Companion 1.3b · Report

The obedience-autonomy disposition

Valuing obedience over autonomy in children goes with placing oneself further right, with a median correlation of +0.04 across 103 countries in the WVS and EVS from 2005 to 2023.

Author: Vishal Singh
Affiliation: NYU Stern
Published: 30 September 2026

Every estimate of the chapter with its interval and every figure as a table, generated from the chapter's data files. Table n of this report is figure n of the chapter. The same report as Markdown: report.md.

Identification

Title

The obedience-autonomy disposition

Chapter

Companion 1.3b (Part I, Labels and beliefs; Labels, sorting and partisan feeling)

Question

How does valuing obedience over autonomy in children relate to the political right across three surveys?

Dek

Valuing obedience over autonomy in children goes with placing oneself further right, with a median correlation of +0.04 across 103 countries in the WVS and EVS from 2005 to 2023.

Grain

countries

Status

draft

Published

30 September 2026

Updated

not revised

Data sources

World Values Survey and EVS. World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023: child-quality checklist, left-right, moral, neighbor and political-system items; years: 1981-2023 (7 unified waves); weights: weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries
European Social Survey. European Social Survey rounds 3 to 10: Schwartz conservation values and left-right; years: 2002-2023 (rounds 1 to 11; round 11 was fielded in 2023 and 2024); weights: analysis weight within each country
ANES Cumulative Data File. ANES Cumulative Data File 1992-2024, presidential-year studies: forced-choice child-rearing pairs, party identification, ideology; years: 1948-2024 (33 study years; even years only after 2004; no 2006, 2010 or 2014 study); weights: weight (VCF0009z); weight_ftf and weight_web for the mode views
General Social Survey. General Social Survey 1986-2024: obey and think-for-oneself rankings, party identification; years: 1972-2024 (35 study years); weights: weight_use

Canonical URL

https://vishalsingh.org/politics/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition

Markdown

https://vishalsingh.org/politics/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/report.md

BibTeX

@misc{singh2026theobedienceautonomydisposition,
  author = {Singh, Vishal},
  title = {The obedience-autonomy disposition},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://vishalsingh.org/politics/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition},
  note = {In The Public Mind. Published 30 September 2026.}
}

Principal estimates

The facts the dek and the opening prose cite, in order of appearance. Every fact is in the table of all estimates below.

Estimand	Population	Period	Value	Interval	n	Weights	Source	Fact id
median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the full index (bootstrap over countries)	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	+0.04	95% CI 0.03 to 0.06	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	median_wvs
count of countries with a usable correlation between left-right and the full index	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	103			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS	n_countries_wvs
count of countries where the point estimate is above zero	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	84			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS	n_positive

Findings

People who name obedience and religious faith over independence and tolerance as important qualities for a child place themselves further right in most of the 103 countries in the World Values Survey (WVS) and European Values Study (EVS), fielded from 2005 to 2023. The median correlation between that measure and left-right placement is +0.04 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.06), and the correlation is above zero in 84 countries. A correlation of zero means that two answers are unrelated, so a median this close to zero means that the child-rearing answer tracks left-right placement only weakly. In the United States the correlation with party identification rose between 1992 and 2024, except among Black respondents.

The chapter follows the child-rearing measure through the WVS and EVS, the American National Election Studies (ANES) and the General Social Survey (GSS), and adds the European Social Survey (ESS) as a related comparison. The ESS has no question about children. Its measure is a different instrument, the importance a respondent gives to conformity, tradition and security among Schwartz's basic values, which Companion 1.3a, Basic values and left-right compares with left-right value by value. All four surveys correlate their measure with the same kind of outcome, a left-right or party question, and the chapter returns to that overlap below. Chapter 1.3, Left and right across countries shows how differently the left-right question attaches to religion, economics and moral attitudes from one country to the next.

The surveys measure the disposition with different questions

Stenner argued that a lasting preference for sameness and authority over difference and choice can be read from child-rearing preferences, because those questions do not mention politics [1]. Feldman described the same disposition as a conflict between conformity and personal autonomy [2], and Hetherington and Weiler used four American forced choices to study polarization [3]. Engelhardt, Feldman and Hetherington assess the child-rearing items as a measure of authoritarianism [4]. The WVS checklist also feeds the traditional versus secular-rational dimension of the WVS cultural map [5].

Table 1. Three surveys ask about children and one asks about values, and each fixes the obedience pole in advance

Each survey fixes the obedience pole from the wording of its answers before any correlation with left-right is computed. In the WVS and EVS, respondents pick up to five qualities from a list, of which the cleaned file carries ten. The full index counts obedience and religious faith on one side and independence and tolerance and respect for other people on the other. The ANES sets an autonomy quality against an obedience quality in each of its four pairs, and its index is the mean of the obedience answers.Each correlation is survey-weighted, and its 95% interval (built on the Kish effective sample size [6] and Fisher z [7]) treats the weighted sample as a simple random sample, so it is narrower than an interval that follows the sampling design. Intervals on medians and means across countries come from a bootstrap over countries.

The obedience side is larger in lower-income countries

Table 2 counts respondents on the obedience side, those who name more obedience-side than autonomy-side qualities, by country income group (the World Bank groups in the WVS context file) and birth decade. In high-income countries the share is 11.5% among people born in the 1940s and 7.4% among those born in the 1990s, a change of −4.1 (95% CI −5.6 to −2.6) points. In upper-middle-income countries the figures are 25.6% and 20.9% (a change of −4.7 (95% CI −7.3 to −2.4)). In lower-income countries they are 31.5% and 27.9% (a change of −3.6 (95% CI −10.0 to 2.5), an interval that includes zero). The gap between lower-income and high-income countries is larger than the change across birth decades in either group.

Table 2. The obedience side is largest in lower-income countries and shrinks across birth decades in richer ones

A cohort profile from surveys spread over 2005 to 2023 mixes age with birth decade, because a later survey measures the same birth decade at an older age. Comparing the same birth decade measured in 2014 to 2023 with 2005 to 2013 gives a mean difference of −0.3 (95% CI −0.9 to 0.2) points across country-by-decade cells, which rules out a uniform shift between the two periods. Still, 28% of the cells differ by more than 5 points, about the size of the cohort changes in the two richer groups, so period effects in single countries are not ruled out.

The correlation is positive but small in most countries

Table 3 shows the correlation for each of the 103 countries with a usable estimate, computed on 281,678 respondents. The median is +0.04 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.06) and the mean is +0.06 (95% CI 0.04 to 0.07). The 5 countries with an interval below zero are Bulgaria, Czechia, Egypt, Moldova and Zambia.

Table 3. The correlation is positive in 84 of 103 countries and +0.04 in the median country

The United States (+0.28 (95% CI 0.25 to 0.31)) and Canada (+0.25 (95% CI 0.22 to 0.28)) have the largest correlations, followed by Luxembourg (+0.22), the Netherlands (+0.20), Spain (+0.20) and Andorra (+0.20). Poland is at +0.19, Germany at +0.12, Sweden at +0.04 and India at +0.01 (95% CI −0.01 to 0.04), an interval that includes zero. The correlation is negative in Czechia (−0.06), Bulgaria (−0.06) and Egypt (−0.14).

The median also differs by the income groups of Table 2. It is +0.10 (95% CI 0.07 to 0.15) in high-income countries, +0.04 (95% CI 0.02 to 0.05) in upper-middle-income countries and +0.02 (95% CI 0.00 to 0.03) in lower-income countries. High-income countries are separated from upper-middle-income countries (a difference in medians of +0.061 (95% CI 0.020 to 0.116)), and upper-middle-income and lower-income countries are not separated from each other (+0.024 (95% CI −0.001 to 0.043), an interval that includes zero). The three groups hold 102 of the 103 countries, because Taiwan ROC has no income group in the context file. Income group also tracks region, religion and party system, so the comparison describes where the correlation is larger and does not say why.

The ESS views of Table 3 use the neighboring measure, the importance of conformity, tradition and security, which comes from the circle of Schwartz's basic values [8]. It asks nothing about children, so its correlations are a related comparison rather than a second estimate of the child-rearing tie. Its median correlation with left-right is +0.08 (95% CI 0.01 to 0.11) across 38 countries, positive in 27 and with an interval below zero in 7. The country pattern resembles the WVS one. The correlation is +0.20 in Spain and +0.22 in Austria, +0.04 in Sweden, and negative in Czechia (−0.23), Bulgaria (−0.23) and Slovakia (−0.19).

All 7 ESS countries with an interval below zero are post-communist, and 10 of the 18 post-communist countries have a negative point estimate, against 1 of the 20 other countries. Poland, Slovenia and Croatia are post-communist and have positive correlations in both surveys, so the region is not uniform. Work on post-communist publics finds that having lived under communism is associated with more support for state welfare and less support for markets [9]. This chapter does not test whether that legacy lies behind the negative signs.

Faith alone gives the same median as the full index

The WVS index contains religious faith, and faith alone has an interval above zero in 52 countries. Table 4 recomputes the median country correlation for ten definitions of the measure and for the full index with age, sex and education held fixed. Without faith, the median is +0.03 (95% CI 0.01 to 0.05) against +0.04 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.06) with it, a difference of +0.010 (95% CI 0.005 to 0.027). Without faith the correlation is positive in 80 countries, and the interval is above zero in 41 countries against 49 with it. The country-by-country correlations with and without faith are close (+0.93 (95% CI 0.90 to 0.95) across countries), so the ordering of countries does not depend on the faith item.

Table 4. Religious faith alone gives a median correlation of +0.04, the same as the full index (+0.04), and independence or tolerance alone give +0.02 and +0.02

Religious faith alone gives a median of +0.04 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.06), and the difference between the full index and faith alone (+0.006 (95% CI −0.008 to 0.020)) includes zero. Obedience alone gives +0.03 (95% CI 0.02 to 0.04), above the three autonomy items alone. Independence (+0.02 (95% CI 0.01 to 0.03)), tolerance (+0.02 (95% CI 0.01 to 0.03)) and imagination (+0.02 (95% CI 0.01 to 0.04)) alone give lower medians, each scored so that a higher value marks the obedience pole. The median for the full index is higher than each of them by +0.027 (95% CI 0.016 to 0.041), +0.026 (95% CI 0.013 to 0.044) and +0.024 (95% CI 0.004 to 0.039). The version that uses imagination in place of tolerance gives +0.04 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.07), close to the full index.

Age, sex and education change little in the WVS

Age, sex and education could stand behind the correlation if they relate to both the measure and left-right placement. In the WVS and EVS, holding them fixed leaves the median at +0.05 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.06), and the adjusted and unadjusted country correlations are nearly the same (+0.99 (95% CI 0.98 to 0.99)). In the ESS the adjustment changes individual countries more. The correlation in Czechia moves from −0.23 to −0.14 (95% CI −0.16 to −0.12), and Czechia, Bulgaria and Slovakia stay below zero. The median is +0.07 (95% CI 0.05 to 0.10) against +0.08 (the last view of Table 3).

The surveys agree as closely on age and religiosity

Table 5 sets the WVS and EVS correlation for each country against the ESS one. Across 36 countries in both surveys the correlation between the two sets is +0.81 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.90). The two surveys give a correlation of the same sign in 30 countries, and the mean absolute difference is 0.06. Czechia and Bulgaria are negative in both. Slovakia and Hungary are close to zero or slightly positive in the WVS and lower in the ESS. The interval on the cross-country correlation is wide, because it rests on only 36 countries.

Table 5. The two surveys rank countries alike, with a correlation of +0.81 across 36 countries

Both surveys correlate their measure with the same outcome, and left-right placement means different things in different countries. Agreement between the two surveys could therefore come from how the label attaches to any characteristic, and not from the measure. Table 6 repeats the comparison for four other predictors of left-right placement, on the same countries. The correlation between the two surveys is +0.87 (95% CI 0.76 to 0.93) for religiosity, +0.90 (95% CI 0.82 to 0.95) for age, +0.70 (95% CI 0.47 to 0.84) for education and +0.72 (95% CI 0.52 to 0.85) for sex, against +0.81 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.90) for the obedience measure. Age and religiosity give higher point estimates than the obedience measure, and no predictor's interval separates from the one for the obedience measure.

Table 6. The two surveys agree as closely on age and religiosity as on obedience, so agreement is not specific to the measure

The agreement between the surveys shows that both rank countries alike on how left-right attaches to individual traits, and it does not show that both are measuring one disposition. Older people place themselves further left in Czechia and Bulgaria, where the obedience correlation is negative in both surveys, and further right in Spain and Germany, in both surveys.Correlation of left-right with age in years, WVS and EVS first and ESS second: Czechia −0.17 and −0.23, Bulgaria −0.22 and −0.24, Spain +0.14 and +0.08, Germany +0.09 and +0.11. Every interval excludes zero.

The US tie to party rose, except among Black respondents

Table 7 follows the ANES correlations from 1992 to 2024, by race in its first view and for all respondents in its second. Among all respondents the correlation with party identification is −0.04 (95% CI −0.09 to 0.00) in 1992, +0.14 (95% CI 0.10 to 0.18) in 2016 and +0.28 (95% CI 0.24 to 0.32) in 2024. Each study after 2008 has a higher point estimate than the one before it, so the rise is a climb through successive studies rather than a single step. The correlation with liberal-conservative self-placement starts higher, +0.22 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.26) in 1992, and reaches +0.43 (95% CI 0.39 to 0.46) in 2024.

Table 7. The correlation with party rose among white and Hispanic and other respondents and stayed near zero among Black respondents

The all-respondent series combines three race groups. Among white non-Hispanic respondents the correlation with party identification rose from +0.04 (95% CI −0.01 to 0.09) in 1992 to +0.43 (95% CI 0.38 to 0.47) in 2024. Among Hispanic and other respondents, a residual group that grew from 10% to 24% of the weighted sample, it went from −0.12 (95% CI −0.25 to 0.02) to +0.26 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.35).

Among Black non-Hispanic respondents the interval includes zero in 7 of 8 studies and is below zero in the other one, 2012 (−0.11 (95% CI −0.21 to −0.01)). In 2024 they score higher on the obedience side than white non-Hispanic respondents, 0.63 (95% CI 0.58 to 0.67) against 0.46 (95% CI 0.44 to 0.47) on the ANES index (which runs from autonomy on every pair to obedience on every pair). 78.8% of them identify as Democrats, leaners included. The rise in the all-respondent series therefore comes from the white group and the Hispanic and other group, and it is absent among Black respondents.

