Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 3, 2026

Exploring the Role of Deontic Reasoning and World Knowledge in Wason´s Selection Task
Published on: July 22, 2025
The preferred role and perceived performance of the welfare state: European welfare attitudes from a multidimensional
Femke Roosma1, Wim van Oorschot2, John Gelissen3
1Department of Sociology, Tilburg University, P.O. Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Welfare state support has two core dimensions: attitudes about what the welfare state should do and beliefs about its actual performance. People can combine any position on one dimension with any position on the other, yielding four opinion clusters: people can combine preferences for a relatively strong role of the welfare state with a perception of a relatively low or high welfare state performance; likewise, people preferring a small role of the welfare state can perceive a high or low performing welfare state. We apply Latent Class Factor Analysis to data of 22 European countries from the 2008/9 European Social Survey. We find that each of the four clusters contains a substantial proportion of respondents that differs between welfare regimes. In addition, cluster membership is also related to covariates that measure people's structural positions and ideological preferences.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
The Role of Culture
Traits, Mood, and Subjective Wellbeing
Neuroticism and...
Role-Based Identity
Attitudes
Social Foundations of Self II: The Generalized Other
Self Within Cultural Contexts

