Protestant roots of honesty and other Finnish values

Abstract

In this chapter, we examine the Protestant roots of four Finnish values: egalitarianism, work-related (or Protestant ethic) values, education-related values (Bildung in German, sivistys in Finnish), and honesty. We distinguish three levels: cultural, individual, and behavioural. In terms of these three levels, equality seems to be part of the cultural (behavioural) programming of the Finns as a nation, even though it does not figure prominently in the social representation of national identity or rank high in individual value hierarchies. Work-related values seem to be quite central to Finnish national identity, as well as empirically linked to honesty, also a central Finnish value. Education as a value seems to be more on a cultural level, and thus unites a more general Protestant approach, rather than being more specifically Finnish. Honesty is a value for which all three levels – national, individual, and behavioural – are in an agreement in Finland. This chapter advances evidence of a social psychological mechanism through which egalitarianism, Protestant work ethic, and education values jointly produce honesty and other ingredients of a functioning democracy. However, it should be noted that those associations are statistical and not deterministic or straightforward. The Finnish (and Nordic) honesty norm could be seen as a result of a joint influence of several values, not just attributable to the impact of one or two values. ; Peer reviewed