Holding a college degree, age and whether the respondent is white non-Hispanic fixed (a partial correlation, which removes what those three variables explain of each measure), the correlation with party identification is +0.06 (95% CI 0.02 to 0.11) in 1992 and +0.31 (95% CI 0.27 to 0.35) in 2024.

Studies disagree on whether the child-rearing scale works the same way for Black and white respondents. Pérez and Hetherington report that it does not [10]. A later study reports partial measurement invariance in the 1992 to 2008 studies, with one item, respect for elders, working differently, and full invariance in 2012 and 2016 [11]. This chapter reports the groups separately and does not test invariance itself.

The ANES 2012 and 2016 studies have separate face-to-face and web samples, and the 2020 and 2024 studies mix interview modes. The 2020 study has no mode weight. In 2024, 43% of the respondents in the party analysis (2,027 of 4,668) have neither a face-to-face nor a web weight, because they come from a panel or a paper questionnaire, so they are in neither mode estimate. Among respondents with a mode weight, the 2024 correlation with party identification is +0.29 (95% CI 0.21 to 0.38) in the face-to-face sample and +0.26 (95% CI 0.20 to 0.32) in the web sample, so the high 2024 value does not come from one mode.

The GSS gives a second series that does not use the four forced choices. Its measure is the rank of obeying against the rank of thinking for oneself, and its correlation with party identification is 0.00 (95% CI −0.03 to 0.02) in 1986 to 1994 and +0.11 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.14) in 2016 to 2024.The share ranking obedience above thinking for oneself is +6.9 (95% CI 4.3 to 9.4) points higher among Republican than among Democratic identifiers, leaners included, in 2016 to 2024, against −1.0 (95% CI −3.3 to 1.4) in 1986 to 1994.

The correlation with party rose while the average score on the measure fell. The mean score on the ANES index is 0.60 (95% CI 0.59 to 0.62) in 1992, 0.56 (95% CI 0.55 to 0.57) in 2016 and 0.49 (95% CI 0.48 to 0.50) in 2024, so respondents chose the obedience answer less often over the period. The fall also appears within the face-to-face sample, where the mean is 0.61 in 2012, 0.58 in 2016 and 0.48 in 2024. Hetherington and Weiler argue that the parties came to differ on worldview [3]. The data here show the correlation and its timing, and they are consistent with that argument and with others.

The obedience side is more morally conservative and less tolerant

Table 8 compares respondents on the autonomy side of the index with those on the obedience side, country by country and then averaged across a fixed panel of countries. Averaged across countries, 70.9% of respondents on the obedience side are socially conservative, against 57.1% on the autonomy side, a gap of 13.8 (95% CI 11.4 to 16.5) points. Socially conservative here means an average of 4 or lower on the three justifiability items of the ten-point scale. Naming homosexuals as unwanted neighbors is 7.7 (95% CI 6.1 to 9.4) points more common on the obedience side, naming immigrants or foreign workers 2.8 (95% CI 1.8 to 4.0) points and naming people of a different race 2.9 (95% CI 1.8 to 3.9) points. Calling a strong leader who bypasses parliament a good way to run the country is 4.2 (95% CI 2.5 to 6.1) points more common and calling army rule good is 4.3 (95% CI 3.1 to 5.4) points more common.

Table 8. Every attitude is more common on the obedience side of the index, and the gap is largest for moral conservatism

The moral gap is smaller without the faith item (Table 9), and the comparison needs the same countries under both indices. The index without faith leaves fewer respondents on its obedience side, so fewer countries qualify (74 against 97 for moral conservatism). On those 74 countries the gap for moral conservatism is 12.0 (95% CI 9.1 to 15.1) points with the faith item and 7.2 (95% CI 4.8 to 9.9) points without it, a difference of 4.7 (95% CI 3.7 to 5.8) points. The gap for naming homosexuals as neighbors falls from 6.9 (95% CI 5.1 to 8.7) to 5.0 (95% CI 3.3 to 6.6) points (a difference of 1.9 (95% CI 1.1 to 2.6) points). For immigrants, people of a different race and army rule, the difference between the two indices has an interval that includes zero. The gap for a strong leader is larger without the faith item (a difference of −1.2 (95% CI −2.1 to −0.2) points, taken as with the faith item minus without it).

Table 9. Dropping the faith item shrinks the gaps for moral conservatism and for homosexuals as neighbors, and leaves the gaps for immigrants, race, army rule and a strong leader no smaller

Across countries, the median correlation of the full index with a moral-conservatism index (the reversed justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce) is +0.13 (95% CI 0.10 to 0.16), and it is +0.09 (95% CI 0.07 to 0.12) without the faith item. The median correlation of left-right placement with the same moral index is +0.07 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.10). The measure is more closely tied to moral attitudes than to left-right placement, where the median is +0.04.

Every gap stays above zero under both indices. The moral outcome is more common on the obedience side in 87 of 97 countries. These are differences between groups of respondents, averaged across countries, and show what occurs together. Chapter 5.3, Support for democracy takes up support for strong rule directly, and Planned, Order, security and threat (planned) asks whether security values and threat perceptions lean right.

What these data cannot show

The correlations come from one interview per person, so they do not show whether valuing obedience shapes where people place themselves, whether placement or party shapes the child-rearing answers, or whether a third influence shapes both. The rise in the American correlation with party is a change in how the measure lines up with party. The ANES and GSS are repeated cross-sections, so they cannot say whether people changed parties, the parties changed or the composition of each party changed.

The measures are related but different. The WVS checklist, the ANES forced choices, the GSS ranking and the ESS values battery use different formats, and the ESS has no question about children. The agreement between the WVS and ESS country patterns shows that both rank countries alike, and the comparison with age, education, sex and religiosity shows that this agreement is not specific to the obedience measure. This chapter does not use party manifestos, expert placements of parties or vote choices, so it cannot say why the label attaches to conservation values in one country and not in another.

Whether the ANES child-rearing items mean the same thing to Black and white respondents is disputed [10] [11], and this chapter reports the groups separately without testing it. The Hispanic and other group is a residual category whose makeup changes across studies. The intervals are model based and ignore the sampling design, and the countries are those the surveys reached, not a sample of the world. The cohort profile cannot separate age from birth decade, the country groups by income are a single classification from the WVS context file, and waves are pooled inside each country, so a correlation blends years. The link between the disposition and politics is thought to depend on perceived threat [1]. This chapter does not test whether threat conditions the link; Planned, Order, security and threat (planned) takes up the threat measures in the WVS and ESS.

Tables

Table 1. Three surveys ask about children and one asks about values, and each fixes the obedience pole in advance

Questions, the answers that count as each pole and the measure built from them, by survey

Survey and years	Question	Obedience versus autonomy pole	Measure
World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023	Check-all list: which qualities are especially important for a child to learn at home (up to five; ten qualities in the cleaned file)	Obedience and religious faith, against independence and tolerance and respect for other people	Obedience and faith minus independence and tolerance, from a low of −2 to a high of +2
American National Election Studies, presidential-year studies 1992-2024	Four forced choices: independence or respect for elders, curiosity or good manners, self-reliance or obedience, considerate or well-behaved	Respect for elders, good manners, obedience and being well-behaved, against independence, curiosity, self-reliance and being considerate	One minus the mean of the four answers, from 0 (autonomy on every pair) to 1 (obedience on every pair)
General Social Survey, 1986-2024	Rank five qualities by importance for a child to learn, including obeying and thinking for oneself	Obeying, against thinking for oneself	Rank of thinking for oneself minus rank of obeying, from −4 to +4
European Social Survey, rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	Twenty-one portraits of a person; how much the respondent resembles each. No child-rearing item	Conformity, tradition and security values (conservation); openness to change is the opposite pole and is not measured directly	Conservation score, centered on the respondent's mean rating

Source: WVS/EVS 2005-2023, ANES 1992-2024, GSS 1986-2024 and ESS 2006-2022 questionnaires and cleaned data dictionaries; item wording only, no estimates or weights

Data: vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/instruments.json

Table 2. The obedience side is largest in lower-income countries and shrinks across birth decades in richer ones

Percent of respondents on the obedience side (more obedience-side than autonomy-side qualities), by birth decade and country income group; fixed country panels; WVS and EVS fieldwork 2005-2023

Country group	Birth decade	Percent on the obedience side	Interval low	Interval high	Countries
High income	1940	11.5	9.0	14.1	36
High income	1950	9.7	7.4	12.2	36
High income	1960	8.9	6.7	11.4	36
High income	1970	8.4	6.5	10.5	36
High income	1980	8.3	6.4	10.2	36
High income	1990	7.4	5.8	9.2	36
Lower income	1940	31.5	23.3	40.9	10
Lower income	1950	30.0	22.8	38.6	10
Lower income	1960	28.9	21.3	38.2	10
Lower income	1970	29.7	22.4	38.6	10
Lower income	1980	27.8	21.0	36.1	10
Lower income	1990	27.9	20.8	36.9	10
Upper-middle income	1940	25.6	20.7	30.8	22
Upper-middle income	1950	24.8	19.9	29.5	22
Upper-middle income	1960	23.9	19.0	29.1	22
Upper-middle income	1970	23.3	18.6	28.2	22
Upper-middle income	1980	21.7	17.1	26.8	22
Upper-middle income	1990	20.9	17.0	24.9	22

Note: Birth decade is the survey year minus age, and the survey years span 2005 to 2023, so birth decade and age at interview move together within a survey window.

Note: Panels: countries with an effective sample of 100 or more in every birth decade; the number of countries in each group is in the table.

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023; weighted (weight, S017, within each country); countries with an effective sample of 100 or more in every birth decade shown

Data: vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/cohort_prevalence.json

Table 3. The correlation is positive in 84 of 103 countries and +0.04 in the median country

Weighted correlation between left-right self-placement (10 = right) and the obedience measure, one dot per country; WVS and EVS fieldwork 2005-2023, ESS rounds 3 to 10

