by Professor Anthony M. Abela

On the invitation of the European Values Study Secretariat of Tilburg University, the Office of the Prime Minister of the Government of Malta agreed to participate in the 1999 European Values Study (EVS). The survey is being carried out concurrently in over 30 countries, Malta included. It provides a knowledge base for national and international policy options for the new millennium.

    In Malta, the Values survey was administered for the first time in 1983/4, and repeated in 1991, 1995 and 1999. The Office of the Prime Minister commissioned the survey to Gallup in 1991 and to MISCO International in 1995 and 1999. On three previous occasions the data sets were used in comparative sociological analyses, and findings were published in research books and articles locally and overseas.

    Between March and June 1999, the fourth wave of the European Values Study (1999) was administered by Misco International to a random sample of 1000 respondents representative of the population of Maltese islands. Sociologist Anthony M. Abela is local EVS representative and principal investigator of the Values Study in Malta. The following is a first report from the 1999 Maltese Values Study in comparison to results from earlier surveys.

    To ascertain comparability over time and between countries, the 1999 questionnaire contains most of the items as in previous EVS surveys but has additional questions on social solidarity, democracy, the work ethic, gender and the European Union. It is concerned with the values of the family, work, leisure, religion, politics and contemporary social problems. To guarantee a wide representation, the 1999 survey relies on a random sample of 1000 instead of 400 respondents from the Maltese Islands, as in earlier surveys. Standard EVS survey research methodology was followed all throughout the survey.

    The following is a summary of the preliminary report on change in Maltese values over the past fifteen years. It compares and contrasts modern and traditional values and value orientations over time. A second level analysis will develop theoretical considerations from the international literature and test hypotheses scientifically in a comparative European perspective.

    Malta’s participation in the European Values Study allows policy makers to identify trends in Maltese society over time in comparison to other countries. The comparative analyses of data from the survey shall indicate the value options of distinct social groupings, and situate Malta’s place on the map of local and international values for the new millennium. Definitely, such on-going research is an indispensable exercise for new directions in policy.

Value Priorities

The order of priorities for what people in Malta find important in life are the family, work, religion, leisure, friends and politics. Over the past decade, the Maltese have retained their strong attachment foremost to the family. The importance of work and religion, although relatively higher than in other European countries, is gradually being displaced by leisure, friends and politics.

Marriage and the family

In the new context marked by socio-economic development and a globalised consumerist culture, Maltese families are becoming increasingly differentiated the one from the other. A few married people (1.1%) are not living with their legally married partner. Three percent of all married respondents report having a stable relationship with ‘someone else’ other than their legally married partner.

 The greatest majority do not agree with the statement that ‘marriage is an outdated institution’ (92%). Similar percentages think that ‘a child needs a home with both a father and a mother to grow up happily’ (92%).  At the same time, however, quite a few are not against single parent women to raise their children without a stable relationship with a man. In fact, 15% agree and another 14% think that it depends on the circumstances.

Maltese respondents attach greatest importance to the personal bond in marriage. They still give some importance to cultural homogeneity, but have come to give less importance to situational conditions, suggesting a shift away from material and external concerns towards greater individualised relationships in marriage.

Family ties

The Maltese have retained very close family ties, with high demands for  reciprocal care between generations.

Divorce

The majority disagree with divorce in principle (57% in 1995, 56% in 1999). A considerable percentage (27% in 1995, 28% in 1999), however, think that divorce or no divorce depends on the circumstances. Two distinct components for divorce in Malta are ‘irretrievable marriage breakdown’ and ‘marriage failure on personal grounds’

Gender roles

 Over the past few years there has been a gradual shift in the roles of women and men in society. Traditional gender stereotypes seem to be in decline, though certain inconsistencies on gender roles are still alive. Though there is a clear move towards gender equality in parenting, there still is a measure of asymmetry between the expected roles of women and men in the family and society.

Parenting

Irrespective of the changing gender roles, respondents were constantly of the opinion that a child needs both father and mother to grow up happily.

Value orientations

Over the past fifteen years there has been a marked shift from a predominant traditional value orientation to a more post-traditional and individualised value orientation. Whereas traditional qualities favour conformity to external authority in a small-scale closed society, post-traditional values promote a sense of responsibility, tolerance and respect for others, unselfishness and self-reliance in the increasingly global, open and information society of the new millennium.

