Author: Heiko Beyer (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany), Annette Schnabel (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany)

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ABSTRACT

The article discusses the relationship between religious and political worldviews and argues that both types of phenomena share three features: they offer (a) robust structures of meaning (nomizations), (b) clear moral guidelines (Manichaeism), and (c) a prophecy of the future(eschatologies). Using data from the European Values Study of 2008/2009 (n = 29,995) we found that Catholic and Orthodox respondents reveal higher amounts of conservatism than the average respondent whereas Protestants are slightly more liberal and socialist. Orthodox individuals had the highest affinity for fascist worldviews. Multilevel logit regression models further show that especially fascist and conservative worldviews are based on nomizations, Manichaeism, and eschatological beliefs. The same accounts for all religious worldviews with the lowest effects found for Protestants and the highest for European Muslims. Analyses also show that the three basic elements of worldviews are more relevant for individuals living in countries with greater economic deprivation and inequality.