cultural values and citizens' compliance with formal institutions. They also indicate that societal culture as well as individual values should be considered when designing policies aiming to improve tax compliance.

Gender Equity, Religion, and Fertility in Europe and North America

AbstractReligion has historically been a pronatalist force, but because it fosters traditional gender role attitudes, its importance for fertility may wane where gender equity is thought to be emerging as the new natalism. In this study, I used World Values Survey and European Values Survey data from 1989 to 2018 to determine whether more religious Northern countries are slower to develop the widespread egalitarian gender role attitudes associated with fertility recovery. I concluded that the “old natalism” and the “new natalism” do not compete with each other as much as their negative association implies that they might. By tracing the evolution of country‐level gender equity in more‐ and less religious countries of Europe and North America, I showed how country‐level religiosity does not dampen the potential for a gender equity‐stimulated fertility recovery. This paper also contributes by showing that the curvilinear relationship between gender equity and fertility has continued into more recent time periods than covered by previous work.

Happiness and Civic Activism in Lithuania

In democratic societies, both civic activism and happiness of its members are inseparable and equally important. But do more active civic members of society feel happier? This article analyses how the forms of civic engagement affect the feeling of happiness of the Lithuanian population. 1999 and 2017 data from the European Values Survey reveal that civic participation has a rather limited effect on the level of happiness in Lithuania. Only the voting of citizens and their participation in protest activities have a statistically significant positive effect on the feeling of happiness. In this paper, I argue that the decision to vote or participate in protests is not so much about dissatisfaction with objective living conditions as about emotional security and solidarity. The implicit link between an individual’s psychological well-being and his or her engagement in civic activities is complex and not necessarily direct. Civic activism alone is unlikely to increase happiness. At the same time, the level of happiness is fostered by emotional security, which is linked to specific forms of civic engagement and the perceived personal and societal benefits of participating in specific civic activities.

National identity between democracy and autocracy: a comparative analysis of 24 countries

AbstractRecognizing democratic backsliding and increasing support for authoritarianism, research on public preferences for democracy and its authoritarian alternatives has gained traction. Moving beyond the extant focus on economic determinants, our analysis examines the effect of national identity, demonstrating that it is a double-edged sword for regime preferences. Using recent European Values Survey data on 24 European countries from 2017 to 2018, we show that civic national identity is associated with a higher support for democracy and lower support for authoritarian regimes, whereas the reverse holds for ethnic identities. Further, economic hardship moderates these relationships: it strengthens both the negative effect of ethnic national identities and, to some extent, the positive effect of civic national identities on democracy supportvis-à-visauthoritarian alternatives. This has important implications for the survival of democracy in times of crises and the study of a cultural backlash, since social identity matters substantively for individuals’ responses to economic hardship.

European Identity: An Analysis of Measurement Equivalence Across Countries and Mode of Data Collection in the European Values Survey 2017/2018

The study of European Identity has gradually become central to social sciences in the past decades. The enlargement of the European Union, as well as the economic crises from a decade ago called into question the very idea of Europe as a polity, the legitimacy of the European project and the homogeneity of the European culture. Although many analyses study European Identity, most research focuses on the definition and measurement of European Identity within the EU member states. Due to the interest in European Identity within EU borders on the one hand, and the lack of comparable data on the other, the European Identity of all Europeans is rarely explored. To address this gap, we investigate the common understanding of Europeanness among those living in Europe. We define European Identity as ethnic/cultural identity as opposed to civic identity and analyse the measurement equivalence of the scale tapping European ethnic/cultural identity fielded by European Values Survey in 2017 in 30 European countries. The results point out to a common understanding of Europeanness among those living in Europe, in ethnic terms, not in cultural ones. Methodologically, the analyses proved that the scale is suitable for cross-national comparisons among countries, but the comparability should be refrained to comparing means of the scale across countries. The mode of data collection does not impact on the comparability of the scale in four of the six countries that used mixed modes of data collection.

