Values and Identities in Europe: Evidence from the European Social Survey (Routledge Advances in Sociology)

Contrary to what is suggested in media and popular discourses, Europe is neither a monolithic entity nor simply a collection of nation states. It is, rather, a union of millions of individuals who differ from one another in a variety of ways while also sharing many characteristics associated with their ethnic, social, political, economic, religious or national characteristics. This book explores differences and similarities that exist in attitudes, beliefs and opinions on a range of issues across Europe. Drawing on the extensive data of the European Social Survey, it presents insightful analyses of social attitudes, organised around the themes of religious identity, political identity, family identity and social identity, together with a section on methodological issues. A collection of rigorously analysed studies on national, comparative and pan-European levels, Values and Identities in Europe offers insight into the heart and soul of Europe at a time of unprecedented change. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in social attitudes, social change in Europe, demographics and survey methods. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 13 Contributors 16 Foreword 22 Preface 24 Acknowledgments 26 Chapter 1 The Significance of the European Social Survey 28 Introduction 28 History of the European Social Survey 28 Descartes, the European Research Infrastructures Consortium and the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures 29 The themes of the survey 30 Research output and impact 31 ESS scholarship in this volume 32 Challenge for the future 39 Notes 40 Reference 40 Section I Religious Identity 42 Chapter 2 The Declining Significance of Religion 44 Introduction 44 The United States and the Cold War 45 The beginning of secularization in Ireland 49 The mechanisms of secularization 53 Conclusion 58 Notes 58 References 59 Chapter 3 Religiosity and Political Participation across Europe 63 Introduction 63 Theoretical framework: How can religion affect political behaviour? 66 Religion as affiliation: Confessions differ? 66 Previous church–state relations and political participation 68 Religiosity as behaviour and beliefs 69 Empirical analysis 72 Results 73 Discussion 75 References 77 Appendices 79 Chapter 4 Religion and Values in the ESS 85 Theoretical overview 85 Hypotheses 88 Data and variables 90 An overview of religion and values in Europe 91 Analysis: Individual level 93 Analysis: Multi-level 95 Conclusion 99 Notes 100 References 100 Section II Social Identity 102 Chapter 5 Work–Life Conflict of Working Couples Before and During the Crisis in 18 European Countries 104 Introduction 104 Determinants of work–life conflicts before and during the crisis 106 Research questions 108 Data and sample 108 Measurement 110 Analytical procedure 112 Results 114 Conclusions 121 Notes 123 References 124 Chapter 6 A Tale of Two Surveys 127 Introduction 127 Understanding work organisation and welfare attitudes 127 Methods 130 Europe’s workplace regimes: The basic picture 131 Comparing datasets in the analysis of workplace regimes 134 Work regimes and welfare attitudes 143 Conclusion 147 Notes 148 References 148 Appendices 150 Chapter 7 Societal-Level Equality and Well-Being 154 Equality as presented in intergroup relations research 154 Societal health 158 Economic growth 159 Subjective well-being 159 Method and data 160 Measures 160 Results 161 Trust and fairness as mediators 162 Discussion 162 Notes 165 References 165 Section III Political Identity and Security 168 Chapter 8 Corruption in European Countries 170 Introduction 170 Corruption in Europe 171 Causes of corruption 172 How to measure corruption? 174 Methodology 177 Dependent variable 177 Independent variables 178 Results 178 Countries with no experience of communism 179 Countries with communist past 180 Income inequality 181 Conclusion 183 Notes 184 References 184 Chapter 9 Changing Tendencies of Youth Political Participation in Europe 187 Introduction 187 Aim of the study 188 Different perspectives on youth participation 189 A view on the European landscape 191 Hypotheses 193 Data and methods 195 Dependent variables 195 Control variables 195 Methodology 196 Results 196 Conclusions 203 Notes 204 References 205 Appendices 208 Chapter 10 Untangling our Attitudes Towards Irish Citizen Involvement and Democracy 211 Biggs outlines 212 Is it worth the trouble and hassle? 214 Characteristics of a democratic mind-set in social sciences education 214 How educators in the social sciences conceptualise and facilitate democracy 215 The current Irish context – higher education 216 Facilitating change 218 Challenges in current higher education – flipping and stripping the status quo 218 Plans for the future: Modifying our mind-set 220 Conclusion 220 References 223 Section IV Familial Identity 226 Chapter 11 Fatherhood in Russia 228 Introduction: Fatherhood crisis in Russia 228 Fertility decisions and their possible explanations 229 Data and methods 233 Statistical hindrances: Specifics of Russian sample 236 Conclusions 238 References 239 Chapter 12 Well-Being in Married and Cohabiting Families with Children and Social Support during Economic Recession in Europe 241 Introduction 241 Influence of children and partnership on life satisfaction 241 Method 243 Results 243 Life satisfaction and support from society 250 Conclusions 251 Acknowledgement 251 References 251 Appendix 254 Chapter 13 How to Measure Fathering Practices in a European Comparison? 255 Introduction 255 Measurement tools in European surveys 256 Data and methods 258 Analytical strategy 261 Hypotheses 261 Results 264 Conclusion 268 Notes 269 References 270 Appendices 272 Section V Methodological Issues 276 Chapter 14 How Do Reluctant Respondents Assess Governmental Protection Against Poverty? 278 Introduction 278 Theoretical approach 279 Data and methods 280 Data and dependent variable 280 Methods 281 Estimating response propensities 281 Estimating the attitude towards governmental protection against poverty 282 Results 282 (Non-)response analysis 283 Analysis of reluctant respondents’ attitudes 285 Conclusions 288 Notes 289 References 289 Chapter 15 Combining Multiple Datasets for Simultaneous Analysis on the Basis of Common Identifiers 291 The problem 291 Multiple imputation and matching 291 Drawbacks 292 Background to the current study 293 Case study 293 Variables and imputation models 293 Results 294 Better models 296 Conclusions 297 Notes 298 References 298 Chapter 16 Using Mixed Modes in Survey Research 300 Introduction 300 The six studies 301 Sampling and coverage in the ESS mixed-mode studies 305 Sampling frames and sampling designs 307 Within-household random selection of individuals 309 Summary 310 Survey participation: response rates, non-response bias, and sample composition in the ESS mid-mode studies 311 Outcome rates 312 Sociodemographic composition of realised samples and non-response bias 316 Summary 317 Measurement error in the ESS mixed-mode studies 318 Fieldwork costs and efforts 327 Conclusion 331 Acknowledgements 333 Notes 333 References 334 Appendix 337 Index 338 Contrary to what is suggested in media and popular discourses, Europe is neither a monolithic entity, nor simply a collection of nation states. It is, rather, a union of millions of individuals who differ from one another in a variety of ways, while also sharing many characteristics associated with their ethnic, social, political, economic, religious, or national characteristics. This book explores differences and similarities that exist in attitudes, beliefs and opinions on a range of issues across Europe. Drawing on the extensive data of the European Social Survey, it presents insightful analyses of social attitudes, organised around the themes of religious identity, political identity, family identity and social identity, together with a section on methodological issues. A collection of rigorously analysed studies on national, comparative and pan-European levels, Values and Identity in Europe offers insight into the heart and soul of Europe at a time of unprecedented change. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in social attitudes, social change in Europe, demographics and survey methods.