VALUES AND VALUE SHIFTS IN FOUR COUNTRIES OF SOUTH-EAST EUROPE: RETRADITIONALIZATION, EROSION OF TRUST AND THE DECLINE IN PUBLIC MORALITY

The paper considers the values and value orientations in four ex-Yugoslav republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia). The starting point of the analysis are cross-national analyses of data from the World values survey (Inglehart et al.2014) and data presented by Shalom Schwartz (2013). Both approaches paint a similar picture of Slovenia being by far the closest to values typical for Western liberal democracies, while Bosnia and Herzegovina, and partially Serbia, are found on the opposite extreme. The longitudinal analyses suggest that in all the countries the studied values shifted in the direction of more traditional and survival values. More specifically, all four countries have witnessed an erosion of generalised social trust, a decline in public morality, and retraditionalization of gender roles. It is argued that these shifts should mainly be understood as a consequence of the enduring economic insecurities of the citizens, enhanced by the effects of the global economic crisis.