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 non-religiosity

Religious cultural heritage Protestant Catholic secular Protestant cultures secular religious religious Protestant cultures religious Catholic cultures secular Catholic cultures Religious activity Religious identity

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 Countries with a Protestant heritage will have higher levels of public morality, moral permissiveness values, and autonomy values. 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

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