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- Volume 94, Issue 4, 2019
Mens & Maatschappij - Volume 94, Issue 4, 2019
Volume 94, Issue 4, 2019
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Het Europese Waardenonderzoek 1981-2017
Authors: Ruud Luijkx & Angelica MaineriAbstractThis article outlines the main features of the European Values Study (EVS), with special focus on the innovations implemented in the fifth wave (2017). As a large-scale, cross-national and longitudinal social survey program, the EVS provides insights into the ideas, beliefs, preferences, attitudes, values, and opinions of citizens all over Europe, unique in its combined focus on how Europeans think about life, family, work, religion, politics, and society. The first round of data collection was initiated in 1981, and every nine years, a representative sample of residents have been questioned in an increasing number of countries (47 European countries/regions in 2008). The fifth wave started in 2017 and is at this moment under completion. The methodological standards of EVS increased over the waves. As part of the Horizon 2020 project Synergies for Europe’s Research Infrastructures in the Social Sciences (SERISS), EVS took part in innovations in the field of translation and the implementation of websurveys. The data of the European Values Study are publicly available free of charge. A rich academic literature has accumulated around the original and consecutive surveys: more than 1600 publications are listed in the EVS Bibliography (see europeanvaluesstudy.eu). The final sections of this article describe more in detail the implementation of the EVS 2017 in the Netherlands and end with a peek in the future.
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Is er leven na de babyboomers?
Authors: Pepijn van Houwelingen & Joep de HartAbstractIn this article, we study trends in secularization and spiritualization in the Netherlands in the period 1981-2017. Using data from the European Values Study, we first show that traditional religiosity is on the decline: the level of church membership, church visits, and trust in the church decreased as well as traditional religious beliefs such as belief in a personal god. The cohorts born between 1940 and 1960 (the babyboom generation) triggered this change, which seems to come to a stop in the most recent cohorts. With respect to less traditional religiosity, we find that belief in some sort of spirit or life force and belief in re-incarnation increased in the last decades. This mainly is a (temporary) cohort effect, which we only observe in the Netherlands, and not in Germany, Denmark, France and Great Britain: the Dutch babyboom generation seemed to be attracted to New Age beliefs around the turn of the century. The youngest cohorts (the Millenials) on the other hand do not show high levels of spiritual beliefs. This implies that the youngest cohorts are more similar to their ‘grandparents’ than to their ‘parents’ when it comes to religion and spirituality. Future research will have to show whether the exceptional position of the youngest cohorts marks a rebound in religiosity.
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Seksueel-ethische permissiviteit: trends in Nederland 1981-2017
Authors: Quita Muis, Inge Sieben, Tim Reeskens & Loek HalmanAbstractIn this study, we explore trends in sexual-ethical permissiveness in the Netherlands during the last decades. Using Dutch data from the European Values Study (1981-2017), we show that tolerance towards homosexuality, abortion, divorce, euthanasia, and suicide increased in this period. About a third of this trend can be explained by cohort replacement: because younger, more permissive cohorts slowly replace older, less permissive cohorts, the moral climate in society changes. In turn, the differences in sexual-ethical permissiveness between cohorts can be explained by differences in level of education, church attendance and religious socialization. At the same time, the results of the counterfactual analyses show that all groups in Dutch society, including the lower educated and churchgoers, have become more permissive about sexual-ethical aspects of life. Apparently, a moral progressive consensus is present in the Netherlands. Finally, our results show that the youngest cohort, born between 1990 and 1999, appears somewhat less permissive than older cohorts. If these more conservative moral convictions persist in the future and are present in new generations as well, there may be a cultural backlash.
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Het zijn aardige mensen, maar liever niet als buren...
Authors: Marcel Lubbers & Peer ScheepersAbstractIn this study, we focus on a considered key value of the Netherlands: tolerance towards outgroups. We set out to answer the research questions: (1) what has been the longitudinal trend in social distance towards migrants, Muslims and ‘Gypsies’?; and (2) have there been (changes in) longitudinal differences between specific social categories?, in relation to the theoretical assumptions from contact and conflict theory. Based on Dutch data from the European Values Study, we show that social distance towards migrants, Muslims and ‘Gypsies’ increased in the first decade of the century as compared to the previous decade. In the second decade, social distance towards migrants and Muslims has not changed much; however, social distance towards ‘Gypsies’ has strongly increased further, even though the size of the group hardly changed. We discuss differential longitudinal trends within specific societal groups. The youngest cohort, socialized most strongly with immigrants and Muslims, turns out to be most likely to keep distance towards these groups in recent times – a finding more in line with conflict theory than with contact theory. We end with explanations for the observation that particularly the ‘Gypsies’ have become the most excluded outgroup, not just in the Netherlands, but in the whole of Europe.
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Wie verdient nog onze solidariteit?
By Femke RoosmaAbstractThe Netherlands has changed in many ways over the past two decades: Duties have become more central in the ‘participation society’, there are fierce debates about the arrival of immigrants, and the aging society and the economic crisis are sharpening debate about redistribution and social provisions. How have the feelings of solidarity of Dutch citizens developed in this changing context? We know from previous studies that, in general, people feel most involved with the elderly and the sick and disabled, and are less concerned about the standards of living of the unemployed and immigrants. This ‘ranking’ in feelings of solidarity with target groups of social policy is explained by deservingness theory and is suggested to be invariable over time. But is that indeed the case? In this article, changes in solidarity views of Dutch citizens with regard to different target groups of social policy are analysed, using data from three waves of the European Values Study (1999/2008/2017) and taking into account individual background characteristics and cohort effects. Results show an invariable deservingness ranking and relatively stable feelings of solidarity. Solidarity with the elderly and the sick and disabled seems to be mostly depending on cohort effects: People from younger cohorts feel much less concerned with the living conditions of the elderly. Solidarity with immigrants instead, is largely determined by people’s political preference and education, while solidarity with the unemployed appears to be dependent on both individual characteristics and cohort effects. These effects do not get stronger (or weaker) over time. Despite the stability in feelings of solidarity the past decades, the strong cohort effects might predict change in the deservingness ranking in the future.
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