Values in the crisis – crisis of values?
The coronavirus pandemic not only posed a health and economic challenge for societies, but also resulted in political and social burdens. The project analysed whether and to what extent such a crisis situation had an impact on the fundamental and seemingly firmly established basic values of a society.
Introduction
While the coronavirus pandemic obviously posed major health and economic challenges for current societies, it had also created social and political tensions. The opposition to government measures, the denial of basic facts, and the spread of conspiracy theories had been just some of the negative reactions to the pandemic. Even though the majority of the population trusted the information provided by governments and supports their actions, the circumstances offered a special opportunity to explore whether and to what extent such a crisis situation had an impact on the core values of a civil society. Are basic political convictions influenced by this crisis? Are there short-term or long-term shifts in fundamental values or, on the contrary, do current experiences even strengthen existing value profiles?
This collaborative research project between scientists from Leuphana University Lüneburg (Prof Dr Christian Welzel), Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg (Prof Dr Jan Delhey), Jacobs University Bremen (Prof Dr Klaus Boehnke, Dr Franziska Deutsch & Prof Dr. Ulrich Kühnen), University of Edinburgh (Dr Jan Eichhorn) and our non-profit, Berlin-based think tank d|part aimed to find answers to these questions. Under the leadership of Prof Dr Christian Welzel, vice president of the World Values Survey, a panel study was initiated in nine countries so far (Brazil, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Great Britain, Japan, Sweden, South Korea and Austria). Following the initial data collection, a second survey of the participants was conducted a few months later.
Under the direction of Dr Jan Eichhorn d|part was responsible for the dissemination of the results with support by the Robert Bosch Foundation. Initial results were not only presented to the research community, but also in an accessible way to the wider public through this funding.
In addition, the Volkswagen Foundation funded a research project for which the interdisciplinary team of researchers from Jacobs University Bremen, the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, the University of Edinburgh, and Leuphana University Lüneburg have analysed the question: What impact does the coronavirus pandemic have on moral values and social orientations in a society? d|part was the practice partner again and responsible for the dissemination.
The project team engaged in a prospective panel study, started by comparing attitudes of 2,000 respondents each in Great Britain and Germany. The two countries were chosen because they are comparable in terms of economic parameters, but differ greatly in the way they deal with the pandemic and its consequences. Project leaders were Professor Jan Delhey, Franziska Deutsch, and Jan Eichhorn.