Country	Region	Correlation	Interval low	Interval high	Respondents	Measure
Albania	Europe & Central Asia	+0.06	+0.02	+0.11	2,253	WVS and EVS, full index
Algeria	Middle East & North Africa	+0.06	−0.02	+0.14	545	WVS and EVS, full index
Andorra	Europe & Central Asia	+0.20	+0.15	+0.24	1,824	WVS and EVS, full index
Argentina	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.15	+0.11	+0.20	2,346	WVS and EVS, full index
Armenia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	+0.01	+0.08	3,776	WVS and EVS, full index
Australia	East Asia & Pacific	+0.17	+0.13	+0.20	4,488	WVS and EVS, full index
Austria	Europe & Central Asia	+0.17	+0.13	+0.21	2,685	WVS and EVS, full index
Azerbaijan	Europe & Central Asia	+0.04	0.00	+0.09	2,174	WVS and EVS, full index
Bangladesh	South Asia	0.00	−0.06	+0.06	1,200	WVS and EVS, full index
Belarus	Europe & Central Asia	0.00	−0.03	+0.04	3,222	WVS and EVS, full index
Belgium	Europe & Central Asia	+0.07	+0.01	+0.12	1,422	WVS and EVS, full index
Bolivia	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.05	+0.01	+0.10	1,800	WVS and EVS, full index
Bosnia Herzegovina	Europe & Central Asia	+0.10	+0.06	+0.15	2,315	WVS and EVS, full index
Brazil	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.06	+0.03	+0.10	3,680	WVS and EVS, full index
Bulgaria	Europe & Central Asia	−0.06	−0.10	−0.02	2,665	WVS and EVS, full index
Burkina Faso	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	1,126	WVS and EVS, full index
Canada	North America	+0.25	+0.22	+0.28	5,642	WVS and EVS, full index
Chile	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.06	+0.01	+0.12	2,127	WVS and EVS, full index
Colombia	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.08	+0.06	+0.11	5,023	WVS and EVS, full index
Croatia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.16	+0.12	+0.21	2,196	WVS and EVS, full index
Cyprus	Europe & Central Asia	−0.01	−0.05	+0.03	2,894	WVS and EVS, full index
Czechia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.06	−0.09	−0.02	3,615	WVS and EVS, full index
Denmark	Europe & Central Asia	+0.09	+0.06	+0.13	4,688	WVS and EVS, full index
Ecuador	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.08	+0.04	+0.12	2,244	WVS and EVS, full index
Egypt	Middle East & North Africa	−0.14	−0.17	−0.10	4,245	WVS and EVS, full index
Estonia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.01	−0.05	+0.02	3,319	WVS and EVS, full index
Ethiopia	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.02	−0.02	+0.07	1,931	WVS and EVS, full index
Finland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.11	+0.07	+0.15	2,955	WVS and EVS, full index
France	Europe & Central Asia	+0.13	+0.10	+0.17	3,862	WVS and EVS, full index
Georgia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.01	−0.02	+0.05	4,248	WVS and EVS, full index
Germany	Europe & Central Asia	+0.12	+0.09	+0.14	8,805	WVS and EVS, full index
Ghana	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.04	−0.01	+0.08	2,334	WVS and EVS, full index
Greece	Europe & Central Asia	+0.18	+0.14	+0.22	2,201	WVS and EVS, full index
Guatemala	Latin America & Caribbean	−0.03	−0.10	+0.05	728	WVS and EVS, full index
Haiti	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.02	−0.03	+0.06	1,945	WVS and EVS, full index
Hong Kong SAR	East Asia & Pacific	+0.08	+0.04	+0.11	3,960	WVS and EVS, full index
Hungary	Europe & Central Asia	+0.07	+0.03	+0.10	3,444	WVS and EVS, full index
Iceland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.06	+0.01	+0.11	2,322	WVS and EVS, full index
India	South Asia	+0.01	−0.01	+0.04	5,826	WVS and EVS, full index
Indonesia	East Asia & Pacific	+0.01	−0.03	+0.04	4,093	WVS and EVS, full index
Iraq	Middle East & North Africa	+0.12	+0.05	+0.18	978	WVS and EVS, full index
Italy	Europe & Central Asia	+0.16	+0.13	+0.19	3,552	WVS and EVS, full index
Japan	East Asia & Pacific	+0.06	+0.03	+0.09	3,609	WVS and EVS, full index
Kazakhstan	Europe & Central Asia	+0.02	−0.03	+0.07	1,500	WVS and EVS, full index
Kenya	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.02	−0.04	+0.07	1,164	WVS and EVS, full index
Kosovo	Europe & Central Asia	−0.02	−0.10	+0.06	662	WVS and EVS, full index
Kyrgyzstan	Europe & Central Asia	+0.08	+0.03	+0.13	1,461	WVS and EVS, full index
Latvia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.01	−0.05	+0.04	1,985	WVS and EVS, full index
Lebanon	Middle East & North Africa	+0.04	−0.02	+0.11	837	WVS and EVS, full index
Libya	Middle East & North Africa	+0.01	−0.04	+0.06	2,606	WVS and EVS, full index
Lithuania	Europe & Central Asia	+0.07	+0.02	+0.11	1,831	WVS and EVS, full index
Luxembourg	Europe & Central Asia	+0.22	+0.16	+0.28	1,256	WVS and EVS, full index
Macau SAR	East Asia & Pacific	−0.01	−0.08	+0.05	997	WVS and EVS, full index
Malaysia	East Asia & Pacific	+0.02	−0.02	+0.06	2,613	WVS and EVS, full index
Maldives	South Asia	+0.04	−0.02	+0.10	1,022	WVS and EVS, full index
Mali	Sub-Saharan Africa	0.00	−0.06	+0.05	1,193	WVS and EVS, full index
Malta	Middle East & North Africa	+0.05	−0.03	+0.12	764	WVS and EVS, full index
Mexico	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.04	+0.01	+0.07	4,785	WVS and EVS, full index
Moldova	Europe & Central Asia	−0.07	−0.12	−0.02	1,610	WVS and EVS, full index
Mongolia	East Asia & Pacific	+0.04	−0.01	+0.09	1,613	WVS and EVS, full index
Montenegro	Europe & Central Asia	+0.03	−0.03	+0.10	1,211	WVS and EVS, full index
Morocco	Middle East & North Africa	+0.16	+0.12	+0.20	1,916	WVS and EVS, full index
Netherlands	Europe & Central Asia	+0.20	+0.18	+0.22	7,886	WVS and EVS, full index
New Zealand	East Asia & Pacific	+0.15	+0.10	+0.20	1,423	WVS and EVS, full index
Nicaragua	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.03	−0.04	+0.09	871	WVS and EVS, full index
Nigeria	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.02	−0.02	+0.06	2,929	WVS and EVS, full index
North Macedonia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	−0.03	+0.13	766	WVS and EVS, full index
Northern Ireland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.16	+0.06	+0.25	642	WVS and EVS, full index
Norway	Europe & Central Asia	+0.08	+0.04	+0.11	3,154	WVS and EVS, full index
Pakistan	South Asia	−0.04	−0.09	+0.02	1,200	WVS and EVS, full index
Palestine	Middle East & North Africa	−0.01	−0.09	+0.06	730	WVS and EVS, full index
Peru	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.02	−0.01	+0.06	3,345	WVS and EVS, full index
Philippines	East Asia & Pacific	+0.03	−0.02	+0.07	2,389	WVS and EVS, full index
Poland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.19	+0.16	+0.22	3,599	WVS and EVS, full index
Portugal	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	0.00	+0.11	1,942	WVS and EVS, full index
Puerto Rico	Latin America & Caribbean	0.00	−0.06	+0.06	1,049	WVS and EVS, full index
Romania	Europe & Central Asia	−0.02	−0.05	+0.01	4,539	WVS and EVS, full index
Russia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.01	−0.02	+0.05	4,611	WVS and EVS, full index
Rwanda	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.06	+0.03	+0.10	2,555	WVS and EVS, full index
Serbia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.03	−0.01	+0.07	3,739	WVS and EVS, full index
Singapore	East Asia & Pacific	+0.07	+0.02	+0.11	1,745	WVS and EVS, full index
Slovakia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.03	−0.01	+0.07	3,260	WVS and EVS, full index
Slovenia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.17	+0.13	+0.20	3,091	WVS and EVS, full index
South Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa	−0.02	−0.06	+0.01	5,594	WVS and EVS, full index
South Korea	East Asia & Pacific	+0.04	0.00	+0.08	3,640	WVS and EVS, full index
Spain	Europe & Central Asia	+0.20	+0.17	+0.23	4,298	WVS and EVS, full index
Sweden	Europe & Central Asia	+0.04	0.00	+0.07	4,254	WVS and EVS, full index
Switzerland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.15	+0.12	+0.17	5,134	WVS and EVS, full index
Taiwan ROC	Not classified	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	3,563	WVS and EVS, full index
Tajikistan	Europe & Central Asia	−0.03	−0.09	+0.02	1,200	WVS and EVS, full index
Thailand	East Asia & Pacific	+0.06	+0.02	+0.09	3,763	WVS and EVS, full index
Trinidad and Tobago	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.01	−0.05	+0.07	1,213	WVS and EVS, full index
Tunisia	Middle East & North Africa	−0.01	−0.06	+0.04	1,678	WVS and EVS, full index
Turkey	Europe & Central Asia	+0.16	+0.13	+0.19	4,467	WVS and EVS, full index
Ukraine	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	+0.01	+0.10	4,565	WVS and EVS, full index
United Kingdom	Europe & Central Asia	+0.13	+0.11	+0.16	6,150	WVS and EVS, full index
United States	North America	+0.28	+0.25	+0.31	5,900	WVS and EVS, full index
Uruguay	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.14	+0.10	+0.18	2,662	WVS and EVS, full index
Uzbekistan	Europe & Central Asia	+0.01	−0.07	+0.09	615	WVS and EVS, full index
Venezuela	Latin America & Caribbean	−0.06	−0.11	0.00	1,190	WVS and EVS, full index
Vietnam	East Asia & Pacific	+0.11	+0.06	+0.16	1,408	WVS and EVS, full index
Zambia	Sub-Saharan Africa	−0.07	−0.14	−0.01	959	WVS and EVS, full index
Zimbabwe	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.02	−0.03	+0.06	2,627	WVS and EVS, full index
Albania	Europe & Central Asia	0.00	−0.04	+0.05	2,253	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Algeria	Middle East & North Africa	+0.06	−0.02	+0.14	545	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Andorra	Europe & Central Asia	+0.16	+0.12	+0.21	1,824	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Argentina	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.15	+0.11	+0.20	2,346	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Armenia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	+0.01	+0.08	3,783	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Australia	East Asia & Pacific	+0.14	+0.11	+0.18	4,488	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Austria	Europe & Central Asia	+0.16	+0.12	+0.20	2,693	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Azerbaijan	Europe & Central Asia	+0.04	−0.01	+0.08	2,174	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Bangladesh	South Asia	+0.01	−0.05	+0.07	1,200	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Belarus	Europe & Central Asia	+0.01	−0.03	+0.04	3,223	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Belgium	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	0.00	+0.11	1,422	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Bolivia	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.05	0.00	+0.10	1,800	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Bosnia Herzegovina	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	0.00	+0.09	2,315	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Brazil	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.06	+0.03	+0.09	3,680	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Bulgaria	Europe & Central Asia	−0.07	−0.12	−0.03	2,689	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Burkina Faso	Sub-Saharan Africa	−0.02	−0.08	+0.04	1,126	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Canada	North America	+0.21	+0.18	+0.24	5,642	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Chile	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.04	−0.02	+0.09	2,127	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Colombia	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.07	+0.04	+0.09	5,023	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Croatia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.08	+0.03	+0.13	2,208	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Cyprus	Europe & Central Asia	−0.01	−0.05	+0.03	2,898	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Czechia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.06	−0.10	−0.03	3,663	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Denmark	Europe & Central Asia	+0.08	+0.04	+0.11	4,688	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Ecuador	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.07	+0.03	+0.11	2,244	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Egypt	Middle East & North Africa	−0.13	−0.16	−0.09	4,245	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Estonia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.01	−0.04	+0.03	3,322	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Ethiopia	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.04	0.00	+0.08	1,931	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Finland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.08	+0.04	+0.12	2,955	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
France	Europe & Central Asia	+0.13	+0.09	+0.16	3,862	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Georgia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.02	−0.01	+0.05	4,250	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Germany	Europe & Central Asia	+0.11	+0.09	+0.14	8,805	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Ghana	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.01	−0.04	+0.06	2,334	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Greece	Europe & Central Asia	+0.09	+0.05	+0.13	2,201	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Guatemala	Latin America & Caribbean	−0.03	−0.10	+0.04	759	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Haiti	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.01	−0.03	+0.06	1,945	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Hong Kong SAR	East Asia & Pacific	+0.09	+0.05	+0.12	3,960	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Hungary	Europe & Central Asia	+0.02	−0.01	+0.06	3,446	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Iceland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.04	0.00	+0.09	2,323	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
India	South Asia	−0.01	−0.03	+0.02	5,826	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Indonesia	East Asia & Pacific	+0.01	−0.03	+0.04	4,093	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Iraq	Middle East & North Africa	+0.02	−0.05	+0.08	978	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Italy	Europe & Central Asia	+0.14	+0.11	+0.17	3,554	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Japan	East Asia & Pacific	+0.05	+0.02	+0.09	3,609	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Kazakhstan	Europe & Central Asia	+0.01	−0.04	+0.06	1,500	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Kenya	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	1,164	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Kosovo	Europe & Central Asia	+0.04	−0.04	+0.11	662	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Kyrgyzstan	Europe & Central Asia	+0.08	+0.02	+0.13	1,461	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Latvia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.01	−0.05	+0.04	2,014	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Lebanon	Middle East & North Africa	0.00	−0.07	+0.07	837	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Libya	Middle East & North Africa	+0.01	−0.04	+0.06	2,606	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Lithuania	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	0.00	+0.10	1,834	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Luxembourg	Europe & Central Asia	+0.18	+0.12	+0.23	1,259	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Macau SAR	East Asia & Pacific	0.00	−0.07	+0.06	997	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Malaysia	East Asia & Pacific	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	2,613	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Maldives	South Asia	+0.06	−0.01	+0.12	1,022	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Mali	Sub-Saharan Africa	0.00	−0.06	+0.06	1,193	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Malta	Middle East & North Africa	+0.04	−0.04	+0.11	766	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Mexico	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.03	+0.01	+0.06	4,786	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Moldova	Europe & Central Asia	−0.07	−0.11	−0.02	1,616	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Mongolia	East Asia & Pacific	0.00	−0.05	+0.05	1,613	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Montenegro	Europe & Central Asia	−0.03	−0.09	+0.03	1,212	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Morocco	Middle East & North Africa	+0.11	+0.07	+0.16	1,916	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Netherlands	Europe & Central Asia	+0.18	+0.16	+0.20	7,889	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
New Zealand	East Asia & Pacific	+0.14	+0.09	+0.19	1,423	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Nicaragua	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.01	−0.06	+0.07	871	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Nigeria	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.01	−0.03	+0.05	2,929	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
North Macedonia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	−0.03	+0.13	804	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Northern Ireland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.12	+0.02	+0.21	650	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Norway	Europe & Central Asia	+0.06	+0.02	+0.09	3,154	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Pakistan	South Asia	−0.05	−0.11	+0.01	1,200	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Palestine	Middle East & North Africa	−0.03	−0.10	+0.05	730	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Peru	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.02	−0.01	+0.06	3,345	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Philippines	East Asia & Pacific	+0.01	−0.03	+0.06	2,389	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Poland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.10	+0.06	+0.13	3,604	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Portugal	Europe & Central Asia	+0.01	−0.04	+0.07	1,944	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Puerto Rico	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.02	−0.04	+0.08	1,049	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Romania	Europe & Central Asia	−0.02	−0.05	+0.01	4,544	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Russia	Europe & Central Asia	0.00	−0.04	+0.03	4,620	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Rwanda	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.04	0.00	+0.08	2,555	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Serbia	Europe & Central Asia	0.00	−0.03	+0.04	3,743	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Singapore	East Asia & Pacific	+0.03	−0.02	+0.08	1,745	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Slovakia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.03	−0.01	+0.07	3,270	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Slovenia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.09	+0.06	+0.13	3,093	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
South Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa	−0.01	−0.05	+0.02	5,594	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
South Korea	East Asia & Pacific	+0.03	−0.01	+0.07	3,640	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Spain	Europe & Central Asia	+0.14	+0.11	+0.17	4,304	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Sweden	Europe & Central Asia	+0.04	0.00	+0.07	4,254	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Switzerland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.15	+0.13	+0.18	5,134	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Taiwan ROC	Not classified	−0.01	−0.04	+0.03	3,563	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Tajikistan	Europe & Central Asia	−0.04	−0.10	+0.01	1,200	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Thailand	East Asia & Pacific	+0.05	+0.02	+0.08	3,763	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Trinidad and Tobago	Latin America & Caribbean	0.00	−0.05	+0.06	1,213	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Tunisia	Middle East & North Africa	−0.07	−0.12	−0.02	1,680	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Turkey	Europe & Central Asia	+0.07	+0.04	+0.10	4,505	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Ukraine	Europe & Central Asia	+0.01	−0.03	+0.05	4,577	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
United Kingdom	Europe & Central Asia	+0.13	+0.10	+0.16	6,155	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
United States	North America	+0.22	+0.19	+0.25	5,900	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Uruguay	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.12	+0.08	+0.16	2,662	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Uzbekistan	Europe & Central Asia	+0.01	−0.07	+0.09	615	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Venezuela	Latin America & Caribbean	+0.01	−0.04	+0.07	1,190	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Vietnam	East Asia & Pacific	+0.12	+0.06	+0.17	1,408	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Zambia	Sub-Saharan Africa	−0.04	−0.11	+0.02	959	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Zimbabwe	Sub-Saharan Africa	+0.03	−0.01	+0.08	2,627	WVS and EVS, without the religious-faith item
Albania	Europe & Central Asia	0.00	−0.08	+0.09	1,041	ESS, conservation values
Austria	Europe & Central Asia	+0.22	+0.19	+0.24	7,715	ESS, conservation values
Belgium	Europe & Central Asia	+0.08	+0.06	+0.09	13,202	ESS, conservation values
Bulgaria	Europe & Central Asia	−0.23	−0.25	−0.21	9,818	ESS, conservation values
Croatia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.15	+0.12	+0.18	5,353	ESS, conservation values
Cyprus	Europe & Central Asia	−0.02	−0.06	+0.02	4,044	ESS, conservation values
Czechia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.23	−0.25	−0.21	13,804	ESS, conservation values
Denmark	Europe & Central Asia	+0.12	+0.09	+0.14	8,952	ESS, conservation values
Estonia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.06	−0.08	−0.05	12,434	ESS, conservation values
Finland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.10	+0.08	+0.12	14,133	ESS, conservation values
France	Europe & Central Asia	+0.20	+0.19	+0.22	14,593	ESS, conservation values
Germany	Europe & Central Asia	+0.16	+0.15	+0.18	18,649	ESS, conservation values
Greece	Europe & Central Asia	+0.10	+0.07	+0.13	6,131	ESS, conservation values
Hungary	Europe & Central Asia	−0.01	−0.04	+0.01	10,753	ESS, conservation values
Iceland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.10	+0.07	+0.14	3,146	ESS, conservation values
Ireland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.15	+0.13	+0.17	15,004	ESS, conservation values
Israel	Middle East & North Africa	+0.09	+0.07	+0.11	10,886	ESS, conservation values
Italy	Europe & Central Asia	+0.06	+0.03	+0.09	6,404	ESS, conservation values
Kosovo	Europe & Central Asia	+0.10	0.00	+0.19	809	ESS, conservation values
Latvia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.02	−0.07	+0.03	2,290	ESS, conservation values
Lithuania	Europe & Central Asia	+0.01	−0.01	+0.04	8,096	ESS, conservation values
Montenegro	Europe & Central Asia	+0.03	−0.04	+0.10	1,613	ESS, conservation values
Netherlands	Europe & Central Asia	+0.14	+0.12	+0.16	13,145	ESS, conservation values
North Macedonia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.02	−0.12	+0.08	879	ESS, conservation values
Norway	Europe & Central Asia	+0.08	+0.05	+0.10	11,607	ESS, conservation values
Poland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.13	+0.11	+0.15	9,787	ESS, conservation values
Portugal	Europe & Central Asia	+0.07	+0.04	+0.09	10,831	ESS, conservation values
Romania	Europe & Central Asia	−0.06	−0.12	0.00	1,464	ESS, conservation values
Russia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.04	−0.07	−0.02	7,993	ESS, conservation values
Serbia	Europe & Central Asia	0.00	−0.06	+0.07	1,274	ESS, conservation values
Slovakia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.19	−0.21	−0.16	8,503	ESS, conservation values
Slovenia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.14	+0.12	+0.16	8,061	ESS, conservation values
Spain	Europe & Central Asia	+0.20	+0.19	+0.22	11,913	ESS, conservation values
Sweden	Europe & Central Asia	+0.04	+0.02	+0.06	10,896	ESS, conservation values
Switzerland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.22	+0.20	+0.24	11,856	ESS, conservation values
Turkey	Europe & Central Asia	+0.13	+0.08	+0.18	1,885	ESS, conservation values
Ukraine	Europe & Central Asia	−0.05	−0.09	−0.01	4,541	ESS, conservation values
United Kingdom	Europe & Central Asia	+0.17	+0.15	+0.19	14,926	ESS, conservation values
Albania	Europe & Central Asia	+0.04	−0.04	+0.13	1,035	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Austria	Europe & Central Asia	+0.18	+0.15	+0.21	5,705	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Belgium	Europe & Central Asia	+0.08	+0.05	+0.10	9,741	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Bulgaria	Europe & Central Asia	−0.09	−0.12	−0.06	7,237	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Switzerland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.18	+0.16	+0.20	8,462	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Cyprus	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	0.00	+0.10	2,137	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Czechia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.14	−0.16	−0.12	11,912	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Germany	Europe & Central Asia	+0.14	+0.12	+0.16	13,439	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Denmark	Europe & Central Asia	+0.06	+0.03	+0.09	5,987	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Estonia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.04	−0.06	−0.02	10,008	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Spain	Europe & Central Asia	+0.18	+0.16	+0.21	8,217	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Finland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.08	+0.06	+0.10	10,694	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
France	Europe & Central Asia	+0.17	+0.15	+0.19	10,749	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
United Kingdom	Europe & Central Asia	+0.15	+0.12	+0.17	10,388	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Greece	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	+0.01	+0.08	4,368	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Croatia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.14	+0.11	+0.18	4,179	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Hungary	Europe & Central Asia	+0.04	+0.01	+0.06	8,354	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Ireland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.10	+0.08	+0.12	11,842	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Israel	Middle East & North Africa	+0.10	+0.08	+0.13	8,536	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Iceland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.09	+0.06	+0.13	3,130	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Italy	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	+0.02	+0.08	6,305	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Lithuania	Europe & Central Asia	+0.03	0.00	+0.05	8,031	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Latvia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.12	−0.21	−0.02	638	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Montenegro	Europe & Central Asia	+0.05	−0.02	+0.12	1,580	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
North Macedonia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.03	−0.13	+0.06	867	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Netherlands	Europe & Central Asia	+0.13	+0.11	+0.15	9,653	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Norway	Europe & Central Asia	+0.07	+0.04	+0.09	8,655	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Poland	Europe & Central Asia	+0.14	+0.11	+0.16	7,022	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Portugal	Europe & Central Asia	+0.07	+0.04	+0.10	7,603	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Serbia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.07	0.00	+0.14	1,265	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Russia	Europe & Central Asia	0.00	−0.04	+0.04	5,059	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Sweden	Europe & Central Asia	+0.03	0.00	+0.05	7,774	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Slovenia	Europe & Central Asia	+0.15	+0.12	+0.17	5,947	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Slovakia	Europe & Central Asia	−0.12	−0.15	−0.08	5,338	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Ukraine	Europe & Central Asia	−0.03	−0.08	+0.02	2,309	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education
Kosovo	Europe & Central Asia	+0.11	+0.01	+0.20	809	ESS, conservation values net of age, sex and education

