News & comment
Faith and demographics: unveiling seemingly paradoxical trends in the UK
Gen Z are the generation most likely to say they have no religion, but they are also the most likely to say they believe in Hell. Much of this apparent paradox can be explained by a simple demographic trend, and the key is British Muslims. The pattern we see in Gen Z emerges not because of changes in the combinations of beliefs held by Britons, but changes in the composition of who Britons are.
Perceptions of the police: a generational crisis of confidence?
Without public support, the authority and legitimacy of the police would be in jeopardy – and there are worrying signs this is under pressure, particularly with younger generations.
Polarisation and partisanship: 10 key takeaways from our World Values Survey conference
What we learned about some of the key political challenges of our time
Good manners, obedience and unselfishness: data reveals how UK parenting priorities compare with other nations
Changing attitudes to parenting mean the UK public now rank among the lowest internationally for the importance they place on obedience or responsibility in children, and among the highest for how much they value unselfishness, good manners and imagination, a new study shows.
UK public among least likely to place importance on work
Of 24 nations, people in the UK emerge as the least likely to say work is important in their life, and among the least likely to say work should always come first, even if it means less leisure time
UK public among most trusting in world
The UK has internationally high levels of trust in people of different nationalities, people they meet for the first time, and people they know personally
God, heaven and hell, and life after death: data reveals UK’s low religious belief compared with other nations
The share of the British public who identify as religious has halved since the 1980s
UK public among most trusting of their neighbours internationally and increasingly comfortable living next to historically marginalised groups
The UK now has some of the highest levels of neighbourhood trust internationally, while Britons have also become much more comfortable with having neighbours who belong to historically marginalised groups, such as gay people, those of a different race, immigrants, and people who have AIDS
UK satisfaction with politics internationally low – but support for democracy has still risen
Few people in the UK think politics is working for them, with the country ranking firmly among the bottom half of an international league table for satisfaction with the political system
How the UK lost confidence in its institutions
The UK has long prided itself on the strength of its institutions – but the British public are not as convinced as they once were, and we are now more negative than many other countries.
UK has internationally low confidence in political institutions, police and press
The UK has internationally low levels of confidence in its political institutions, with confidence in parliament in particular halving since 1990, new data shows.
Should we be worried about a rise in the perceived justifiability of suicide?
16% of Britons felt suicide was “justifiable” in 2022, compared with 6% in 1981 – but this is not necessarily cause for concern
UK now among most socially liberal of countries
The UK now ranks among the most socially liberal countries internationally, following huge shifts in attitudes on issues such as homosexuality, casual sex, abortion, euthanasia and divorce, according to new data
UK attitudes to immigration among most positive internationally
The UK public have among the most positive attitudes to immigration, according to a new study that ranks the country at the top of an international league table as the most accepting of new arrivals.
Values, votes – and some football: a personal view
After a period of such tumultuous change in UK politics, why has so little changed in terms of support for Scottish independence?
Moral foundations theory and its implications for the World Values Survey community
The WVS is the Hubble telescope of the social sciences, providing us high-quality data about the entire “universe” of human values
Understanding values for policymaking: the challenges
The relation between our “values” and the way we behave seems modest, at best.
The ties that bind: values and polarisation
While globalisation brought the world closer together economically, are we now really drifting apart as peoples?