World Values Research Articles

Support for sexual and reproductive health and rights in Sub-Saharan Africa: a new index based on World Values Survey data

BackgroundAddressing attitudes is central to achieving sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and Agenda 2030. We aimed to develop a comprehensive index to measure attitudinal support for SRHR, expanding opportunities for global trend analyses and tailored interventions.MethodsWe designed a new module capturing attitudes towards different dimensions of SRHR, collected via the nationally representative World Values Survey in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe during 2020–2021 (n = 3,711). We used exploratory factor analysis of 58 items to identify sub-scales and an overall index. Adjusted regression models were used to evaluate the index according to sociodemographic characteristics, stratified by country and sex.ResultsA 23-item, five-factor solution was identified and used to construct sub-indices reflecting support for: (1) sexual and reproductive rights, (2) neighborhood sexual safety, (3) gender-equitable relationships, (4) equitable masculinity norms, and (5) SRHR interventions. These five sub-indices performed well across countries and socioeconomic subgroups and were combined into a comprehensive “SRHR Support Index”, standardized on a 1–100 scale (mean = 39.19, SD = 15.27, Cronbach’s alpha = 0.80) with higher values indicating more support for SRHR. Mean values were highest in Kenya (45.48, SD = 16.78) followed by Ethiopia (40.2, SD = 13.63), and lowest in Zimbabwe (32.65, SD = 13.77), with no differences by sex. Higher education and being single were associated with more support, except in Ethiopia. Younger age and urban residence correlated with more support among males only.ConclusionThe SRHR Support Index has the potential to broaden SRHR attitude research from a comprehensive perspective – addressing the need for a common measure to track progress over time.

Cultural transmission and religious belief: An extended replication of Gervais and Najle (2015) using data from the International Social Survey Programme.

Beliefs in supernatural agents or religious beliefs are pervasive, yet there are individual differences in such beliefs. Although various factors have been proposed as relevant, recent research has increasingly emphasized the importance of cultural learning, showing that enthusiastic religious behavior (credibility enhancing displays; CREDs) from parents predicts increased religious beliefs among their children. In addition to this kin-biased learning, Gervais and Najle (2015) analyzed data from the World Values Survey to demonstrate that the number of adults who show religious CREDs is also an important predictor of people's beliefs, indicating that individuals develop their religious beliefs through conformist learning. This pre-registration study aimed to replicate and extend these findings by analyzing data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), which is another large social survey. We examined the generalizability of the results by analyzing multigenerational samples. Multilevel regression and signal detection analyses revealed that the presence of both kin-biased and conformist learning cues was significantly associated with respondents' religious beliefs. Moreover, they suggested tension between the two cultural learning cues, thereby suggesting that the effect of kin-biased learning on religious beliefs becomes stronger (weaker) when the cue for conformist learning is unclear (clear). These results support the idea that these two types of cultural learning are crucial to the development of religious beliefs.

CO2 Emissions and Subjective Well-Being: Empirical Evidence from The Southeast Asian Population

An increasing amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) affects the planet and people. As a primary contributor to climate change, CO2 has been a subject of discussion among researchers. Many have been studying the complex relationship and impact of CO2. However, a study examining the influence of increased CO2 emissions on human subjective well-being is limited. This study aims to fill the gap by utilizing a sample of 9,724 Southeast Asians from the Seventh World Values Survey (2017-2021). Well-being is measured using a subjective approach, such as happiness and life satisfaction. The ordered probit regression analysis indicates that increased per capita CO2 emissions decrease happiness and life satisfaction. Additionally, the higher individuals' financial and health levels, the higher their relationship with their happiness and life satisfaction will be. This study encourages further research investigating a specific country's relationship between CO2 emissions and the well-being of its population.

Wealth inequality, income inequality, and subjective well-being: A cross-country study

Abstract There are conflicting theories about whether individuals like or dislike inequality, or in other words, whether living in an unequal country increases or decreases their subjective well-being. Empirical literature has so far focused on income inequality and has not yet reached a consensus. In the present paper, we focus on wealth inequality, an aspect that has so far been overlooked in the happiness literature. The aim of the present paper is to systematically investigate the wealth inequality–happiness relationship and compare the results to the income inequality–happiness association. Furthermore, we focus on different parts of income or wealth distribution, rather than using a single inequality measure. We use data from the integrated World Values Surveys and European Values Surveys for over 50 countries, matched with the World Inequality Database data over the years 1981–2020. Following our analyses, we find some evidence supporting the “tunnel effect” theory: individuals are happier with increases in the top 10% and top 1% shares of wealth and less happy with increases in the middle 40% share of wealth, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In high-income countries, increasing the bottom 50% share of wealth increases individuals’ life satisfaction, suggesting that they favor redistribution.