Views: WVS and EVS, full index (index = chapter); WVS and EVS, without faith (index = no_faith); ESS, conservation values (index = ess); ESS, net of age, sex and education (index = ess_adj).

Note: The chart does not draw each country's interval; it colors the dot by where the 95% interval falls against zero, and the intervals and respondent counts are in the data table.

Note: Intervals are model based (Fisher z on the Kish effective sample size) and ignore clustering in the sample design.

Note: Ten EVS countries have a blank country label in the cleaned file and are restored from the country code; Ireland and Northern Cyprus fall below the effective-sample floor in the WVS and EVS.

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023; weighted (weight, S017, within each country); countries with an effective sample of 300 or more; ESS views: European Social Survey, rounds 3 to 10 (2006-2022); weighted (analysis weight)

Data: vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/country_loadings.json

Table 4. Religious faith alone gives a median correlation of +0.04, the same as the full index (+0.04), and independence or tolerance alone give +0.02 and +0.02

Median across countries of the correlation of left-right with each definition of the measure, with 95% bootstrap intervals over countries; WVS and EVS fieldwork 2005-2023

Measure	Definition	Median correlation	Interval low	Interval high	Countries	Interval above zero	Interval includes zero	Interval below zero	Correlation across countries with the full index
Full index (obedience and faith vs independence and tolerance)	Full index: obedience and faith minus independence and tolerance	+0.04	+0.03	+0.06	103	49	49	5	1.00
Full index, imagination for tolerance	Imagination version: obedience and faith minus independence and imagination	+0.04	+0.03	+0.07	103	52	44	7	0.95
No faith item	Without faith: obedience minus independence and tolerance	+0.03	+0.01	+0.05	103	41	57	5	0.93
No faith, imagination added	Without faith: obedience minus independence, tolerance and imagination	+0.03	+0.02	+0.06	103	43	53	7	0.91
Obedience minus independence	Without faith: obedience minus independence	+0.03	+0.02	+0.04	103	37	59	7	0.87
Obedience only	Obedience alone	+0.03	+0.02	+0.04	104	37	64	3	0.65
Faith only	Religious faith alone	+0.04	+0.03	+0.06	104	52	48	4	0.80
Independence only (reversed)	Independence alone, reversed	+0.02	+0.01	+0.03	104	31	63	10	0.76
Tolerance only (reversed)	Tolerance and respect alone, reversed	+0.02	+0.01	+0.03	104	32	66	6	0.59
Imagination only (reversed)	Imagination alone, reversed	+0.02	+0.01	+0.04	104	41	52	11	0.66
Full index, net of age, sex, education	Full index net of age, sex and education	+0.05	+0.03	+0.06	103	49	51	3	0.99

Note: Each country counts once, and the intervals come from resampling countries. The item reversed in a row name is scored so that higher means the obedience pole.

Note: Imagination is one of the ten child qualities in the cleaned file and is not in the main index; two rows use it, one in place of tolerance and one added to the autonomy items.

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023; weighted (weight, S017, within each country); countries with an effective sample of 300 or more

Data: vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/index_variants.json

Table 5. The two surveys rank countries alike, with a correlation of +0.81 across 36 countries

Correlation of left-right with the WVS and EVS obedience index (horizontal) and with the ESS conservation values (vertical), countries in both surveys

Country	WVS and EVS correlation	WVS interval low	WVS interval high	ESS correlation	ESS interval low	ESS interval high	WVS respondents	ESS respondents	Smaller of the two counts
Albania	+0.06	+0.02	+0.11	0.00	−0.08	+0.09	2,253	1,041	1,041
Austria	+0.17	+0.13	+0.21	+0.22	+0.19	+0.24	2,685	7,715	2,685
Belgium	+0.07	+0.01	+0.12	+0.08	+0.06	+0.09	1,422	13,202	1,422
Bulgaria	−0.06	−0.10	−0.02	−0.23	−0.25	−0.21	2,665	9,818	2,665
Croatia	+0.16	+0.12	+0.21	+0.15	+0.12	+0.18	2,196	5,353	2,196
Cyprus	−0.01	−0.05	+0.03	−0.02	−0.06	+0.02	2,894	4,044	2,894
Czechia	−0.06	−0.09	−0.02	−0.23	−0.25	−0.21	3,615	13,804	3,615
Denmark	+0.09	+0.06	+0.13	+0.12	+0.09	+0.14	4,688	8,952	4,688
Estonia	−0.01	−0.05	+0.02	−0.06	−0.08	−0.05	3,319	12,434	3,319
Finland	+0.11	+0.07	+0.15	+0.10	+0.08	+0.12	2,955	14,133	2,955
France	+0.13	+0.10	+0.17	+0.20	+0.19	+0.22	3,862	14,593	3,862
Germany	+0.12	+0.09	+0.14	+0.16	+0.15	+0.18	8,805	18,649	8,805
Greece	+0.18	+0.14	+0.22	+0.10	+0.07	+0.13	2,201	6,131	2,201
Hungary	+0.07	+0.03	+0.10	−0.01	−0.04	+0.01	3,444	10,753	3,444
Iceland	+0.06	+0.01	+0.11	+0.10	+0.07	+0.14	2,322	3,146	2,322
Italy	+0.16	+0.13	+0.19	+0.06	+0.03	+0.09	3,552	6,404	3,552
Kosovo	−0.02	−0.10	+0.06	+0.10	0.00	+0.19	662	809	662
Latvia	−0.01	−0.05	+0.04	−0.02	−0.07	+0.03	1,985	2,290	1,985
Lithuania	+0.07	+0.02	+0.11	+0.01	−0.01	+0.04	1,831	8,096	1,831
Montenegro	+0.03	−0.03	+0.10	+0.03	−0.04	+0.10	1,211	1,613	1,211
Netherlands	+0.20	+0.18	+0.22	+0.14	+0.12	+0.16	7,886	13,145	7,886
North Macedonia	+0.05	−0.03	+0.13	−0.02	−0.12	+0.08	766	879	766
Norway	+0.08	+0.04	+0.11	+0.08	+0.05	+0.10	3,154	11,607	3,154
Poland	+0.19	+0.16	+0.22	+0.13	+0.11	+0.15	3,599	9,787	3,599
Portugal	+0.05	0.00	+0.11	+0.07	+0.04	+0.09	1,942	10,831	1,942
Romania	−0.02	−0.05	+0.01	−0.06	−0.12	0.00	4,539	1,464	1,464
Russia	+0.01	−0.02	+0.05	−0.04	−0.07	−0.02	4,611	7,993	4,611
Serbia	+0.03	−0.01	+0.07	0.00	−0.06	+0.07	3,739	1,274	1,274
Slovakia	+0.03	−0.01	+0.07	−0.19	−0.21	−0.16	3,260	8,503	3,260
Slovenia	+0.17	+0.13	+0.20	+0.14	+0.12	+0.16	3,091	8,061	3,091
Spain	+0.20	+0.17	+0.23	+0.20	+0.19	+0.22	4,298	11,913	4,298
Sweden	+0.04	0.00	+0.07	+0.04	+0.02	+0.06	4,254	10,896	4,254
Switzerland	+0.15	+0.12	+0.17	+0.22	+0.20	+0.24	5,134	11,856	5,134
Turkey	+0.16	+0.13	+0.19	+0.13	+0.08	+0.18	4,467	1,885	1,885
Ukraine	+0.05	+0.01	+0.10	−0.05	−0.09	−0.01	4,565	4,541	4,541
United Kingdom	+0.13	+0.11	+0.16	+0.17	+0.15	+0.19	6,150	14,926	6,150

Note: Northern Ireland is left out because the ESS reports it within the United Kingdom. The tooltip gives the smaller of the two respondent counts for a country.

Note: The chart does not draw the interval on each country's correlation; both intervals are in the data table under the chart.

Note: Intervals are model based (Fisher z on the Kish effective sample size) and ignore clustering in the sample design.

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023, and European Social Survey, rounds 3 to 10 (2006-2022); weighted (weight within each survey); countries with an effective sample of 300 or more in both

Data: vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/wvs_ess_agreement.json

Table 6. The two surveys agree as closely on age and religiosity as on obedience, so agreement is not specific to the measure

Correlation across countries between the WVS and EVS and the ESS correlations of left-right with each predictor; 95% Fisher z intervals

Predictor	Definition	Correlation between surveys	Interval low	Interval high	Countries	Spread of WVS correlations (standard deviation)
Obedience measure	WVS and EVS full index against ESS conservation values	0.81	0.66	0.90	36	0.08
Religiosity	Importance of God in the WVS and EVS against attendance and prayer in the ESS	0.87	0.76	0.93	36	0.10
Education	Three levels	0.70	0.47	0.84	34	0.08
Age	Years	0.90	0.82	0.95	36	0.10
Sex (female)	Female against male	0.72	0.52	0.85	36	0.05

Note: Every row uses the countries paired in the obedience comparison, and a country enters a row only if its effective sample is 300 or more for that predictor in both surveys, so the number of countries differs by row.