Work

The work ethic has gone through significant transformations. The predominant materialist orientation of the eighties is gradually being complemented by the corresponding personal and societal components of work. The general trend is towards the democratisation of the workplace and the liberalisation of the labour market. This is accompanied by an individual-level protectionism which, however,  is not unrelated to racism, ageism and sexism.

Free-time

Most people spend their free time in the company of their friends or with people of their Church. Quite a few spend time in clubs and voluntary organisations, but very few do so with their work colleagues or professional associates.

Voluntary work

There is a marked increase in membership of  voluntary organisations (from 37% in 1984 to 42% in 1999) and participation in voluntary work (from 24% in 1984 to 29% in 1999). The Church (15%), sports  (9%) and trade unions (9%) are the most popular organisations. The greatest increase is in organisational belonging to sport and recreational activities, political parties, social action in the local community, as well as voluntary work for the welfare of the elderly, handicapped or deprived people. A considerable number are engaged in voluntary social welfare, youth work, health, Third World development, peace and women’s groups without membership in a corresponding organisation.

Social Intolerance

Generally, social intolerance towards deviant people remained just as strong, and in some respects has become even stronger than in the eighties. At the same time, they are more accepting of people with social problems.

Social Solidarity

There has been a marked increase in the percentage of respondents who think that people are more (from 28% in 1984 to 31% in 1999) or equally willing (15% in 1984, 16% in 1999) to help each other than they were ten years ago.

The greatest majority are very much (86%) or much concerned (10%) about the living conditions of their immediate family. Many are also much concerned, but to a lower extent, about the living conditions of people in their neighbourhood (45%), their fellow countrymen (40%), humankind (36%), people in their town (34%) and least of all Europeans (27%).  In particular, respondents feel most concerned about the living condition of the local elderly people, the sick and the disabled, the unemployed, but least of all immigrants.  Similar percentages are prepared to do something to improve the living conditions of their immediate family (99%), the sick and the disabled (82%), the elderly (77%), people in their neighbourhood or community (56%) and least of all immigrants (26%).

Religion

At the end of the millennium there are signs of a religious revival in Malta. Although over the past few years, religion seems to have lost some of its predominant importance, and a considerable percentage lost their sense of religious identity (94% in 1984, 65% in 1995) there are signs of a return to old and new forms of religion. The external manifestation of religion remains strong. In the late nineties there is a regained confidence in the Church as an institution and an improved relevance of its teaching. The trend towards relativistic ethics, manifest in the mid-nineties, has also been contained. Respondents’ great confidence in the Church, however, is gradually shifting towards a more qualified one. People’s self-reliance for their personal needs and decisions in life, requires the subsidiary support of social institutions, foremost the institutions of the Church.

Religion and Politics

Most Maltese respondents do not mind, and quite a few are very much in favour, to have religiously-inspired politicians, so long as the latter retain their independence from Church control. Many look favourably for politicians to be inspired by religion in public life and government decisions. Religious or Christian principles, however, are not to be enforced, sanctioned or legitimated by the leaders of the Church. Nor should the authorities of the Church give or withdraw support to politicians and political parties during elections time. Generally, people differentiate between religion, political power, public life and the leaders of the Church. People have come to understand that religion, morality and values are not the exclusive concern of the leaders of the Church.

Politics

The politicisation and political polarisation of Maltese society so much manifest during the first half of the eighties has given way to a more discrete involvement and mitigated interest in politics. The average score on a ten point left-right political scale for respondents in Malta slightly favours the political right, even though over the past few years it has undergone a small shift towards the left (6.4 in 1991, 5.76 in 1995, 5.81 in 1999). Since the last political elections which saw the return of the Nationalist Party to Government, the political right has regained some of its lost allegiance. Overall respondents tend to favour more middle-ground positions rather than extreme positions of either a right or a left political orientation. In the final analysis, the dominant political ideology in Malta at the end of the millennium is right of centre.

Democracy

The greatest majority of respondents in Malta agree (45%) or strongly agree (44%) that ‘democracy may have problems but it’s better than any other form of  government’.

In their assessment of the local political situation, the majority of respondents are quite satisfied (59%) or very satisfied (16%) with the way democracy is developing in Malta. Very few are not very satisfied (17%) or not at all satisfied (4%).

Present Government

On a ten-point assessment scale (where ‘1’ stands for ‘very bad’ and ‘10’ very good’), the present government obtains a mean score of 6.83, in comparison to 6.31 for the political system of ten years ago.