Are would-be authoritarians right? Democratic support and citizens’ left-right self-placement in former left- and right- authoritarian countries

ABSTRACT Conventional wisdom dictates that the more citizens lean towards either end of the ideological spectrum, the lower their support for democracy. The main model pitted against this “rigidity-of-the-extremes model” is the “rigidity-of-the-right model”. This model assumes that rightist citizens are less supportive. This study proposes and empirically demonstrates the validity of an alternative model, which we call “the authoritarian legacy model”. This model predicts that whether leftist or rightist citizens are less supportive of democracy depends on countries’ experience with left- or right-authoritarianism. To evaluate its validity, we present a systematic comparative investigation of the relation between citizens’ ideological and democratic beliefs, using European and World Values Survey data from 38 European countries (N = 105,495; 1994-2008). In line with this model, our analyses demonstrate that democratic support is lowest among leftist citizens in former left-authoritarian countries and among rightist citizens in former right-authoritarian countries. We find that this relation persists even among generations that grew up after authoritarian rule. These findings suggest that traditional ideological rigidity models are unsuitable for the study of citizens’ democratic beliefs.

Societal religiosity and the gender gap in political interest, 1990–2014

This manuscript examines the structural causes of the gender gap in political interest. In many countries, men are more interested in politics than women. Yet, in others, men and women prove equally interested. We explain this cross-national variation by focusing on the effects of societal religiosity. Since religion sustains the traditional gender order, contexts where societal religiosity is low undermine the taken-for-grantedness of this order, subjecting it to debate. Men then become especially interested in politics to try to reassert their traditional gender dominance, or to compensate for their increasingly uncertain social status. A secular environment thus increases political interest more among men than among women, expanding this gender gap. Using the World and European Values Survey, we estimate three-level regression models and test our religiosity-based approach in 96 countries. The results are consistent with our hypothesis.

An analysis of the link between individual identity traits and radical party choice

ABSTRACT While recent trends in the study of radical party voting have tended to focus on egalitarian attitudes and individual personality traits in their endeavour to explain radical party choice, the present study pits individual identity traits in the spotlight of ballot box behaviour, using data from the World Values Survey and European Values Survey. We analyse the link between exclusive and inclusive identity (identifying with a more restricted ‘in-group’ versus identifying with a larger community) and the propensity to vote for radical right and radical left parties, using differences in individual identification with respondents’ home nation and as European citizens. The results show that exclusive individual identity is a good predictor of radical right party choice, even in the presence of redistributive and egalitarian values usually associated with left-wing voting. The results also speak to the literature on welfare chauvinism. While the presence of strong egalitarian and redistributive attitudes does indeed normally predict radical left party preference in line with previous findings, this relationship is complicated by the presence of exclusive individual identity, which moderates the former’s effect and can induce egalitarian voters to prefer radical right parties. In conclusion, the paper explores the interaction of identity and social class.

Religions and beliefs in changing times: perspectives of student stakeholders in third-level educational contexts in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT Religions and beliefs are complex, contested and challenging aspects of the educational systems and cultural landscapes both in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and in Northern Ireland (NI); part of a long and protracted history of colonial oppression and political struggles underpinned by religious and ethnic divisions. The deficit in the literature on third-level students’ attitudes to religion and belief in the ROI and NI was a springboard to this multi-disciplinary funded research. Perspectives of 900 second-year university initial teacher education (ITE) and social science students, from 6 tertiary educational contexts were explored within an analytical framework provided by the European Values Survey and the European Social Survey for understanding values and beliefs among its citizenry. The research was undertaken to understand students’ attitudes to a belief diverse society involving newly arrived immigrant and refugee groups. The authors argue that based on the research findings key issues such as religious or belief bias, and fear of religious or belief other, emerge for student stakeholders which will inform their professional practice(s). Research of this nature is particularly important in the context of Ireland (ROI and NI) where religious diversity has underpinned political turmoil and educational and cultural division in the past.