Note: Intervals are model based (Fisher z on the Kish effective sample size) and ignore clustering in the sample design.

Data: vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/agreement_reference.json

Table 7. The correlation with party rose among white and Hispanic and other respondents and stayed near zero among Black respondents

Correlation of the child-rearing measure with party identification among ANES respondents, by race and study year, with 95% bands; the other views add liberal-conservative self-placement and the GSS

Study year	Series	Respondents	Mode	Correlation	Interval low	Interval high	Respondents in cell
1992	ANES party	All respondents	All modes	−0.04	−0.09	0.00	2,023
1992	ANES party	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.04	−0.01	+0.09	1,551
1992	ANES party	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.02	−0.11	+0.14	261
1992	ANES party	Hispanic and other	All modes	−0.12	−0.25	+0.02	206
1992	ANES party	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.06	+0.02	+0.11	1,971
1992	ANES ideology	All respondents	All modes	+0.22	+0.17	+0.26	1,498
1992	ANES ideology	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.28	+0.23	+0.33	1,217
1992	ANES ideology	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.07	−0.09	+0.23	147
1992	ANES ideology	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.14	−0.03	+0.30	131
1992	ANES ideology	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.24	+0.19	+0.29	1,457
2000	ANES party	All respondents	All modes	0.00	−0.05	+0.06	1,527
2000	ANES party	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.08	+0.02	+0.14	1,184
2000	ANES party	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	−0.03	−0.21	+0.15	151
2000	ANES party	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.02	−0.15	+0.18	183
2000	ANES party	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.08	+0.02	+0.14	1,510
2000	ANES ideology	All respondents	All modes	+0.24	+0.15	+0.32	575
2000	ANES ideology	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.24	+0.15	+0.34	470
2000	ANES ideology	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.23	+0.15	+0.32	568
2004	ANES party	All respondents	All modes	+0.05	−0.01	+0.12	1,041
2004	ANES party	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.17	+0.09	+0.25	741
2004	ANES party	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	0.00	−0.18	+0.18	152
2004	ANES party	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.09	−0.10	+0.28	132
2004	ANES party	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.14	+0.07	+0.21	1,025
2004	ANES ideology	All respondents	All modes	+0.26	+0.19	+0.33	817
2004	ANES ideology	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.32	+0.24	+0.39	614
2004	ANES ideology	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.25	+0.18	+0.32	810
2008	ANES party	All respondents	All modes	+0.05	0.00	+0.11	2,050
2008	ANES party	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.16	+0.09	+0.23	1,022
2008	ANES party	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	0.00	−0.10	+0.10	484
2008	ANES party	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.08	−0.03	+0.19	524
2008	ANES party	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.05	0.00	+0.11	2,050
2008	ANES party	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.14	+0.09	+0.20	1,994
2008	ANES ideology	All respondents	All modes	+0.27	+0.21	+0.33	1,473
2008	ANES ideology	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.32	+0.25	+0.38	815
2008	ANES ideology	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.21	+0.08	+0.33	266
2008	ANES ideology	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.27	+0.14	+0.40	378
2008	ANES ideology	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.27	+0.21	+0.33	1,473
2008	ANES ideology	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.28	+0.22	+0.34	1,433
2012	ANES party	All respondents	All modes	+0.08	+0.05	+0.12	5,453
2012	ANES party	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.21	+0.17	+0.25	3,255
2012	ANES party	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	−0.11	−0.21	−0.01	949
2012	ANES party	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.06	−0.02	+0.15	1,233
2012	ANES party	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.05	−0.02	+0.11	1,888
2012	ANES party	All respondents	Web	+0.10	+0.06	+0.14	3,565
2012	ANES party	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.16	+0.13	+0.20	5,329
2012	ANES ideology	All respondents	All modes	+0.23	+0.20	+0.27	4,912
2012	ANES ideology	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.31	+0.27	+0.35	3,100
2012	ANES ideology	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.12	+0.01	+0.23	752
2012	ANES ideology	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.17	+0.08	+0.26	1,047
2012	ANES ideology	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.20	+0.13	+0.27	1,365
2012	ANES ideology	All respondents	Web	+0.24	+0.20	+0.29	3,547
2012	ANES ideology	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.25	+0.21	+0.28	4,805
2016	ANES party	All respondents	All modes	+0.14	+0.10	+0.18	3,600
2016	ANES party	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.29	+0.25	+0.33	2,601
2016	ANES party	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.02	−0.11	+0.15	338
2016	ANES party	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.03	−0.07	+0.12	643
2016	ANES party	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.11	+0.04	+0.18	1,038
2016	ANES party	All respondents	Web	+0.15	+0.11	+0.20	2,562
2016	ANES party	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.20	+0.16	+0.24	3,482
2016	ANES ideology	All respondents	All modes	+0.35	+0.32	+0.39	2,856
2016	ANES ideology	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.42	+0.38	+0.46	2,175
2016	ANES ideology	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.22	+0.05	+0.38	200
2016	ANES ideology	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.26	+0.16	+0.36	467
2016	ANES ideology	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.32	+0.24	+0.39	821
2016	ANES ideology	All respondents	Web	+0.37	+0.32	+0.41	2,035
2016	ANES ideology	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.34	+0.30	+0.38	2,760
2020	ANES party	All respondents	All modes	+0.21	+0.18	+0.24	7,314
2020	ANES party	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.40	+0.37	+0.43	5,332
2020	ANES party	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	−0.03	−0.14	+0.08	638
2020	ANES party	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.12	+0.05	+0.20	1,280
2020	ANES party	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.25	+0.22	+0.28	6,929
2020	ANES ideology	All respondents	All modes	+0.39	+0.36	+0.41	6,288
2020	ANES ideology	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.47	+0.44	+0.50	4,764
2020	ANES ideology	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.16	+0.03	+0.28	425
2020	ANES ideology	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.34	+0.26	+0.41	1,049
2020	ANES ideology	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.37	+0.34	+0.40	5,966
2024	ANES party	All respondents	All modes	+0.28	+0.24	+0.32	4,668
2024	ANES party	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.43	+0.38	+0.47	3,379
2024	ANES party	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.05	−0.08	+0.18	418
2024	ANES party	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.26	+0.17	+0.35	833
2024	ANES party	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.29	+0.21	+0.38	905
2024	ANES party	All respondents	Web	+0.26	+0.20	+0.32	1,736
2024	ANES party	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.31	+0.27	+0.35	4,429
2024	ANES ideology	All respondents	All modes	+0.43	+0.39	+0.46	4,085
2024	ANES ideology	White non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.51	+0.47	+0.54	3,067
2024	ANES ideology	Black non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.25	+0.09	+0.39	290
2024	ANES ideology	Hispanic and other	All modes	+0.41	+0.32	+0.49	694
2024	ANES ideology	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.45	+0.37	+0.53	784
2024	ANES ideology	All respondents	Web	+0.44	+0.38	+0.49	1,473
2024	ANES ideology	Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic	All modes	+0.41	+0.37	+0.45	3,866
1986	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	−0.03	−0.11	+0.06	728
1987	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	−0.05	−0.11	+0.01	1,776
1988	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.03	−0.04	+0.10	975
1989	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	−0.04	−0.11	+0.03	985
1990	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	−0.02	−0.10	+0.06	861
1991	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.03	−0.04	+0.10	970
1993	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.04	−0.03	+0.11	1,016
1994	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.02	−0.04	+0.07	1,914
1996	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.04	−0.01	+0.09	1,856
1998	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	0.00	−0.05	+0.05	1,830
2000	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.02	−0.03	+0.07	1,817
2002	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.02	−0.06	+0.09	876
2004	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	−0.03	−0.11	+0.05	856
2004	GSS party	All respondents	Face-to-face	0.00	−0.09	+0.09	692
2006	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.06	−0.02	+0.14	980
2006	GSS party	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.07	−0.01	+0.15	918
2008	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.08	+0.01	+0.14	1,319
2008	GSS party	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.08	+0.01	+0.15	1,169
2010	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	−0.03	−0.10	+0.04	1,312
2010	GSS party	All respondents	Face-to-face	−0.04	−0.11	+0.03	1,170
2012	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.07	0.00	+0.13	1,274
2012	GSS party	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.06	−0.01	+0.14	1,109
2014	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.04	−0.02	+0.09	1,620
2014	GSS party	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.03	−0.03	+0.10	1,391
2016	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.11	+0.05	+0.16	1,860
2016	GSS party	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.12	+0.06	+0.18	1,735
2018	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.10	+0.03	+0.16	1,470
2018	GSS party	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.08	+0.02	+0.15	1,320
2021	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.12	+0.07	+0.16	2,479
2021	GSS party	All respondents	Web	+0.12	+0.07	+0.17	2,171
2022	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.12	+0.05	+0.18	2,209
2022	GSS party	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.11	+0.01	+0.20	962
2022	GSS party	All respondents	Web	+0.13	+0.03	+0.22	1,042
2024	GSS party	All respondents	All modes	+0.13	+0.07	+0.19	2,045
2024	GSS party	All respondents	Face-to-face	+0.12	+0.01	+0.22	691
2024	GSS party	All respondents	Web	+0.18	+0.10	+0.26	1,135

Views: By race (view_group = race); Party, ideology and GSS (mode = All modes, sample = All respondents); Net of college, age and race (mode = All modes, sample = Net of college, age and white non-Hispanic); Face-to-face only (mode = Face-to-face); Web only (mode = Web).

Note: Party identification runs from strong Democrat to strong Republican with leaners included, and higher values are more Republican. The GSS drops respondents who name another party.

Note: The ANES Cumulative File has none of the four child-rearing items in 1996, so the ANES lines run from 1992 to 2000. ANES 2020 and part of 2024 are mixed-mode and have no face-to-face or web weight for some respondents; the mode views show what mode weights allow.

Note: Intervals are model based (Fisher z on the Kish effective sample size) and ignore clustering in the sample design.

Source: ANES Cumulative Data File, presidential-year studies 1992-2024; weighted (weight, VCF0009z; mode-specific weights in the mode views); General Social Survey, 1986-2024; weighted (weight_use)

Data: vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/us_party_trend.json

Table 8. Every attitude is more common on the obedience side of the index, and the gap is largest for moral conservatism

Share holding each attitude among respondents on the autonomy side and the obedience side of the index, average of country shares (each country counted once); 95% bootstrap intervals; WVS and EVS fieldwork 2005-2023

Attitude	Definition	Autonomy side, percent	Autonomy interval low	Autonomy interval high	Obedience side, percent	Obedience interval low	Obedience interval high	Gap, points	Countries
Socially conservative (homosexuality, abortion, divorce)	Mean of 4 or lower on the 1 to 10 justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce	57.1	51.9	62.0	70.9	67.6	74.2	13.8	97
Does not want homosexuals as neighbors	Names homosexuals as people they would not want as neighbors	46.4	41.1	51.5	54.1	49.5	58.7	7.7	100
Does not want immigrants as neighbors	Names immigrants or foreign workers as people they would not want as neighbors	22.7	20.1	25.3	25.5	22.9	28.4	2.8	102
Does not want people of another race as neighbors	Names people of a different race as people they would not want as neighbors	17.9	15.5	20.4	20.8	18.5	23.3	2.9	102
Strong leader bypassing parliament is good	Says a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections is a good or very good way to run the country	45.0	41.0	48.8	49.2	45.6	52.7	4.2	99
Army rule is good	Says army rule is a good or very good way to run the country	25.3	22.0	28.8	29.5	26.4	32.9	4.3	99

Note: Respondents with an index score of exactly zero are left out. Each row uses its own panel of countries (97 to 102 countries by row); each country's share is computed first and the countries are then averaged with equal weight.

Note: Percent of respondents; the gap is the share on the obedience side minus the share on the autonomy side.

Source: World Values Survey and European Values Study, fieldwork 2005-2023; weighted (weight, S017, within each country); countries with an effective sample of 100 or more on both sides of the index in each row

Data: vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/outcome_gaps.json

Table 9. Dropping the faith item shrinks the gaps for moral conservatism and for homosexuals as neighbors, and leaves the gaps for immigrants, race, army rule and a strong leader no smaller

Gap between the obedience side and the autonomy side of the index in the share holding each attitude, with and without the religious-faith item, on the countries that qualify under both; 95% bootstrap intervals; WVS and EVS fieldwork 2005-2023

Attitude	Definition	Gap without the faith item, points	Interval low	Interval high	Gap with the faith item, points	Interval low	Interval high	Difference, with minus without, points	Difference interval low	Difference interval high	Countries
Socially conservative (homosexuality, abortion, divorce)	Mean of 4 or lower on the 1 to 10 justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce	7.2	4.8	9.9	12.0	9.1	15.1	+4.7	+3.7	+5.8	74
Does not want homosexuals as neighbors	Names homosexuals as people they would not want as neighbors	5.0	3.3	6.6	6.9	5.1	8.7	+1.9	+1.1	+2.6	77
Army rule is good	Says army rule is a good or very good way to run the country	3.7	2.1	5.3	3.9	2.5	5.3	+0.2	−0.7	+1.0	73
Does not want people of another race as neighbors	Names people of a different race as people they would not want as neighbors	2.3	1.1	3.5	2.5	1.3	3.6	+0.1	−0.5	+0.8	80
Does not want immigrants as neighbors	Names immigrants or foreign workers as people they would not want as neighbors	2.3	1.1	3.7	2.2	1.1	3.3	−0.2	−1.0	+0.6	80
Strong leader bypassing parliament is good	Says a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections is a good or very good way to run the country	4.2	1.8	6.7	3.1	0.8	5.4	−1.2	−2.1	−0.2	73

Note: Every row uses the countries that qualify under both indices (73 to 80 countries by row), because the index without the faith item leaves fewer respondents on its obedience side, so fewer countries reach an effective sample of 100 there.

Note: Respondents with an index score of exactly zero are left out. The interval on the difference redraws the same countries for both gaps and is in the data table.

Data: vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/outcome_gaps_faith.json

All estimates

Every fact in facts.json (154), sorted by id. The same values as JSON: facts.json.

