Mens & Maatschappij - Volume 94, Issue 4, 2019

Abstract This 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, r Read More

Abstract In 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 Read More

Abstract In 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 ol Read More

Abstract In 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 theor Read More

Abstract The 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 st Read More