The mediating effect of trust on financial development and stock market comovement in BRICS economies

This study examines the effects of financial development on the stock market comovement of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) on the one hand and the US Dow Jones on the other. Its main goal is to find out if trust has a mediating effect on financial development using data from the World Bank and the World Value Survey (WVS). Panel data analysis along with ARDL methods helped the authors obtain robust results. It was found that financial development plays a significant role in determining stock market comovement among the countries in question and that trust also has a moderating impact. The analysis was extended to the institutional and market factors of financial development. The paper introduces trust as a mediating variable that positively affects financial development, which in turn promotes stock market integration and comovement. Its results imply that investors should consider financial development and trust levels of a country when considering portfolio allocation for global diversification purposes, especially in emerging markets. Countries with insufficient trust levels, like Brazil, could benefit from improving their trust score through enhancing financial development and stability.

Differential gains from news use in Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe: Variations in the moderating influence of political talk on engagement

A limited but growing body of research has explored the role of media and communication in cultivating engaged citizens in the new and established democracies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using representative data from the World Values Survey, this study advances the existing research by examining the differential gains model across four countries that differ in terms of democratization, including Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe. Findings suggest that the moderating effect of political talk on the association between news use and political engagement likely varies across countries that differ in terms of democratization. Specifically, we find support for the differential gains model across all forms of political engagement in Kenya, limited support in Nigeria and Ethiopia, and no support for the model in Zimbabwe. Implications for theory and suggestions for future inquiry are discussed.

Revolution, Covid-19, and War in Armenia: Impacts on Various Forms of Trust

Abstract This paper explores how interpersonal and institutional trust in Armenia was impacted by three dramatic events in its recent history: the popular uprising of 2018 (also known as the Velvet Revolution), the pandemic, and the war. We use World Value Survey, Caucasus Barometer, and other available surveys to demonstrate the relative stability of interpersonal trust, contrasted with swings in institutional trust. We also show an initial “rally around the flag” effect during the early period of the pandemic, followed by disillusionment. Overall, gains in trust due to the Velvet Revolution outweigh the losses in trust due to Covid-19 and war.

Attitudes Towards Economic Inequality in a Global Perspective: Evidence from the World Value Survey

Scholars have explored the factors responsible for shaping people’s attitudes towards economic inequality. Yet, this research has focused exclusively on Western countries. This is an important limitation: only by looking at the different world regions, scholars can fully elucidate the major factors involved. To address this, the paper examines data from the World Value Survey, a database of representative samples drawn from more than one hundred countries. The analyses reveal that people tolerate economic inequalities more when they have higher salary, are better educated, are male, and live in poorer countries. The data also indicates that a country’s level of income inequality has no impact on the attitude towards economic inequality reported by citizens. Altogether, these findings elucidate the general factors shaping people’s views on inequality worldwide, contributing to understanding in which conditions people support egalitarian policies.

Self-Reported Health and Happiness Among Sub-Regions of Asia: The World Value Survey 2017-2021

Self-Reported Health and Happiness Among Sub-Regions of Asia: The World Value Survey 2017-2021

The Influence of Media Democracy on Attitudes towards Homosexuality in Taiwan and China

Abstract Using data collected in the seventh wave of the World Values Survey, this article examines how traditional and new media consumption have had very different effects on attitudes towards homosexuality in Taiwan and China. It further explores how such differences reflect each society’s media democracy. A historical analysis of the democratic movements and their relations to media freedom in Taiwan and China is presented, which provides the research background and theoretical foundation for our assumptions as part of the literature review. The ensuing statistical analysis verifies these assumptions in depth. Our findings show that the effect of new media is generally positive in both societies, whereas that of traditional media varies: it is very negative in China yet statistically insignificant in Taiwan. Based on these results, we argue that the more democratised the media space, the more likely it is to promote tolerance of homosexuality.

Psychological and cultural effects of different kinds of danger. An exploration based on survey data from 79 countries

AbstractIndividual danger and collective danger have very different effects according to the predictions of a theory called regality theory, based on evolutionary psychology. This study explores the effects of different kinds of danger on 37 different indicators of psychological and cultural responses to danger based on data from two waves of the World Values Survey, including 173,000 respondents in 79 countries.The results show that individual danger and collective danger have very different – and often opposite – psychological and cultural effects. Collective dangers are positively correlated with many indicators related to authoritarianism, nationalism, discipline, intolerance, morality, religiosity, etc. Individual dangers have neutral or opposite correlations with many of these indicators. Infectious diseases have little or no effects on these indicators. Many previous studies that confound different kinds of danger may be misleading.Several psychological and cultural theories are discussed in relation to these results. The observed effects of collective danger are in agreement with many of these theories while individual danger has unexpected effects. The findings are not in agreement with terror management theory and pathogen stress theory.