Fact id	Value	Unit	Estimand	Population	Period	Interval	n	Weights	Source	Note
above_faith	52	countries and territories	count of countries where the 95% interval of the correlation with the religious faith alone is above zero	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
above_no_faith	41	countries and territories	count of countries where the 95% interval of the correlation with the without faith: obedience minus independence and tolerance is above zero	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
ad_wvs	+0.20	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in Andorra with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2005, 2018, waves pooled	95% CI 0.15 to 0.24	1,824	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
age_bg_ess	−0.24	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with age in years (ESS)	respondents in Bulgaria with a left-right answer	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI −0.27 to −0.22	9,869	analysis weight within the country	European Social Survey
age_bg_wvs	−0.22	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with age in years (WVS/EVS)	respondents in Bulgaria with a left-right answer	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI −0.26 to −0.18	2,809	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
age_cz_ess	−0.23	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with age in years (ESS)	respondents in Czechia with a left-right answer	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI −0.25 to −0.22	14,107	analysis weight within the country	European Social Survey
age_cz_wvs	−0.17	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with age in years (WVS/EVS)	respondents in Czechia with a left-right answer	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI −0.20 to −0.14	3,990	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
age_de_ess	+0.11	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with age in years (ESS)	respondents in Germany with a left-right answer	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI 0.09 to 0.12	26,424	analysis weight within the country	European Social Survey
age_de_wvs	+0.09	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with age in years (WVS/EVS)	respondents in Germany with a left-right answer	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.07 to 0.12	8,805	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
age_es_ess	+0.08	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with age in years (ESS)	respondents in Spain with a left-right answer	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI 0.06 to 0.09	14,089	analysis weight within the country	European Social Survey
age_es_wvs	+0.14	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with age in years (WVS/EVS)	respondents in Spain with a left-right answer	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.12 to 0.17	4,322	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
agree_k	36	countries	count of countries in both surveys	countries with usable correlations in both surveys	WVS/EVS fieldwork 2005-2023 and ESS rounds 3 to 10			none (count)	European Social Survey
agree_mad	0.06	absolute difference in correlation units	mean across countries of the absolute difference between the two surveys' correlations	countries with usable correlations in both surveys	WVS/EVS fieldwork 2005-2023 and ESS rounds 3 to 10			weight within country in each survey; every country counted once	European Social Survey
agree_r	+0.81	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	Pearson correlation across countries of the WVS/EVS and ESS correlations with left-right (Fisher z interval)	countries with usable correlations in both surveys	WVS/EVS fieldwork 2005-2023 and ESS rounds 3 to 10	95% CI 0.66 to 0.90	36	weight within country in each survey; every country counted once	European Social Survey
agree_sign	30	countries	count of countries where the two surveys give a correlation of the same sign	countries with usable correlations in both surveys	WVS/EVS fieldwork 2005-2023 and ESS rounds 3 to 10			none (count)	European Social Survey
anes_black_dem	78.8	percent of respondents	weighted share identifying with the Democratic party	Black non-Hispanic adults, party identification 1 to 3 counted as Democratic (leaners included)	2024	95% CI 73.8 to 83.8	503	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_black_party_2012	−0.11	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point party identification (leaners included) among Black non-Hispanic respondents	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2012	95% CI −0.21 to −0.01	949	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_ftf_level_2012	0.61	position on the 0 to 1 index (1 = obedience on every pair)	weighted mean of the ANES child-rearing index	adults in the face-to-face sample who answered the four child-rearing pairs	2012	95% CI 0.59 to 0.63	1,907	weight_ftf (face-to-face)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_ftf_level_2016	0.58	position on the 0 to 1 index (1 = obedience on every pair)	weighted mean of the ANES child-rearing index	adults in the face-to-face sample who answered the four child-rearing pairs	2016	95% CI 0.55 to 0.60	1,050	weight_ftf (face-to-face)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_ftf_level_2024	0.48	position on the 0 to 1 index (1 = obedience on every pair)	weighted mean of the ANES child-rearing index	adults in the face-to-face sample who answered the four child-rearing pairs	2024	95% CI 0.45 to 0.51	916	weight_ftf (face-to-face)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_ftf_party_2024	+0.29	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point party identification (leaners included) in the face-to-face sample	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2024	95% CI 0.21 to 0.38	905	weight_ftf (face-to-face)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_ideo_1992	+0.22	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point liberal-conservative self-placement	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	1992	95% CI 0.17 to 0.26	1,498	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_ideo_2024	+0.43	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point liberal-conservative self-placement	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2024	95% CI 0.39 to 0.46	4,085	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_level_1992	0.60	position on the 0 to 1 index (1 = obedience on every pair)	weighted mean of the ANES child-rearing index	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs	1992	95% CI 0.59 to 0.62	2,036	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_level_2016	0.56	position on the 0 to 1 index (1 = obedience on every pair)	weighted mean of the ANES child-rearing index	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs	2016	95% CI 0.55 to 0.57	3,616	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_level_2024	0.49	position on the 0 to 1 index (1 = obedience on every pair)	weighted mean of the ANES child-rearing index	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs	2024	95% CI 0.48 to 0.50	4,690	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_level_black_2024	0.63	position on the 0 to 1 index (1 = obedience on every pair)	weighted mean of the ANES child-rearing index	Black non-Hispanic adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs	2024	95% CI 0.58 to 0.67	421	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_level_white_2024	0.46	position on the 0 to 1 index (1 = obedience on every pair)	weighted mean of the ANES child-rearing index	White non-Hispanic adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs	2024	95% CI 0.44 to 0.47	3,390	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_net_party_1992	+0.06	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point party identification (leaners included) net of college degree, age and race	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	1992	95% CI 0.02 to 0.11	1,971	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_net_party_2024	+0.31	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point party identification (leaners included) net of college degree, age and race	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2024	95% CI 0.27 to 0.35	4,429	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_no_mode_k	2,027	respondents	count of analytic respondents with neither a face-to-face nor a web weight	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2024			none (count)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_no_mode_n	4,668	respondents	count of analytic respondents in the party identification correlation	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2024			none (count)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_no_mode_share	43	percent of respondents (unweighted count)	share of analytic respondents with neither a face-to-face nor a web weight (panel and paper cases)	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2024		4,668	none (count)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_other_party_1992	−0.12	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point party identification (leaners included) among Hispanic and other respondents (neither white nor Black non-Hispanic)	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	1992	95% CI −0.25 to 0.02	206	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_other_party_2024	+0.26	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point party identification (leaners included) among Hispanic and other respondents (neither white nor Black non-Hispanic)	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2024	95% CI 0.17 to 0.35	833	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_other_share_1992	10	percent of respondents	weighted share of the party identification analysis sample who are neither white nor Black non-Hispanic	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	1992	95% CI 9 to 11	2,018	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_other_share_2024	24	percent of respondents	weighted share of the party identification analysis sample who are neither white nor Black non-Hispanic	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2024	95% CI 22 to 26	4,630	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_party_1992	−0.04	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point party identification (leaners included)	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	1992	95% CI −0.09 to 0.00	2,023	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_party_2016	+0.14	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point party identification (leaners included)	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2016	95% CI 0.10 to 0.18	3,600	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_party_2024	+0.28	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point party identification (leaners included)	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2024	95% CI 0.24 to 0.32	4,668	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_web_party_2024	+0.26	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point party identification (leaners included) in the web sample	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2024	95% CI 0.20 to 0.32	1,736	weight_web	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_white_party_1992	+0.04	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point party identification (leaners included) among white non-Hispanic respondents	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	1992	95% CI −0.01 to 0.09	1,551	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
anes_white_party_2024	+0.43	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of the ANES child-rearing index with 7-point party identification (leaners included) among white non-Hispanic respondents	adults who answered the four child-rearing pairs and the outcome	2024	95% CI 0.38 to 0.47	3,379	weight (VCF0009z)	ANES Cumulative Data File
at_ess	+0.22	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with Schwartz conservation values	respondents in Austria with a left-right answer and conservation score	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI 0.19 to 0.24	7,715	analysis weight within the country	European Social Survey
bg_ess	−0.23	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with Schwartz conservation values	respondents in Bulgaria with a left-right answer and conservation score	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI −0.25 to −0.21	9,818	analysis weight within the country	European Social Survey
bg_wvs	−0.06	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in Bulgaria with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2006, 2008, 2017, waves pooled	95% CI −0.10 to −0.02	2,665	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
ca_wvs	+0.25	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in Canada with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2006, 2020, waves pooled	95% CI 0.22 to 0.28	5,642	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
coh_diff_high	−4.1	percentage points	mean across countries of the share above zero among those born in the 1990s minus those born in the 1940s (bootstrap over countries)	high-income countries, fixed panel	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI −5.6 to −2.6		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 36 countries.
coh_diff_lower	−3.6	percentage points	mean across countries of the share above zero among those born in the 1990s minus those born in the 1940s (bootstrap over countries)	lower-income countries, fixed panel	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI −10.0 to 2.5		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 10 countries.
coh_diff_upper	−4.7	percentage points	mean across countries of the share above zero among those born in the 1990s minus those born in the 1940s (bootstrap over countries)	upper-middle-income countries, fixed panel	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI −7.3 to −2.4		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 22 countries.
coh_high_1940	11.5	percent of respondents above zero on the index	mean across countries of the weighted share above zero on the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in high-income countries born in the 1940s, fixed panel	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 9.0 to 14.1		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 36 countries.
coh_high_1990	7.4	percent of respondents above zero on the index	mean across countries of the weighted share above zero on the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in high-income countries born in the 1990s, fixed panel	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 5.8 to 9.2		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 36 countries.
coh_k_high	36	countries	count of countries in the fixed panel	high-income countries	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
coh_k_lower	10	countries	count of countries in the fixed panel	lower-income countries	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
coh_k_upper	22	countries	count of countries in the fixed panel	upper-middle-income countries	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
coh_lower_1940	31.5	percent of respondents above zero on the index	mean across countries of the weighted share above zero on the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in lower-income countries born in the 1940s, fixed panel	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 23.3 to 40.9		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 10 countries.
coh_lower_1990	27.9	percent of respondents above zero on the index	mean across countries of the weighted share above zero on the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in lower-income countries born in the 1990s, fixed panel	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 20.8 to 36.9		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 10 countries.
coh_upper_1940	25.6	percent of respondents above zero on the index	mean across countries of the weighted share above zero on the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in upper-middle-income countries born in the 1940s, fixed panel	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 20.7 to 30.8		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 22 countries.
coh_upper_1990	20.9	percent of respondents above zero on the index	mean across countries of the weighted share above zero on the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in upper-middle-income countries born in the 1990s, fixed panel	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 17.0 to 24.9		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 22 countries.
coh_window_cut	5	percentage points	cutoff on the absolute difference in the share above zero	definition of a large difference between the two survey windows	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (constant)	World Values Survey and EVS
coh_window_diff	−0.3	percentage points	mean difference in the share above zero for the same birth decade between fieldwork in 2014-2023 and 2005-2013 (bootstrap over cells)	country-by-birth-decade cells in the fixed panel	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI −0.9 to 0.2	312	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
coh_window_gt5	28	percent of cells	share of cells where the two windows differ by more than 5 percentage points in either direction	country-by-birth-decade cells in the fixed panel	fieldwork 2005-2023		312	each country-by-birth-decade cell counted once; shares inside a cell use weight (S017)	World Values Survey and EVS
coh_window_mad	3.8	percentage points	mean absolute difference in the share above zero for the same birth decade between fieldwork in 2014-2023 and 2005-2013	country-by-birth-decade cells in the fixed panel	fieldwork 2005-2023		312	none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
cz_ess	−0.23	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with Schwartz conservation values	respondents in Czechia with a left-right answer and conservation score	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI −0.25 to −0.21	13,804	analysis weight within the country	European Social Survey
cz_ess_adj	−0.14	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted partial correlation of left-right with Schwartz conservation values, holding age, sex and education fixed	respondents in Czechia with a left-right answer and conservation score	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI −0.16 to −0.12	11,912	analysis weight within the country	European Social Survey
cz_wvs	−0.06	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in Czechia with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2008, 2017, 2022, waves pooled	95% CI −0.09 to −0.02	3,615	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
de_wvs	+0.12	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in Germany with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2006, 2008, 2013, 2017, 2018, waves pooled	95% CI 0.09 to 0.14	8,805	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
diff_faith	+0.006	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation with the full index minus the median for the religious faith alone, on the countries usable under both (bootstrap over countries, one draw applied to both)	countries with a usable correlation under both definitions	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI −0.008 to 0.020	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
diff_imagination	+0.024	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation with the full index minus the median for the imagination alone, reversed, on the countries usable under both (bootstrap over countries, one draw applied to both)	countries with a usable correlation under both definitions	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.004 to 0.039	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
diff_income_high_upper	+0.061	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	difference between the median correlations of the two income groups, high-income minus upper-middle-income (bootstrap that redraws the countries of each group)	countries with a usable correlation and an income group	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.020 to 0.116		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 72 countries.
diff_income_upper_lower	+0.024	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	difference between the median correlations of the two income groups, upper-middle-income minus lower-income (bootstrap that redraws the countries of each group)	countries with a usable correlation and an income group	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI −0.001 to 0.043		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 58 countries.
diff_independence	+0.027	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation with the full index minus the median for the independence alone, reversed, on the countries usable under both (bootstrap over countries, one draw applied to both)	countries with a usable correlation under both definitions	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.016 to 0.041	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
diff_no_faith	+0.010	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation with the full index minus the median for the without faith: obedience minus independence and tolerance, on the countries usable under both (bootstrap over countries, one draw applied to both)	countries with a usable correlation under both definitions	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.005 to 0.027	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
diff_tolerance	+0.026	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation with the full index minus the median for the tolerance and respect alone, reversed, on the countries usable under both (bootstrap over countries, one draw applied to both)	countries with a usable correlation under both definitions	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.013 to 0.044	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
drop_homosexuals	1.9	percentage points	mean across countries of the gap under the full index minus the gap under the index without the religious-faith item, for naming homosexuals as unwanted neighbors (bootstrap over countries, one draw applied to both)	countries that qualify under both indices for this outcome	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 1.1 to 2.6	77	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
drop_leader	−1.2	percentage points	mean across countries of the gap under the full index minus the gap under the index without the religious-faith item, for saying that a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections is a good or very good way to run the country (bootstrap over countries, one draw applied to both)	countries that qualify under both indices for this outcome	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI −2.1 to −0.2	73	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
drop_moral	4.7	percentage points	mean across countries of the gap under the full index minus the gap under the index without the religious-faith item, for a mean of 4 or lower on the justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce (bootstrap over countries, one draw applied to both)	countries that qualify under both indices for this outcome	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 3.7 to 5.8	74	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
eg_wvs	−0.14	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in Egypt with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2008, 2013, 2018, waves pooled	95% CI −0.17 to −0.10	4,245	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
es_ess	+0.20	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with Schwartz conservation values	respondents in Spain with a left-right answer and conservation score	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI 0.19 to 0.22	11,913	analysis weight within the country	European Social Survey
es_wvs	+0.20	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in Spain with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2007, 2008, 2011, 2017, waves pooled	95% CI 0.17 to 0.23	4,298	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
ess_below	7	countries	count of countries where the 95% interval is below zero	ESS countries with an effective sample of 300 or more	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022			none (count)	European Social Survey
ess_other_k	20	countries	count of other countries with a usable correlation (post-communist: governed by a communist party before 1990 in eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union or the former Yugoslavia)	ESS countries with an effective sample of 300 or more	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022			none (count)	European Social Survey
ess_other_neg	1	countries	count of other countries where the point estimate is below zero (post-communist: governed by a communist party before 1990 in eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union or the former Yugoslavia)	ESS countries with an effective sample of 300 or more	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022			none (count)	European Social Survey
ess_pc_k	18	countries	count of post-communist countries with a usable correlation (post-communist: governed by a communist party before 1990 in eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union or the former Yugoslavia)	ESS countries with an effective sample of 300 or more	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022			none (count)	European Social Survey
ess_pc_neg	10	countries	count of post-communist countries where the point estimate is below zero (post-communist: governed by a communist party before 1990 in eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union or the former Yugoslavia)	ESS countries with an effective sample of 300 or more	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022			none (count)	European Social Survey
ess_positive	27	countries	count of countries where the point estimate is above zero	ESS countries with an effective sample of 300 or more	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022			none (count)	European Social Survey
gap_army_chapter	4.3	percentage points	mean across countries of the share saying that army rule is a good or very good way to run the country, obedience side minus autonomy side of the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in the fixed panel of countries, with an index score other than zero	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 3.1 to 5.4	99	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
gap_homosexuals_chapter	7.7	percentage points	mean across countries of the share naming homosexuals as unwanted neighbors, obedience side minus autonomy side of the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in the fixed panel of countries, with an index score other than zero	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 6.1 to 9.4	100	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
gap_homosexuals_chapter_same	6.9	percentage points	mean across countries of the share naming homosexuals as unwanted neighbors, obedience side minus autonomy side of the full index, on the countries that also qualify without the religious-faith item (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in the fixed panel of countries, with an index score other than zero	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 5.1 to 8.7	77	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
gap_homosexuals_no_faith	5.0	percentage points	mean across countries of the share naming homosexuals as unwanted neighbors, obedience side minus autonomy side of the index without the religious-faith item, on the countries that qualify under both indices (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in the fixed panel of countries, with an index score other than zero	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 3.3 to 6.6	77	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
gap_immigrants_chapter	2.8	percentage points	mean across countries of the share naming immigrants or foreign workers as unwanted neighbors, obedience side minus autonomy side of the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in the fixed panel of countries, with an index score other than zero	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 1.8 to 4.0	102	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
gap_leader_chapter	4.2	percentage points	mean across countries of the share saying that a strong leader who does not bother with parliament and elections is a good or very good way to run the country, obedience side minus autonomy side of the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in the fixed panel of countries, with an index score other than zero	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 2.5 to 6.1	99	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
gap_moral_chapter	13.8	percentage points	mean across countries of the share a mean of 4 or lower on the justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce, obedience side minus autonomy side of the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in the fixed panel of countries, with an index score other than zero	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 11.4 to 16.5	97	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
gap_moral_chapter_same	12.0	percentage points	mean across countries of the share a mean of 4 or lower on the justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce, obedience side minus autonomy side of the full index, on the countries that also qualify without the religious-faith item (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in the fixed panel of countries, with an index score other than zero	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 9.1 to 15.1	74	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
gap_moral_no_faith	7.2	percentage points	mean across countries of the share a mean of 4 or lower on the justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce, obedience side minus autonomy side of the index without the religious-faith item, on the countries that qualify under both indices (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in the fixed panel of countries, with an index score other than zero	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 4.8 to 9.9	74	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
gap_race_chapter	2.9	percentage points	mean across countries of the share naming people of a different race as unwanted neighbors, obedience side minus autonomy side of the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in the fixed panel of countries, with an index score other than zero	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 1.8 to 3.9	102	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
gss_gap_early	−1.0	percentage points	difference in the share ranking obedience above thinking for oneself	adults ranking the GSS child qualities, Republican minus Democratic identifiers (leaners included)	1986-1994	95% CI −3.3 to 1.4	8,103	weight_use	General Social Survey
gss_gap_late	+6.9	percentage points	difference in the share ranking obedience above thinking for oneself	adults ranking the GSS child qualities, Republican minus Democratic identifiers (leaners included)	2016-2024	95% CI 4.3 to 9.4	7,914	weight_use	General Social Survey
gss_pid_early	0.00	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of obedience ranked above thinking for oneself (rank difference) with 7-point party identification	adults ranking the GSS child qualities, party identification 0 to 6	1986-1994	95% CI −0.03 to 0.02	9,225	weight_use	General Social Survey
gss_pid_late	+0.11	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of obedience ranked above thinking for oneself (rank difference) with 7-point party identification	adults ranking the GSS child qualities, party identification 0 to 6	2016-2024	95% CI 0.08 to 0.14	10,063	weight_use	General Social Survey
in_wvs	+0.01	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in India with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2006, 2012, 2023, waves pooled	95% CI −0.01 to 0.04	5,826	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
k_moral_chapter	97	countries and territories	count of countries with an effective sample of 100 or more on both sides of the index	fixed panel for this outcome and index	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
k_moral_no_faith	74	countries and territories	count of countries with an effective sample of 100 or more on both sides of the index	fixed panel for this outcome and index	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
lu_wvs	+0.22	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in Luxembourg with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2008, waves pooled	95% CI 0.16 to 0.28	1,256	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
mean_wvs	+0.06	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	mean across countries of the correlation between left-right and the full index (bootstrap over countries)	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.04 to 0.07	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
med_adjusted	+0.05	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the full index net of age, sex and education (bootstrap over countries)	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.03 to 0.06	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
med_article	+0.04	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the imagination version: obedience and faith minus independence and imagination (bootstrap over countries)	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.03 to 0.07	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
med_chapter	+0.04	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the full index: obedience and faith minus independence and tolerance (bootstrap over countries)	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.03 to 0.06	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
med_faith	+0.04	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the religious faith alone (bootstrap over countries)	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.03 to 0.06	104	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
med_high	+0.10	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the full index (bootstrap over countries)	high-income countries with a usable correlation	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.07 to 0.15		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 44 countries.
med_imagination	+0.02	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the imagination alone, reversed (bootstrap over countries)	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.01 to 0.04	104	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
med_independence	+0.02	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the independence alone, reversed (bootstrap over countries)	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.01 to 0.03	104	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
med_lower	+0.02	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the full index (bootstrap over countries)	lower-income countries with a usable correlation	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.00 to 0.03		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 30 countries.
med_no_faith	+0.03	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the without faith: obedience minus independence and tolerance (bootstrap over countries)	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.01 to 0.05	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
med_obedience	+0.03	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the obedience alone (bootstrap over countries)	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.02 to 0.04	104	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
med_tolerance	+0.02	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the tolerance and respect alone, reversed (bootstrap over countries)	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.01 to 0.03	104	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
med_upper	+0.04	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the full index (bootstrap over countries)	upper-income countries with a usable correlation	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.02 to 0.05		weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS	Based on 28 countries.
median_ess	+0.08	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and Schwartz conservation values (bootstrap over countries)	ESS countries with an effective sample of 300 or more	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI 0.01 to 0.11	38	analysis weight within each country; every country counted once	European Social Survey
median_ess_adj	+0.07	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the partial correlation of left-right with Schwartz conservation values, holding age, sex and education fixed (bootstrap over countries)	ESS countries with an effective sample of 300 or more	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI 0.05 to 0.10	36	analysis weight within each country; every country counted once	European Social Survey
median_wvs	+0.04	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation between left-right and the full index (bootstrap over countries)	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.03 to 0.06	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
moral_r_chapter	+0.13	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation of the full index with a moral-conservatism index (justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce, reversed)	countries with usable correlations for all three measures with moral attitudes	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.10 to 0.16	102	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
moral_r_left_right	+0.07	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation of left-right self-placement with a moral-conservatism index (justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce, reversed)	countries with usable correlations for all three measures with moral attitudes	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.03 to 0.10	102	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
moral_r_no_faith	+0.09	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	median across countries of the correlation of the index without the religious-faith item with a moral-conservatism index (justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce, reversed)	countries with usable correlations for all three measures with moral attitudes	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.07 to 0.12	102	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
n_above	49	countries and territories	count of countries where the 95% interval is above zero	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
n_below	5	countries and territories	count of countries where the 95% interval is below zero	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
n_black_incl	7	study years	count of years where the 95% interval of the correlation with party identification includes zero	ANES presidential-year studies with 100 or more Black non-Hispanic respondents	1992-2024			none (count)	ANES Cumulative Data File
n_black_years	8	study years	count	ANES presidential-year studies with 100 or more Black non-Hispanic respondents	1992-2024			none (count)	ANES Cumulative Data File
n_countries_wvs	103	countries and territories	count of countries with a usable correlation between left-right and the full index	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
n_ess	38	countries	count of countries with a usable correlation	ESS countries with an effective sample of 300 or more	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022			none (count)	European Social Survey
n_evs_restored	10	countries and territories	count of labels restored from the country code	EVS countries with a blank label in the cleaned file	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
n_evs_usable	8	countries and territories	count	restored EVS countries with a usable correlation	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
n_includes	49	countries and territories	count of countries where the 95% interval includes zero	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
n_income_grouped	102	countries and territories	count of countries with a usable correlation and an income group in the WVS context file	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
n_positive	84	countries and territories	count of countries where the point estimate is above zero	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
n_resp_wvs	281,678	respondents	count of respondents	respondents with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers, in the countries with a usable correlation	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
neff_floor	300	respondents (Kish effective sample size)	minimum effective sample for a country to appear	country cells	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (constant)	World Values Survey and EVS
neff_floor_side	100	respondents (Kish effective sample size)	minimum effective sample for a country to enter a share	country cells for shares by index side and birth decade	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (constant)	World Values Survey and EVS
nl_wvs	+0.20	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in Netherlands with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2006, 2008, 2012, 2017, 2022, waves pooled	95% CI 0.18 to 0.22	7,886	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
pl_wvs	+0.19	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in Poland with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2005, 2008, 2012, 2017, waves pooled	95% CI 0.16 to 0.22	3,599	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
pos_moral_chapter	87	countries and territories	count of countries where the outcome is more common on the obedience side	fixed panel for this outcome and index	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
positive_no_faith	80	countries and territories	count of countries where the point estimate for the without faith: obedience minus independence and tolerance is above zero	countries with an effective sample of 300 or more on the measure and left-right	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (count)	World Values Survey and EVS
r_chapter_adjusted	+0.99	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	Pearson correlation across countries of the two sets of country correlations (Fisher z interval)	countries with usable correlations on both measures	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.98 to 0.99	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
r_chapter_no_faith	+0.93	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	Pearson correlation across countries of the two sets of country correlations (Fisher z interval)	countries with usable correlations on both measures	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 0.90 to 0.95	103	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
ref_r_age	+0.90	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	Pearson correlation across countries of the WVS/EVS and ESS correlations of left-right with age (Fisher z interval)	countries with usable correlations in both surveys	WVS/EVS fieldwork 2005-2023 and ESS rounds 3 to 10	95% CI 0.82 to 0.95	36	weight within country in each survey; every country counted once	European Social Survey
ref_r_education	+0.70	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	Pearson correlation across countries of the WVS/EVS and ESS correlations of left-right with education (Fisher z interval)	countries with usable correlations in both surveys	WVS/EVS fieldwork 2005-2023 and ESS rounds 3 to 10	95% CI 0.47 to 0.84	34	weight within country in each survey; every country counted once	European Social Survey
ref_r_female	+0.72	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	Pearson correlation across countries of the WVS/EVS and ESS correlations of left-right with female (Fisher z interval)	countries with usable correlations in both surveys	WVS/EVS fieldwork 2005-2023 and ESS rounds 3 to 10	95% CI 0.52 to 0.85	36	weight within country in each survey; every country counted once	European Social Survey
ref_r_religiosity	+0.87	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	Pearson correlation across countries of the WVS/EVS and ESS correlations of left-right with religiosity (Fisher z interval)	countries with usable correlations in both surveys	WVS/EVS fieldwork 2005-2023 and ESS rounds 3 to 10	95% CI 0.76 to 0.93	36	weight within country in each survey; every country counted once	European Social Survey
se_ess	+0.04	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with Schwartz conservation values	respondents in Sweden with a left-right answer and conservation score	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI 0.02 to 0.06	10,896	analysis weight within the country	European Social Survey
se_wvs	+0.04	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in Sweden with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2006, 2009, 2011, 2017, waves pooled	95% CI 0.00 to 0.07	4,254	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS
share_moral_chapter_aut	57.1	percent of respondents	mean across countries of the weighted share a mean of 4 or lower on the justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce, respondents on the autonomy side of the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in the fixed panel of countries, with an index score other than zero	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 51.9 to 62.0	97	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
share_moral_chapter_obe	70.9	percent of respondents	mean across countries of the weighted share a mean of 4 or lower on the justifiability of homosexuality, abortion and divorce, respondents on the obedience side of the full index (bootstrap over countries)	respondents in the fixed panel of countries, with an index score other than zero	fieldwork 2005-2023	95% CI 67.6 to 74.2	97	weight (S017) within each country; every country counted once across countries	World Values Survey and EVS
sk_ess	−0.19	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with Schwartz conservation values	respondents in Slovakia with a left-right answer and conservation score	ESS rounds 3 to 10, 2006-2022	95% CI −0.21 to −0.16	8,503	analysis weight within the country	European Social Survey
soc_cut	4	points on the 1 to 10 justifiability scale	cutoff on the mean of the three justifiability items	definition of socially conservative	fieldwork 2005-2023			none (constant)	World Values Survey and EVS
us_wvs	+0.28	correlation coefficient, from −1 to +1	weighted correlation of left-right with the full index	respondents in United States with a left-right answer and all four child-quality answers	fieldwork 2006, 2011, 2017, waves pooled	95% CI 0.25 to 0.31	5,900	weight (S017) within the country	World Values Survey and EVS

