Transcript Dia 1 - EgbertRibberink.nl

Do secular people have Protestant values?
Religious heritage and cultural values in
secularized Western Europe
Center for Sociological Research, KU Leuven
Egbert Ribberink
with Peter Achterberg (Tilburg University) and Dick Houtman (KU Leuven)
“This is a clash between a
Calvinist Northern Europe
that doesn’t want to forgive
sinners, and a Catholic
Europe that wants to turn
the page” – French minister
of Economy Emmanuel
Macron
Central question
In what way does the religious heritage of
Protestantism and Catholicism influence the
cultural values of secular Europeans.
- What is the religious heritage of Protestantism
and Catholicism?
- Why would we expect it to still be of influence
on secular Europeans?
- How are public morality, moral progressiveness
and individual autonomy related to this
Protestant and Catholic heritage?
Religious heritage - identity
Reformation (1517-1648)
From Christendom to Protestant Northern
European countries and Catholic Southern
European countries
Protestant vs. Catholic beliefs
Individual belief vs. Community belonging
Freedom principle vs. State principle
Austerity vs. Conformity
Religious heritage - activity
Secularization
Modernization and structural differentiation
Individualism, relativism and egalitarianism
Privatization, new religious movements and nonreligiosity
Religious cultural heritage
Catholic
Religious identity
Protestant
secular Catholic cultures
secular Protestant
cultures
religious Catholic cultures
religious Protestant cultures
Religious activity
secular
religious
Religious cultures on two dimensions
1.00
Belgium
Spain
Religious identity (Protestant - Catholic)
France
Luxembourg
Greece
Austria
Italy
Portugal
Cyprus
Malta
Ireland
Switzerland
Germany
.50
Northern Ireland
Netherlands
Great Britain
Sweden
Finland
.00
Denmark
.00
Norway
Iceland
.50
Active religiosity (Secular - Religious)
1.00
Persisting influence religious heritage
At certain crucial periods in their history societies
acquire a particular frame and that subsequent
events persistently move within the limits of that
frame. There is a contour of dykes and canals set up
at a crucial turning point in history and the flow of
events then runs according to that contour
David Martin, General theory of secularization, 1978
Persisting influence religious heritage
In all the countries of Europe, not only the styles of political life,
the content of public debate on social and ethical issues, the
definition of State or individual responsibility, the concept of
citizenship or of family, and attitudes toward nature and the
environment, but also the practical rules of civil conduct and
attitudes toward money or patterns of consumption, have taken
shape in historical and religious contexts which still continue to
shape them.
Danièle Hervieu-Léger, The role of religion in establishing social
cohesion, 2006
Persisting influence religious heritage
The reliance on moral “work” in the Protestant
culture has been a more enduring feature of this
culture, than the ends toward which this work
originally was directed.
Ann Swidler, Culture in action, 1986
Protestant vs. Catholic values
Individual belief vs. Community belonging
Individual morality vs. Family morality
Freedom principle vs. State principle
Autonomy vs. Authority
Austerity vs. Conformity
Law-abiding vs. Indulgence
Hypotheses
1. Countries with a Protestant heritage will have
higher levels of public morality, moral
permissiveness values, and autonomy values.
2. Secular people will have higher levels of moral
permissiveness, autonomy (in particular) and
public morality when living in countries with a
Protestant heritage.
Methodology
• European Values Study 2008
• Austria, Belgium, Cyprus*, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece*, Great Britain, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Northern
Ireland with N=24,742 in 21 countries. (*Orthodox)
• Linear multilevel analysis
Hypothesis 1
0.02
0.00
-0.02
-0.04
-0.06
Autonomy index
-0.08
Moral permissiveness
Public morality
-0.10
-0.12
-0.14
-0.16
-0.18
Protestant heritage countries
Catholic heritage countries
Hypothesis 2
Non-religious are
morally more
permissive and value
autonomy higher, but
not more so when living
in Protestant cultures
Control for effect of secularization
• Expect that Protestant heritage effect can be
explained by secularity of Protestant cultures
Conclusions
• Protestant heritage continues to explain
cultural values on the national level
• Not Protestant heritage but level of secularity
in countries trigger non-religious to be more
permissive, value autonomy higher and have
lower law-abiding attitudes
• Latter points to polarization between religious
and non-religious over progressive values.
Validation of religious identity measure