Differences in Values within Macedonia: Macedonian—Albanian Comparisons

Abstract

The previous chapter compared the average responses of citizens of Macedonia to value-related questions in the European Values Surveys (EVS) with comparable average responses of people in other European countries. Since ethnic Macedonians¹ are the clear majority within Macedonia, the positions of Macedonia in the constellations of countries in the figures of the previous chapter mostly reflect their values, while the positions of other ethnic groups in Macedonia may be quite different. In this chapter, we concentrate on differences in values within Macedonia related to the attitudes, cultural norms, and religiosity of the Macedonian and Albanian populations. In addition to showing overall Macedonian—Albanian differences, we go on to explore Macedonian—Albanian differences in changes across age groups or birth cohorts, differences across educational groups, and urban versus rural differences. Limitations in the available data prevent us from emphasizing exactly the same variables as those examined in Chapter 3. Instead, following a number of arguments in Sabrina Ramet’s chapter on civic virtues and liberal values, we stress values related to ethnic exclusion, gender-role equality, consensus on basic mores concerning sexual behavior, and religiosity.