Beginning the year with some social science research, this map summarizes data from the 2010 World Values Survey. At the bottom you have survival vs self expression values, and to the left traditional values vs secular-rational values. My country of origin, Sweden, appears extreme here, by itself up high in the right hand corner. What this means, is that when asked in the survey, Swedes score both secular-rational values and self-expression highly. When asked in the same survey, Americans score self-expression almost as highly, but at the same time their values are way more traditional than those of Swedes. When it comes to traditional values, the US is on par with Argentina, Poland, Turkey, Zambia, and Ireland. Uruguay, Vietnam, Croatia, Italy, and Spain are all less traditional than the US. I think this is a good reminder, and something I tend to forget.