In 2022 the WVSA introduced The Ronald F. Inglehart Honorary Lecture to commemorate the memory and scientific legacy of the Founder of the World Values Survey Prof. Ronald F. Inglehart. The 2022 lecture was read by Prof. Russell J. Dalton. The lecture took place on Thursday, December 8, 2022 and was conducted over Zoom. Video and ppt slides are available.

The reversal of reproductive rights in America is contrary to global trends. Why? Compared with similar Western democracies, Republican voters are exceptionally socially conservative, religious and authoritarian.

The Ronald F. Inglehart Best Book Award on Political Culture and Values is awarded for a book which makes a substantial and original contribution to theory and/or empirical studies in comparative cross-cultural research. This prize is awarded every second year and honors the best book published in the previous five years following the tradition established by Ronald F. Inglehart. Nominations acceptance for 2023 award is open till May 31, 2023.

Surveys conducted immediately before and after the outbreak of the Ukrainian invasion on 24 February report that the majority of ordinary Russians expressed support for the Ukrainian war and for President Putin. Overall, across the series of initial polls, a ‘silent majority’ – about 60% of Russian respondents – indicated that they endorsed the “special military operation” in Ukraine. History will ultimately decide how much of the blame for initiating the bloodshed rests on Vladimir Putin alone, as well as his Kremlin acolytes, and how much responsibility rests with the tacit acceptance of ordinary Russians. It is important to determine this issue morally, to assess culpability for the conflict, and legally, to prosecute potential war crimes. Understanding Putin’s soft power can also provide insights into the long-term consequences of the conflict for his leadership and for the future of both countries. State propaganda and fake news about Ukraine “shooting its own citizens in the Donbas region” started back in 2014 and since then has been increasing in its pace and volume. Even if many ordinary Russians are badly misinformed, however, the early polls may still capture authentic attitudes reflecting a silent majority at home supporting Putin’s actions, and thus represent the social construction of reality in modern Russia.

The World Values Survey Association welcomes new members of the Scientific Advisory Committee who will serve in 2022-2027.The SAC is the second elected committee of the WVSA. SAC’s mandate is to provide scientific and methodological consultancy and advice. SAC assembles top survey researchers and reviews substantive and methodological issues related to the research agenda of the WVS.

The World Values Survey Association welcomes new members of the Executive Committee who will serve in 2022-2027.The Executive Committee is the central governing body of the WVSA. The Executive Committee provides leadership and strategic planning for the organization, recruits new members, organizes meetings and workshops, promotes publications and dissemination of results, raises funds for central functions, and assists local PIs in their fund-raising.

The conference aims to gather methodologically high-quality, theoretically based contributions using EVS and WVS data. Presentations combining EVS, WVS and other data are also welcome. The call asks for a special emphasis on Italy: comparative and longitudinal contributions are encouraged. The conference welcomes presentations on any values domain, as well as methodological contributions.

We invite you to complete this survey to share with us your experience of using the WVS survey data.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has met with fierce resistance from the Ukrainian military and from ordinary citizens, who have abandoned their normal humdrum lives and loved ones to take up arms and defend the mother country with AK-47 assault rifles, homemade incendiary Molotov cocktails, and even by kneeling to block Russian tanks. Some are likely to be seasoned army veterans with combat experience, including fighting Russian forces in the 2014 annexation of Crimea and invasion of the Donbas region. But others are reported to have never held a gun in their life. Why would Ukrainians, or indeed any people, voluntarily face ‘pain, dirt, blood, and death’, in the words of President Zelensky? Drawing on survey evidence, in the new EUROPP LSE blog Pippa Norris and Kseniya Kizilova explain who among the Ukrainian population is willing to fight, and what motivates their decision to take up arms.

WVSA invites paper submissions into the special issue of Frontiers in Sociology journal "Social values and identities in the Black Sea area". Black Sea has always been an area of vivid economic and cultural exchange, located at the intersection of different political systems and local cultures. This topic aims at studying the culture and identity in the Black Sea area, inquiring the existence of a common political identity relying on a similar cultural background. We encourage submissions approaching the topic from a holistic perspective, looking at the cultural space, not limited to the geographical one, inquiring to what extent the historical path contributed to the creation of a common cultural space and what is the contribution of economics, politics, and international relations to its development. Submissions using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods and employing an interdisciplinary perspective are equally welcome.

On November 19-20, the Executive Committee of the World Values Survey Association held their annual meeting. The event took place in Stockholm, Sweden and was organized in a mixed format with the members of the EC joining in person and online. Participants included WVSA President Christian Haerpfer, WVSA Vice-President and Treasurer Alejandro Moreno, WVSA Vice-President Christian Welzel, Pippa Norris, Data archive director Jaime Diez Medrano, Marta Lagos, Bi Puranen, and Eduard Ponarin. The agenda included both summary of the WVS wave 7 and planning of the next WVS-8 survey round.