New trends in potential migration from Albania: the migration transition postponed?

ABSTRACT Since the end of communist rule in 1991, Albania has seen, proportionately, one of the largest outflows of its people of any country in the world – an emigrant stock in 2013 equivalent to 44% of its resident population. This article addresses two issues related to the future trend of Albanian migration. First, a migration module of 23 questions designed by the authors and attached to the 2018 round of the European Values Survey asked about future migration intentions. These were found to be high and increasing: 52% of 18 to 40-year-olds expressed their intention to migrate compared to 44% in a comparable survey in 2006/7. The top two desired destination countries have switched from Italy and Greece in the past to Germany and the USA in the latest survey, which also shows potential migration higher amongst the more-skilled and educated population compared to past trends. A subsample of returned migrants captured by the survey shows even higher intentions to migrate – 71%. Second, Albania’s anticipated migration transition, from a country of emigration to one of net immigration, is deferred if migration intentions correlate with migration outcomes, with obvious reflections on the country’s overall development trajectory.

How is Happiness Measured?

The article deals with the methodology of happiness measurement. Data from the European Social Survey, the European Value Survey and the World Happiness Index, that allow measuring the happiness level of the population and providing an opportunity to evaluate the situation of Lithuania in the context of other countries, are analysed. The discussion of research methodology highlights the main methodological differences applied in the above research. The comparative analysis shows that in Lithuania the happiness level remains the lowest among other European countries, although life satisfaction is growing. The conclusion is drawn that a low level of happiness can be determined not only by the economic level of the country or individual psychological conditions, but also by the cultural-social context of the country.

Valores de los estudiantes universitarios de Madeira y Fortaleza: dimensión familiar

Esta é uma pesquisa quantitativa que tem como objetivo analisar os valores de família de estudantes universitários portugueses e brasileiros. Pesquisou-se 605 universitários, sendo 225 da Universidade da Madeira (Portugal) e 380 da Universidade de Fortaleza (Brasil). Utilizou-se a dimensão família do Questionário adaptado do European Values Survey, englobando questões sobre atitudes dos progenitores, número de filhos e qualidades a ensinar às crianças/jovens. A maioria dos participantes eram do sexo feminino e solteiros, apresentando os estudantes brasileiros scores mais elevados em relação às atitudes antiquadas dos pais acerca dos princípios morais e ao número de filhos, atribuindo importância às qualidades coragem, responsabilidade, respeito, perseverança, fé, generosidade, enquanto os portugueses outorgam maior importância à economia. Os resultados permitem inferir que as crenças, os valores e as qualidades dos jovens espelham a família, a sociedade envolvente e o mundo globalizado.

Does Proximity to Nazi Concentration Camps Make Germans Intolerant? Modeling Spatial Heterogeneity and Historical Persistence

In a recent article in the American Political Science Review entitled “Legacies of the Third Reich: Concentration Camps and Out-group Intolerance,” Jonathan Homola, Miguel M. Pereira, and Margit Tavits argue that Germans who live nearer to former Nazi concentration camps are more likely to display out-group intolerance. We argue that their statistical findings are the product of unobserved regional heterogeneity. Using publicly available European Values Survey data and electoral results from 2017, we replicate their results, and then extend them using simple fixed effects specifications as well as more elaborate multilevel models. Our approach finds no consistent evidence that distance to camps is related to contemporary values. We also preregister our plan to replicate and extend their analyses using restricted-access data from the German General Social Survey. Our findings have important implications for the new literatures on historical persistence and the deep origins of contemporary politics, as well as for the fields of Holocaust studies, German politics, and out-group tolerance. Our approach to modeling spatial heterogeneity in historical persistence studies—investigating spatial variation and diagnosing why unmodeled heterogeneity can produce misleading inferences—can serve as a template for future studies.