Definitions

Correlation: A number from minus 1 to plus 1 for how closely two measures move together in a straight-line pattern. Zero means no straight-line pattern; a correlation does not say that one measure causes the other.
Left-right self-placement: A survey question that asks people to place themselves on a scale from left to right. The scale is the same for everyone, but the meaning attached to left and right differs across people, countries and years.
Effective sample size: The number of equally weighted respondents that would give the same precision as the weighted sample. It is smaller than the raw count when the weights vary a lot, and it sets how wide the confidence interval is.
Survey weights: Numbers that scale each respondent so the sample matches the population on known traits such as age, race, education and region. A weighted average counts a respondent with a large weight for more than one with a small weight.
Cohort: People born in the same period, such as the same decade. Comparing cohorts shows whether a difference comes from when people were born, as distinct from their age or the year they were surveyed.
Schwartz basic values: Ten broad motivations, such as security, tradition, achievement and universalism, that Shalom Schwartz's theory arranges in a circle. Neighboring values are compatible and opposite values conflict.
Partisan leaner: A respondent who first says they are independent but, when asked, says they lean toward one party. Most figures group leaners with the party they lean toward, and each chapter says which grouping it uses.
Survey mode: How respondents were interviewed: in person, by phone, on paper or online. Mode can change answers, so a change in mode can look like a change in opinion.
Percentage point: The unit for the difference between two percentages. A change from one share to another is stated in points, not in percent, so that absolute and relative change are not confused.

