Britain: what are we thinking and feeling? Alison Park

Today Measuring attitudes Some key trends

Measuring attitudes 1.1.

Attitudes matter Help us understand society, how it works and how it is changing Informing policy making Competing claims about what the public think Variability in whose voices are heard

But they can be hard to measure Who is asking the question? Why? How? Recognising complexity Value of time series Insight from other countries

Annual since 1983 Attitudes and values across range of issues Time series Random sample of adults across Britain Multiple funding sources Findings reported by a range of different authors Online BSA30 report launched next week The British Social Attitudes survey

Social liberalism 2.2.

Sexual morality (% premarital sex ‘wrong’)

Sexual morality (% homosexuality ‘wrong’)

Sexual morality (% extramar. sex ‘wrong’)

Reflections Helps us understand how people think about sexual relationships and how this is changing over time Hugely different climate to 30 years ago. Would govt be discussing same sex marriage without this shift? Understanding how groups vary – whose attitudes are changing – gives us clues as to how society is likely to develop in the future

Attitudes to welfare 3.3.

Attitudes to level of unemployment benefits

% would like more govt. spending on welfare benefits for poor

% govt should redistribute income from better-off to less well-off

% benefits too high and discourage people from seeking work

% agree if benefits less generous people would stand on own feet

Reflections Opens up a debate about changing values and attitudes, and what is shaping people’s perceptions Cross-national picture is very different, helps our understanding of how different welfare regimes and political systems affect and reflect attitudes Need to understand how groups vary – whose attitudes are changing, and when? Illustrates different factors that underpin change.

To conclude Attitudes matter! They can be hard to measure (as can behaviour), but is a worthwhile endeavour BSA as an important mirror of society and how it is changing Increasing tolerance and social liberalism Changing views about welfare Teasing out the factors that help explain change

Thank you! BSA30 launched 10 th September Datasets available Further details