A new atlas developed by the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon has revealed that women are more religious than men in every European country. The atlas, which is publicly accessible, allows users to explore social attitudes on various topics including work, family, well-being, religion, politics, immigration, sustainability, and values across Europe.
The atlas was created in collaboration with PASSDA, a Portuguese infrastructure dedicated to collecting and disseminating data on social and political attitudes and behaviors. According to Pedro Magalhães, a sociologist and researcher involved in the project, the atlas aims to make data accessible to the public that was previously only used by researchers.
The data shows that women have higher levels of religiosity than men across various indicators, including belief in God, attending religious services, and giving importance to religion in their lives. This trend holds true across different European societies, including Poland, where religiosity is high, and the Czech Republic, where it is relatively low.
The atlas also examines attitudes towards immigration, revealing a shift in opinion in Portugal. While there was a growing positive trend towards immigration since the start of the century, this trend reversed in 2019. In contrast, Hungary has consistently shown high levels of skepticism towards immigration, while Germany's trends are similar to Portugal's.
The platform allows users to compare countries, track changes over time, and identify differences based on factors such as sex, age, and education level. It currently includes data from two large projects: the European Social Survey and the European Values Study. The data will be updated as new information becomes available.
The atlas has three main objectives: to facilitate citizens' understanding of European societies, support education, and serve as a starting point for new academic research. It enables users to confront public debates with factual data and can be used in schools to analyze opinions, beliefs, and values.
The atlas provides a valuable resource for researchers, allowing them to quickly observe trends and comparisons that can inform new investigations. According to Magalhães, the goal is to enable a better understanding of Portugal and other European societies through the evolution of citizens' opinions, attitudes, and beliefs.
Key points
- Women are more religious than men in every European country.
- The atlas provides a publicly accessible platform for exploring social attitudes across Europe.
- The platform aims to facilitate citizens' understanding of European societies, support education, and inform new research.
