Russians remain committed to traditional values. Unlike Europeans, most Russians believe that the duty of every person is to start a family and have children. However, over the past 20 years, the Russians have become more tolerant of homosexuality and abortions.
Experts at the higher School for Economics, Margarita Fabrikant and Vladimir Magun compared the family values of Russian and European people. Their analysis was published in the new issue of Demoscope Magazine.
The research showed that most Russians are conservatives and traditionalists, which can be seen in their attitude to family, to woman's place in the society and to family roles. The relatively tolerant attitude to abortion and homosexuality distinguishes Russians from most conservative Europeans.
For the analysis, the researchers used the data from the European Values Study, collected in 2008. The survey was conducted in 48 countries among almost 68,000 respondents. The researchers were interested in people's attitude towards their partners, as well as to parents and children.
According to Bolshoi Gorod publication, the experts counted scores for each country depending on the answers. The more conservative a country, the fewer scores it received.