Enough Terror to Belong: The Nonlinear Association of Death Anxiety with Group Identification

Death anxiety is presumed to be positively associated with group identification; however, recent evidence of a null correlation between the two constructs raises questions regarding this assumption. In contrast to the traditional linear perspective, we proposed and tested a J-shaped curvilinear association that only death anxiety beyond a certain threshold predicts group identification. Using two-wave longitudinal data from the UK, study 1 (N=1,402) revealed that only after reaching a moderate-to-high level could death anxiety measured during the COVID-19 pandemic positively predict later identification with the community, one’s country, and all humanity. Furthermore, using World Values Survey data, study 2 (N=56,871) found that death-related anxiety (i.e., worry about a terrorist attack) was only positively associated with perceived closeness to one’s village, county, and country after reaching a moderate-to-high level. Our findings provide a novel insight into the process of managing terror and the replication failure of the mortality salience effect.

Corruption spills over on citizens: The case of self‐reported motivation to cheat on tax

AbstractCorruption poses a significant threat to societies’ social and economic fabric, eroding trust and contractual relationships between governments and citizens. This study investigates the repercussions of corruption spillover on individuals and explores how they adjust their motivation to engage in tax cheating by exploiting two distinct types of corruption heterogeneities at both individual and national levels. Leveraging newly collected individual corruption experiences locally from the World Value Survey alongside national‐level corruption data from Transparency International, we employ multilevel hierarchical modeling to estimate the effects of corruption on individual tax behavior. Our findings reveal that corruption negatively impacts people's willingness to comply with tax laws, with individuals who have personally experienced corruption exhibiting a more pronounced erosion of tax morale compared to those who have not. By shedding light on the intricate dynamics of corruption's influence on tax compliance, this paper contributes to our understanding of the broader implications of corruption for people and society. This paper can also inform policymakers and stakeholders in designing targeted interventions to mitigate the adverse consequences of corruption and restore citizens’ trust in their government.

The global development of value orientations, political support and democracy since the 1990s

This article analyzes the global development of democracy since the 1990s. The theoretical introduction is followed by a descriptive analysis of several indices of political support based on survey results for 89 countries that participated at least twice in the World Values Survey (WVS) or the European Values Study (EVS). The analysis focuses on emancipative value orientations measured by Welzel's Choice Index and several indicators of political support. The scores of these indicators are broken down by five regime types and seven world regions. The results confirm that the global decline of democratic quality since the mid-2000s has not been as dramatic as the pessimistic analyses of Freedom House and the V-Dem project have claimed. It has primarily taken place in a limited number of populous countries on which these publications have focused. When countries are treated equally, the quality of democracy has remained remarkably stable since the early 1990s. Emancipative values are globally on the rise, but their increase has been considerably higher in the established democracies. This supports the skeptical argument that they cannot be considered as the major cause of the third wave of democratization. The descriptive analysis is complemented by regression analyses for confidence in regime institutions and support for democracy as dependent variables. The evaluation of democratic regime performance is the strongest predictor of confidence in regime institutions. An intrinsic conception of democracy and the importance assigned to living in a democracy have the strongest influence on support for democracy. Emancipative value orientations have a minor influence on political support even in consolidated democracies. Finally, the analysis does not confirm the suspected relationship between the different levels of political support. Easton's theory of political support assumed that they mutually influence each other via a generalization of experiences or an overflow of values. Instead, it seems that confidence in regime institutions and support for democracy follow different cognitive logics.

Success Attribution and Support for Income Equality: Evidence from the United States and Germany

Income inequality within countries is a pressing global issue, and understanding its determinants is crucial for informing policies aimed at fostering economic fairness. In this paper, we use individual data from World Values Survey (WVS) wave 7 data (2017-2022) to study how the attribution of success to different (luck or effort) factors affects the views on income distribution (specifically, whether to support income equality or inequality). Our main hypothesis is that attributing success to effort rather than luck leads to a larger and statistically significant increase in the acceptance of inequality in the indulgent country – the United States. We indeed find that attributing success to effort is significantly and positively correlated with supporting income inequality in the United States, while this correlation is significantly weaker in Germany. But from the regression results, the country does not significantly change the relationship between success attribution and supporting income equality. Therefore, we reject our main hypothesis and conclude luck rather than effort as the source of success can’t lead to a more substantial and statistically significant increase in support in income equality in indulgent countries.

