Discerning self-interested behaviour in attitudes towards welfare state responsibilities across Europe

• Published in: International journal of social welfare Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 344 - 352
• Main Authors: Baslevent, Cem, Kirmanoglu, Hasan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.2011
• Subjects: Attitude surveys; Attitudes; basic personal values; Empirical research; Europe; European Social Survey (ESS); Government; Ideology; Individualism; Interest; Loyalty; Religious affiliation; Responsibilities; Self interest; Social policy; Social responsibility; Sociodemographic Factors; Surveys; Values; Welfare; Welfare State; welfare state responsibilities; Europe
• ISSN: 1369-6866; 1468-2397
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2397.2010.00751.x

Baslevent C, Kirmanoglu H. Discerning self‐interested behaviour in attitudes towards welfare state responsibilities across Europe Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 344–352 © 2010 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This article reports on an investigation into the influence of individual characteristics on attitudes to government responsibility for welfare‐related tasks using data from the European Social Survey. The main finding of this investigation was that socio‐demographic characteristics, basic personal values, a left–right ideological position and religious affiliation were all associated with attitudes towards welfare policies. An item‐by‐item examination of the six issues enquired about in the survey revealed that people tended to hold the government responsible for tasks that would benefit them more directly. Taken as a whole, the empirical findings were interpreted to mean that individuals' tastes for welfare state policies were driven, at least partially, by self‐interest, but it was also noted that further work was needed to disentangle the potential role of group loyalty effects.