Study title

EVA Survey on Finnish Values and Attitudes Autumn 2023

Dataset ID Number

FSD3827

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3827

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA)

Abstract

The study charted Finnish people's values and attitudes. The themes of the Autumn 2023 survey included politics in Finland, the reform of labour market legislation, racism, security and threats, international politics, presidential powers and role, and the future of Ukraine.

First, the respondents were presented with attitudinal statements concerning a variety of social topics, such as politics, the labour market, entrepreneurship, Finland's foreign relations, hate speech, presidential powers and Finland's NATO membership.

Next, the respondents' views on politics and politicians in Finland were examined with a series of attitudinal statements (e.g. 'Power is concentrated in too few hands, small circle of true decision-makers”, 'Listen carefully to citizens' opinions and carry out the will of the people”). The respondents' opinions on the reformation of labour legislation were surveyed by asking whether various labour market issues (e.g. political strikes, use of fixed-term contracts) should be regulated more loosely or strictly in the future or whether the legislation should remain the same as at present. The respondents' perception of their household's financial situation and their outlook on their own futures were also charted.

On the topic of racism, the respondents were asked how big of an issue they considered racism to be in Finnish society, how racism they thought Finland was at the moment, how important it was to them that racism was not tolerated in Finland, and to what degree they found certain behaviours and actions to be racist (e.g. discrimination based on ethnic background, overlooking the job application of a person due to a name which indicates a minority ethnicity background, humour and entertainment involving ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious minorities). Additionally, the respondents were asked how concerned they were about certain security threats (e.g. a military attack on Finland, a global economic crisis, efforts to destabilise Finnish society by hybrid influencing, violence by political extremist groups).

Views on the powers, policies and roles of the Finnish President were investigated. Opinions on presidential power were surveyed by asking the respondents how much power the president should have in areas such as foreign and security policy, EU affairs, national defence, economic policy, labour market issues, and social and health policy. The respondents were also asked how suitable different roles (e.g. 'moral leader, who raises public debate on important issues and uses their authority to promote them”, 'international relations professional, who has an in-depth understanding of international politics and focuses on them”, 'a strong commander-in-chief, who is familiar with the armed forces and capable of making military decisions”) were for next the President of Finland in their opinion. The respondents' views were charted on what model of separation of powers between the government and the President was appropriate for Finland.

The respondents were asked about their views on several influential countries in world politics (e.g. China, Russia, USA, the UK, Germany, Japan). The respondents' views on Russia, China and USA were surveyed with a more detailed series of statements that charted, for example, whether the countries were important trading partners or major military threats. Views on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war were also investigated with a series of statements (e.g. 'The threat of the war spreading to other countries is receding”, 'Ukraine will retake all the territories captured by Russia, including the Crimean Peninsula”, 'Nuclear weapons will not be deployed”). Finally, opinions were charted on Finland's NATO membership, Finland's EU membership and the currency change to euro.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age group, number of inhabitants in the municipality of residence, region (NUTS3), type of employer, working hours, type of employment contract, education, economic activity and occupational status, employment sector, trade union membership, what political party R would vote for in parliamentary elections, self-perceived social class, mother tongue and annual gross income of the R's household.

Keywords

European integration; attitudes; decision making; foreign policy; heads of state; international relations; labour market; labour market; national security; politics; racism

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Government, political systems and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• International politics and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Equality, inequality and social exclusion (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

EVA Surveys on Finnish Values and Attitudes

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Taloustutkimus

Time Period Covered

2023

Collection Dates

2023-09-15 – 2023-09-27

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

People aged 18-79 residing in Finland (excluding the Åland Islands)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Multistage

A stratified random sample was drawn from among the internet panel of Taloustutkimus. Altogether, 2,045 people responded to the survey. The final data were weighted at Taloustutkimus to be representative of the Finnish population with respect to age, gender, region of residence, education, occupation/occupational status, employment sector, and political party preference (which party R would vote for in national elections).

The internet panel of Taloustutkimus, randomly drawn from Finland's population register, consists of individuals aged 15-79 who have entered their demographic and sociographic information when registering to the panel and have given their consent to Taloustutkimus to invite them to participate in various surveys. Responding to any survey is voluntary and participants can leave the panel any time they want.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Self-administered questionnaire: Messaging (SMS/MMS)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To prevent identification of respondents, open-ended 'comment' responses were removed from the data during archiving. Additionally, municipalities with less than 4,000 inhabitants were removed from the municipality variable by FSD.

Weighting

The data contain a weight variable [paino], which weights the data to be representative of the Finnish population aged 18-79 with respect to age, gender, region of residence, education, occupation/occupational status, occupational sector, and political party preference.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA): EVA Survey on Finnish Values and Attitudes Autumn 2023 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2023-11-14). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3827

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Haavisto, Ilkka (2023). Suomalaiset toivovat uudesta presidentistä ensisijaisesti kansakunnan keulakuvaa ja ulkopolitiikan johtajaa. [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Artikkeli 31.10.2023. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2023/10/31/suomalaiset-toivovat-uudesta-presidentista-ensisijaisesti-kansakunnan-keulakuvaa-ja-ulkopolitiikan-johtajaa/ [viitattu 14.11.2023].

Metelinen, Sami (2023). Konsensuksen loppu. Suomalaisten näkemykset työmarkkinakysymyksiin politisoituvat [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Analyysi 124. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/eva-analyysi-no-124.pdf [viitattu 14.11.2023].

Haavisto, Ilkka (2023). Enemmän presidenttiä! Suomalaisia kiinnostaa paluu presidenttivetoiseen järjestelmään [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Analyysi 126. https://www.eva.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/eva-analyysi-no-126.pdf [viitattu 4.1.2023].

Metelinen, Sami (2023). Talouskriisin ohella suomalaisia huolettavat yhä enemmän väkivallanteot ja levottomuudet [verkkodokumentti]. Helsinki: Elinkeinoelämän valtuuskunta. EVA Artikkeli 20.12.2023. https://www.eva.fi/blog/2023/12/20/talouskriisin-ohella-suomalaisia-huolettavat-yha-enemman-vakivallanteot-ja-levottomuudet/ [viitattu 4.1.2024].