What determines public attitudes toward immigration in the Middle East: an analysis at the individual level

PurposeSurveys in Europe show that immigration is more of a challenge than an opportunity for a significant number of people. However, little attention is given to attitudes toward immigration in the Middle East. This paper examines the effects of personal values and religiosity on the anti-immigration attitudes of citizens in the Middle East and North African countries.Design/methodology/approachUtilizing data from the World Values Survey, we analyze how personal values and religiosity affect anti-immigration attitudes in nine Middle Eastern countries. The data covers individual-level data of 9 MENA countries from the WVS Round 7 (2017–2022). Factor analysis is applied as a data reduction method. Afterward, an OLS regression analysis is conducted on the pooled data.FindingsAnti-immigration attitudes increase with age, education, and religiosity. Personal values such as national pride, support for nationals, and belongingness to one’s country significantly affect anti-immigration attitudes. Furthermore, the importance of religion as a measure of religiosity was found to be positively associated with anti-immigration attitudes.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to underexplored literature by investigating how individual-level determinants, such as demographic indicators, personal values, and religious factors, shape anti-immigration attitudes in the MENA context, distinct from European dynamics.

Trust in Iran and Türkiye: A Comparative Study of Interpersonal, Institutional, and Social Trust

Human beings are social creatures in their nature, as Aristotle stated 2400 years ago. Society needs trust for economic and social development as it shapes interactions and relations among individuals and groups. Opinion surveys offer global comparisons of trust levels and show heterogeneity. For example, in countries such as Sweden and Norway, more than 60% of respondents reported that 'most people can be trusted.' On the other hand, in countries such as Türkiye, Iran, and other Middle East countries, less than 15% think this is the case. This study offers an overview of trust in Iran and Türkiye. It examines types of trust utilizing the World Values Survey data. Citizens in Iran and Türkiye have the highest trust in close groups such as their families. On the other hand, trust in outgroups such as people from another nationality or different religions could be higher to moderate. Moreover, the Iranian and Turkish public consider institutions such as the armed forces more trustworthy, whereas international institutions such as the IMF and WHO are less trusted.

HISTORICAL EVOLUTION AND INNOVATIVE DESIGN OF QIANG COSTUMES

Рurpose. This paper analyzes the evolution process and cultural connotation of Qiang costume form, discusses the application form of Qiang costume elements in modern clothing design, and provides a theoretical basis for the innovative design of national costumes. Methodology. The field research method, literature analysis method, and case study method are used to analyze the evolution process, cultural connotation, and design application of Qiang costumes. Results. By studying the development process and style design changes of the Qiang costumes, it is concluded that its unique cultural connotation and design characteristics are closely related to the social characteristics, production methods and religious beliefs of the Qiang people. It is the materialized expression of the Qiang people's world outlook and national psychology. It reveals the reasons for the change of the Qiang costume modelling and proposes the method of using ethnic elements in modern costume design. Scientific novelty. This paper studies the development process of Qiang costume shape from the perspective of design, history, ethnology and anthropology, and puts forward that Qiang costume is the materialized expression form of local people 's world outlook, values and aesthetics, and clarifies that the change of Qiang costume shape is influenced by religious culture and Han-Tibetan culture. Suggestions are made in the form of integration of national costume elements with modern clothing design. Practical significance. The Qiang costume has been fused with other ethnic cultures in the course of historical changes, which is both inherited and changed, which is very inspiring to modern costume design. Digging deeper into the cultural connotation and design language of Qiang costume, so that it can innovate the design method and explore the design carrier while inheriting the national culture, so as to provide reference for the creation of a costume design that can embody both the traditional Chinese culture and the sense of the times.

How Do Attitudes of Adult Children Toward Long-Term Care Change with Education? International Evidence

ABSTRACT Global demographic trends indicate that the world population is aging and education acquisition is increasing. For the first time in history, people are expected to spend more years as adults with living parents than as a parent of teenage children, and the average years of schooling have increased dramatically over the past several decades for many countries. Additionally, family-provided care is still the most important form of care to meet care demands worldwide. As strong filial norms could affect older adults’ long-term care decision-making, understanding the link between filial obligations and education is critical under these trends. Using individual data from the World Values Survey and an instrumental variables strategy to account for endogeneity, this study finds that adult children with higher education levels have lower filial beliefs. Since population aging is expected to increase the demand for long-term care services, and education can reduce the supply of family-provided long-term care services, countries must start addressing this gap.

Art in the system of traditional values (based on the materials of the World Values Survey)

Art in the system of traditional values (based on the materials of the World Values Survey)