Methods

Sample. World Values Survey and European Values Study (WVS/EVS), fieldwork in 2005 or later (waves 5 to 7 and the EVS 2008 and 2017 rounds): 112 countries and territories with fieldwork in 2005 or later (118 in the full 1981 to 2023 file, after restoring the ten unlabelled EVS countries from the country code); 107 had enough respondents to test and 103 have a usable correlation, on 281,678 respondents in those 103 countries with a left-right answer (1 to 10, 10 = right), a positive weight and all four child-quality answers. The cleaned file carries ten of the child qualities. The cleaned WVS and EVS file leaves the country name blank for Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Kosovo and Northern Cyprus; the country code restores those 10 labels, and 8 of them have a usable correlation. European Social Survey (ESS), rounds 3 to 10 (2006-2022; round 11 carries no values battery in the cleaned file): 38 countries with a usable correlation. American National Election Studies (ANES) Cumulative File, the eight presidential-year studies 1992-2024 that field the four forced-choice child-rearing pairs (the file carries none of them for 1996), adults with all four answers. General Social Survey (GSS), 1986-2024, adults who ranked both obeying and thinking for oneself. ANES race groups are the file's three categories: white non-Hispanic, Black non-Hispanic and other (Hispanic, Asian and every other group).

Measures. WVS/EVS: obedience and religious faith minus independence and tolerance and respect for other people (each 1 if mentioned as an important child quality, 0 if not; A042, A040, A029, A035), range −2 to +2, complete cases; robustness versions drop the faith item, swap tolerance for imagination (A034), use pairs of items or single items. ANES: one minus the mean of four forced choices coded 0, 0.5 and 1 (VCF9246 to VCF9249), 0 to 1. GSS: the rank of thinking for oneself minus the rank of obeying. ESS: the mean-rating-centred Schwartz conservation composite (conformity, tradition, security). The sign of every item is fixed from the wording, not from a correlation with the outcome.

Estimand. A correlation is the survey-weighted Pearson correlation between the measure and left-right placement (WVS/EVS 1 to 10, ESS 0 to 10), party identification (ANES 1 to 7, GSS 0 to 6, leaners included, other-party respondents dropped) or liberal-conservative self-placement (ANES 1 to 7), computed inside a country or a study year with waves pooled. Net-of-covariate versions correlate the residuals from weighted least squares on age, sex and three education levels (WVS/EVS and ESS), or on a college degree, age and whether the respondent is white non-Hispanic (ANES).

Weights. WVS/EVS weight (S017) within a country and every country counted once across countries; ESS analysis weight; ANES weight (VCF0009z), with weight_ftf and weight_web for the mode views; GSS weight_use.

Intervals. 95% Fisher z intervals on the Kish effective sample size of the complete cases, which are model based and ignore strata and clusters; partial correlations use the effective sample minus the number of covariates; medians and means across countries and the country gaps have percentile intervals from a bootstrap over countries (2,000 replicates, seed 12345), that is, the list of countries is redrawn with replacement and the statistic recomputed; a difference between two medians for the same countries (index definitions) uses one draw of countries for both, and a difference between two income groups redraws the countries of each group on its own; correlations across countries use Fisher z (a transformation that makes the sampling error of a correlation nearly constant) on the number of countries; gaps between two GSS groups combine standard errors in quadrature.

Suppression. A WVS/EVS or ESS country cell needs an effective sample of at least 300; an ANES or GSS year cell needs at least 100 respondents and an effective sample of 100; shares by index side need an effective sample of 100 on each side; the cohort panels need 100 in every birth decade.

Country groups and cohort panels. Income groups are the World Bank groups in the WVS context file, with lower middle income and low income combined as lower income. Birth decade is the survey year minus age. The cohort panels are fixed sets of countries with enough respondents in every birth decade: 36 high-income, 22 upper-middle-income and 10 lower-income countries. Across the country-by-decade cells of the panels, the same birth decade measured in 2014 to 2023 rather than 2005 to 2013 differs by 3.8 points on average in absolute value.

Outcome gaps. Respondents on the obedience side score above zero on the index and those on the autonomy side below zero; each country's share is computed first and countries are averaged with equal weight over a fixed panel of countries with enough respondents on both sides. The full index is shown on every country that qualifies under it and, beside the index without the faith item, on the countries that qualify under both indices, because the index without faith leaves fewer respondents on its obedience side. The difference between the two gaps has a bootstrap interval that redraws the same countries for both. Socially conservative means a mean of 4 or lower on the three 1-to-10 justifiability items (homosexuality, abortion, divorce) with all three answered.

Mode. ANES 2008 is a single-mode face-to-face study, 2012, 2016 and 2024 have face-to-face and web weights, and 2020 has none; in 2024 the panel and paper cases have neither weight. The GSS 2021 wave is mostly web and 2022 and 2024 mix in-person and web interviews. The mode views report both modes where a cell has 100 respondents.

Post-communist countries. Post-communist ESS countries are those governed by a communist party before 1990 in eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia (ESS codes AL, BG, BY, CZ, EE, GE, HR, HU, LT, LV, ME, MK, PL, RO, RS, RU, SI, SK, UA, XK); Germany is not classed as post-communist because the ESS reports it as one country.

What these data cannot show

The correlations come from one interview per person, so they do not show whether valuing obedience shapes where people place themselves, whether placement or party shapes the child-rearing answers, or whether a third influence shapes both.
The rise in the American correlation with party is a change in how the measure lines up with party.
The ANES and GSS are repeated cross-sections, so they cannot say whether people changed parties, the parties changed or the composition of each party changed.
The measures are related but different.
The WVS checklist, the ANES forced choices, the GSS ranking and the ESS values battery use different formats, and the ESS has no question about children.
The agreement between the WVS and ESS country patterns shows that both rank countries alike, and the comparison with age, education, sex and religiosity shows that this agreement is not specific to the obedience measure.
This chapter does not use party manifestos, expert placements of parties or vote choices, so it cannot say why the label attaches to conservation values in one country and not in another.
Whether the ANES child-rearing items mean the same thing to Black and white respondents is disputed [10] [11], and this chapter reports the groups separately without testing it.
The Hispanic and other group is a residual category whose makeup changes across studies.
The intervals are model based and ignore the sampling design, and the countries are those the surveys reached, not a sample of the world.
The cohort profile cannot separate age from birth decade, the country groups by income are a single classification from the WVS context file, and waves are pooled inside each country, so a correlation blends years.
The link between the disposition and politics is thought to depend on perceived threat [1].
This chapter does not test whether threat conditions the link; Planned, Order, security and threat (https://vishalsingh.org/politics/order-security-and-threat; planned) takes up the threat measures in the WVS and ESS.

References

Stenner, Karen (2005). The Authoritarian Dynamic. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511614712
Feldman, Stanley (2003). Enforcing Social Conformity: A Theory of Authoritarianism. Political Psychology 24(1): 41-74. doi:10.1111/0162-895X.00316
Hetherington, Marc J.; Weiler, Jonathan D. (2009). Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics. Cambridge University Press. www.cambridge.org/core/books/authoritarianism-and-polarization-in-american-politics/C0831CCE83C7C2D506A0954A8956BAE8
Engelhardt, Andrew M.; Feldman, Stanley; Hetherington, Marc J. (2023). Advancing the Measurement of Authoritarianism. Political Behavior 45: 537-560. doi:10.1007/s11109-021-09718-6
Inglehart, Ronald; Baker, Wayne E. (2000). Modernization, Cultural Change, and the Persistence of Traditional Values. American Sociological Review 65(1): 19-51. doi:10.1177/000312240006500103
Kish, Leslie (1965). Survey Sampling. John Wiley and Sons.
Fisher, Ronald A. (1921). On the Probable Error of a Coefficient of Correlation Deduced from a Small Sample. Metron 1(4): 3-32.
Schwartz, Shalom H. (1992). Universals in the Content and Structure of Values: Theoretical Advances and Empirical Tests in 20 Countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 25: 1-65. doi:10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60281-6
Pop-Eleches, Grigore; Tucker, Joshua A. (2017). Communism's Shadow: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Political Attitudes. Princeton University Press. doi:10.23943/princeton/9780691175591.001.0001
Pérez, Efrén O.; Hetherington, Marc J. (2014). Authoritarianism in Black and White: Testing the Cross-Racial Validity of the Child Rearing Scale. Political Analysis 22(3): 398-412. doi:10.1093/pan/mpu002
Fialho, Fabrício M. (2026). Reassessing Racial Differences in Authoritarianism in the United States: Measurement Invariance and Group Comparisons Using the ANES Child-Rearing Values Scale. Public Opinion Quarterly. doi:10.1093/poq/nfag020

Provenance

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Inputs

File	Size (bytes)	SHA-256, first 1 MB	SHA-256, last 1 MB
data/anes/anes_cdf_clean.parquet	15,640,720	b3f0c2d8ae5673b2c40cf6df71318ea3f712cd845c4f1aad0460f28d1b022643	04f06dae56b65649291caf6cf77aab9767d9c92d0c2669c6d3655d9063970583
data/ess/ess_clean.parquet	45,592,290	9487eead6817f028f5dd525709aa1b989ccd384384ef3700b9657cf68dd0b529	6def6b8c99fe6dbaf6abc744db6cabf584b900084600909b651870d99208e338
data/gss/gss_all_raw2024.parquet	35,044,704	6f6560d1929e8a100f576317a296ee88f777ca061ab7dbc1471cbdc7b3563538	5c3294f206beb53d9a8387fccb1983bf3088818df090bd8ed3f378adadafcf9b
data/gss/gss_sub2024.parquet	4,925,270	09c4894730735ec7ae5a057c99d97705866b0b4d485a8b14030435944f909fba	fbbacc5d2586b9f6a774f02031f3686c14fa23a0effee92366bb90a6de8e0ad3
data/wvs/wvs_clean.parquet	71,974,374	cef4479481f8a48d6c765d39dc5438d31daa32fcecee3f181aaaf8e257f41f0b	59a8e3c369176b7e1a2cb37fc10b87985ed79b02fab2eae1cca08e7a972db061
C:/github/politics-book/lib/geo/world.v1.json	49,483	8e454ad862ef2ff389e1599a5e6eb1c20e0ae6ae77415ed1266424aa196d3b32	8e454ad862ef2ff389e1599a5e6eb1c20e0ae6ae77415ed1266424aa196d3b32

Outputs

File	SHA-256
facts.json	6e537ca07b09798099221ebb7746d3ad6bda11d8729d53e90ff734161438b24a
figures/agreement_reference.json	8e281f57e4dddb2ed69ce0eba074a3887996cc34457a08486f2998940e8e9a42
figures/cohort_prevalence.json	fc0bac178a1c444506cc7c68ec5b7d0daf511d469c88ede5b2e6439f9c2dbe6e
figures/country_loadings.json	2920e7a65d3c31a5d1148d3df0007ff41578d0815d7f0eb6d72f0956b96c7ecf
figures/index_variants.json	a2e8b3010f7694405feccf8123394a3f612a2416ba9ce61c0dd0acd72d2249f2
figures/instruments.json	e317f8681168d99d67115e8c52a6d71f5596a212c00231eeb695900fbb413bc1
figures/outcome_gaps.json	11873710e7b96828163732d1f44a062b1016ddbba9976d7def354df3296c400d
figures/outcome_gaps_faith.json	a4421f108bbdafb23c7a494af128a7c914b1a32886ef090c7a1d298ec7b382f4
figures/us_party_trend.json	774f9ce796ca61681dc9ce0ea89bacdb9a5d8ecf6f7962421d7730593747037f
figures/wvs_ess_agreement.json	ab637adee335b6895021850198b18afc1fcb186b48a6b10197be64a00859c9dc
meta.json	22aa29a29128255921657ca829581fc7c2b919df3b6b6611ac9ea17c0e9a7ea7
refs.json	8dd553063beef40395719abeda4baa25baf15ee9720cbcbf1ea00067a92e0aa8

Machine formats

Report (Markdown): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/report.md
Every estimate (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/facts.json
Table 1, figure "instruments" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/instruments.json
Table 2, figure "cohort_prevalence" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/cohort_prevalence.json
Table 3, figure "country_loadings" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/country_loadings.json
Table 4, figure "index_variants" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/index_variants.json
Table 5, figure "wvs_ess_agreement" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/wvs_ess_agreement.json
Table 6, figure "agreement_reference" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/agreement_reference.json
Table 7, figure "us_party_trend" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/us_party_trend.json
Table 8, figure "outcome_gaps" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/outcome_gaps.json
Table 9, figure "outcome_gaps_faith" (JSON): https://vishalsingh.org/politics/report/the-obedience-autonomy-disposition/figures/outcome_gaps_faith.json
Index of every report: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/llms.txt; all reports in one file: https://vishalsingh.org/politics/llms-full.txt