Political agenda for the next ten years: Respondents give top priority to the maintenance of a high level of economic growth and other material concerns, like maintaining order in the nation, and the fight against rising prices. These options, however, are not exclusive of post-material concerns such as giving people more participation in jobs and communities, participation in government decisions, making cities and countryside more beautiful, and protecting freedom of speech. Overall, however, towards the beginning of the new millennium the Maltese have retained a predominant materialist orientation.

Trust

Over the past fifteen years there has occurred a shift from an unconditional ‘great’ confidence in most social institutions, or ‘no confidence at all’ in certain other institutions, towards a more qualified trust. The overall trend is towards an increase of a circumscribed and limited confidence, away from categorical positions of ‘a great deal’ or ‘none at all’. In fact, respondents’ level of confidence in almost all social institutions has shifted from ‘a great deal’ or ‘none at all’ to ‘quite a lot’.

The declining confidence in most social institutions manifest in the mid-nineties has been arrested, and in certain institutions it has been restored to previous levels. Great trust has been restored foremost in the Church, the health care services, the educational system, the present government, the police and the armed forces.

Well-being

Over the past fifteen years, respondents in Malta obtained high mean scores on a ten-point home-life satisfaction scale (8.86 in 1984, 8.91 in 1999). The rating of their freedom of choice and control over life rose steadily from 6.43 in 1984 to 7.41 in 1999. Job satisfaction improved from 8.13 in 1984 to 8.44 in 1999 corresponding to their increased freedom to take decisions at work (6.01 in 1984 to 7.15 in 1999). The overall score on the life-satisfaction scale rose from 7.13 in 1984 to 8.20 in 1999.

Social Problems

Drugs

There has been an increasingly awareness that drug abuse is a very serious problem (43% in 1984 to 81% in 1999).

Immigrants

 The greatest majority want the government ‘to put strict limits on the number of foreigners’ (45%) or to prohibit their coming altogether (23%). Quite a few are against setting indiscriminate barriers ‘as long as there are jobs available’ (30%), but very few want the government to ‘let anyone who wants, to come’ (1%).

Environment

There is an increasing concern over the degradation of the environment, but a lesser commitment to combat pollution. An increasing number of respondents are also willing to give part of their income for the prevention of environmental pollution (58% in 1995, 59% in 1999). The majority of respondents agree (46%) or strongly agree (32%) that ‘Malta cannot solve its environmental problems by itself, but needs to collaborate with international organisations on environment protection.’

International collaboration is also required to combat criminality and unemployment. The social problems of contemporary society have clear global connections, requiring international strategies and global solutions.

European Union

 Taking all things into consideration, the majority of respondents (52.3%) agree that Malta should start negotiations with the European Union as soon as possible, 36.1% are against, and 11.6% are undecided about the issue.

Fifty percent of respondents agree that Malta should join the European Union, 35.6% disagree, but 14.4% are undecided. The slightly higher percentage of indecision about membership than about negotiations with the EU, suggests that a significant minority (2.2%), would be in a better position to decide on the advantages and disadvantages of Malta’s membership depending on the outcome of the negotiations.

Morality

Respondents in Malta have retained a very strict morality. Generally, over the past fifteen years they have kept equal levels in the non-justification of illegal and anti-social behaviour, but have somehow slackened on family and life morality.

Value gaps

In their evaluation on the incidence of illicit or immoral behaviour, respondents think that the most frequent irregular activities, in descending order are cheating on tax, not paying VAT, claiming state benefits without entitlement, taking the drug marijuana or hashish, throwing litter in public places, speeding over limit in built-up areas, casual sex and driving under the influence of alcohol. There is an apparent incongruence between the perceived occurrence of irregular behaviour and the high non-permissive morality of respondents in Malta. More plausibly, the observed increase in crime and deviance does not seem to lead respondents to lower their moral standards. Instead of accommodating their values to the new conditions they react against crime and deviance by maintaining, and in certain respects reinforcing, their moral standards.

Values for the new millennium

The majority increasingly find advantageous to put greater emphasis on family life, the development of the individual, a simple and more natural life style and a greater respect for authority.  Over the years there has been an increase in the appraisal of the development of technology, but also the support for less emphasis on money and material possessions. Many respondents see very positive the granting of more powers to Local Councils. Increasingly fewer respondents, however, favour a decrease in the importance of work in our lives.

The high scores on apparently divergent value-orientations suggests that it is not uncommon for people in Malta to mix-and-match the traditional and post-traditional, materialist and post-materialist aspirations, new and old values for the society of the future.