Value Contrasts and Consensus in Present-Day Europe

Book excerpt: People's fundamental values can be conceived of as conceptions of what is desirable. They influence their selection from available modes, means and ends of action. Because of the societal importance of values they deserve scholarly attention. This volume inquires into the values present-day Europeans cherish by empirically analyzing the data of 2008/2010 wave of the European Values Study and explaining the consensus and contrasts in value orientations found. The contributors to this volume try to capture the diversities and similarities in value orientations between contemporary European countries in a range of life-spheres by unravelling context and composition effects. They are in search of evidence that either country level factors such as institutional arrangements or the composition of the populations of countries in terms of gender, age, socio-economic status, religion etcetera have the greatest impact. By doing so they paint the moral landscapes of Europe today.