Crossing the line: a survey on Finnish moral standards
By Anna-Sofia Berner
What is the most immoral act that a person can do, if homicide and rape are excluded? Would it be tax fraud, or cheating on a loved one, or violence?
No, no, and no.
For Finns the most morally reprehensible act is to go on sick leave without being sick - something that is condemned by 85 per cent of Finns.
The Sunday edition of Helsingin Sanomat commissioned a survey of Finnish morality in October - the first ever of its kind.
In the survey, 1,000 Finns were asked to rank various acts in terms of morality.
The study was commissioned because issues of morality, including same-sex marriage, hate speech, and financial support for Greece, are currently in centre stage in the public debate.
The questions focused on what is right and wrong, how people should behave, how others should be treated, and what kinds of values guide our actions in society.
The questions varied from the theft of office supplies to the death penalty.
There were no questions about serious crimes such as sexual abuse of children, which are universally condemned.
Big and small issues are mixed in, as morality involves both everyday decisions, as well as taking stands on major issues of principle. Is it sometimes all right to travel on public transport and not pay for a ticket?
Should a criminal pay for an act with his life?
The most widely condemned activities suggest that Finns generally disapprove of taking sick leave without being ill, bribing police officers, smoking cannabis, cheating on their taxes, and being unfaithful to a spouse.
Majorities are also opposed to verbal abuse, insults, travelling on public transport without paying, and raising animals for profit on an industrial scale.
If everyone followed all of these moral standards, we would have a very nice society - one where there is no corruption, drug abuse, or slackers.
It would be a society where people obey rules, do not bully others people, mistreat animals, or cheat on loved ones.
The Finnish ideal is a country of moral people.
We take issues involving trust very seriously.
Perhaps we understand that trust is what holds society together.
Trust is worth adhering to; studies show that countries where people trust one another are richer than other countries.
Or then people in rich countries can better afford to trust their fellow human beings.
In any case we are insistent that people should follow rules that have been jointly agreed upon.
However, we do not yearn too much for rules in our private lives, as long as we don’t violate the trust of a partner.
Finns have become rather permissive in matters of family life.
Most of have no problem with couples having children without being married. As recently as the 1960s, it would have been seen as scandalous.
We are also accepting of men who love men and women who love women - much more so than just ten years ago. Getting drunk is also acceptable - even for women. Sex with a stranger is OK, and marriages do not need to be lifelong commitments.
Long live freedom!
Finns generally live as they teach.
In the survey, respondents were asked how many had committed acts that they consider morally questionable.
There was not a trace of double standards.
In fact, Finns seem to behave even better than what they expect of others.
While 29 per cent said that they could accept travelling without a ticket if circumstances require, only 25 per cent admitted to having done so, and although 25 per cent of Finns find cheating on a spouse to be acceptable in some situations, just 22 per cent had done so.
The infidelity rate for respondents over the age of 60 is 34 per cent, but of course they have had more time to do it.
Fifteen per cent said that they would approve of calling in sick because of a hangover, but only six per cent had done so.
Of course it is always possible that some respondents might be reluctant to confess to sins even anonymously.
However, opportunity makes a thief.
Those with high levels of education, members of the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland (AKAVA), and white-collar workers in general are more likely to bring pens and paper-clips home from the office.
Fare-dodging takes place mainly in the Helsinki region, where it is easy to get on a tram or Metro train without a ticket.
It would seem that Finns share the same values.
In questions of morality we largely tend to agree with each other.
There has been much talk of a division in the nation, but in this poll national unity would seem to have cracks only in a few questions.
These questions are pilfering office supplies, buying sex services, working without paying taxes, and the death penalty.
All of these are issues in which equal numbers of people approve and disapprove.
Differences among social classes are also small.
Our perceptions of right and wrong are similar, regardless of whether or not we are manual workers or office employees, country or city people, poor or rich.
Unity is surprisingly large until the answers are examined according to age and gender.
Then we can see that in many questions the moral standards of women differ from those of men, and a young person’s morality is different from that of an old person.
One-night stands, marital infidelity, and buying sex services are things that men find more acceptable than women.
Same-sex relations, meanwhile, are more difficult for men to accept than for women. The same goes for divorce.
As men are more understanding of marital infidelity, it is perhaps logical that women are more likely to approve of secretly reading a spouse’s SMS messages.
However, men might have just as much reason to read their spouses’ text messages as women, as 22 per cent of both men and women say that they have cheated on their spouse at some time.
Finnish women no longer feel that children necessarily require the security of marriage. In fact, they tend to take a more positive view of unmarried parenthood than men do.
On issues outside the family, violence is seen more negatively by women than by men.
Women find it more difficult than men to accept raising animals on an industrial scale, violent retribution, and killing terrorists.
Differences between generations are even greater than those between genders. In many issues younger age-groups think very much differently from older ones.
For instance, those under the age of 25 are more likely to be tolerant towards small-scale cheating on taxes, or towards taking unauthorised time off work.
But then the young have less experience of life at work.
The traditional view is that the young are more radical in their opinions than the older generations, and that radicalism will fade away with age.
However, differences between generations are not as straightforward.
For instance, animal rights activism has been seen as something that young idealists are interested in.
This impression is erroneous.
Opposition to raising large numbers of animals in small spaces tends to grow with age.
Perhaps one reason for this might be that older people are more likely to have had direct contact with a cow, a pig, or a chicken?
They remember a time before industrial-scale food production.
Organic food has an undeservedly elitist reputation. Blue-collar workers are more likely to oppose industrial production of animals than white-collar workers, and the poor are more likely to denounce it than the rich.
Sometimes, the generation gap can manifest itself in unexpected parts of the age range.
Those under the age of 25 take a more negative view of one-night-stands, infidelity, divorce, and binge drinking than those of the next age group.
There are proportionally as many supporters of abstinence from alcohol among the under-25s as there are among those who are 50 and over.
On the other hand, the young generation has the most positive view of homosexuals, and the most negative view of conscription.
Eighty percent of the young age group unconditionally approve of same-sex relationships, while only 42 per cent are unconditionally in favour of obligatory military service.
"Home" is perhaps rising in popularity, but "religion" and "country" may soon be values of the past.
It is often imagined that people who approve of gay relationships and abortion have liberal values in other respects as well.
This is not necessarily the case, at least not in Finland.
Some of Finland’s morally upright and tolerant Finns also have a cruel streak.
We tend to think that it is alright to refer to a dark-skinned person as neekeri (“negro”).
A majority of us also approve of pulling a child’s hair - at least sometimes, even though corporal punishment of children is illegal in Finland, and has been for years.
Furthermore, nearly half of us could accept the death penalty in some situations.
We're a mix and no mistake.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 5.11.2011
ANNA-SOFIA BERNER / Helsingin Sanomat
Crossing the line: a survey on Finnish moral standards