The Importance of Endorsing Liberal Democracy for Human Development and Wellbeing in Europe: Insights from the ESS10 in Tumultuous Times
An important question facing European countries and the European Union is whether valuing democracy adds any insight, beyond basic human values such as benevolence and universalism, in accounting for variations in critical measures of wellbeing and thriving. Round 10 of the European Social Survey (ESS10) occurred in 2020-2022, during the tumultuous times of the Covid pandemic and a rise in EU votes signaling support of authoritarian and populist candidates. The ESS10 included a module specifically asking participants which features of democracy they value and endorse as important to democracy in general. Factor analysis resulted in a novel, scalar invariant, democracy values scale, 4Dem, with factors of Liberal Democracy, Populist Democracy, Economic Equality, and Diverse Voices. Bayesian modeling revealed that basic human values, as assessed with the ESS10鈥檚 Human Values Scale, did not covary strongly with 4Dem or with measures of wellbeing. Rather, Liberal Democracy and Diverse Voices both covaried with objective measures of wellbeing. The findings of this study support greater attention to the study of democratic values for the unique insight they provide into human wellbeing in Europe.
About the Speaker: Prof. Spezio is a computational cognitive neuroscientist specializing in valuation, emotion, and decision making in interaction. He joined 61传媒 after completing postdoctoral fellowships in UC Davis’ Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science and in the laboratory of Ralph Adolphs at Caltech. He has edited several interdisciplinary volumes on religion & science and science and virtue.
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