Türkiye's Value Map: A Current Look at What Society Cares About

Public debate in Türkiye often assumes that society’s values are changing rapidly, whether toward individualism, conservatism, or a break between generations, yet such claims are rarely tested against representative data. This report describes the value priorities of adults in Türkiye using a nationally representative telephone survey conducted in August–September 2026 (n = 993). Values were measured with a twenty-item scale adapted from the Human Values Scale of the twelfth round of the European Social Survey (ESS) and grounded in Schwartz’s refined theory of basic human values. The findings are compared with ESS measurements of Türkiye from 2004 and 2008, with Turkish value studies dating back to the 1970s, with twenty-nine ESS countries, and with the pan-cultural value hierarchy. Differences are evaluated by effect size rather than statistical significance, and shared values are treated as findings in their own right.Values in Türkiye form a tiered structure rather than a strict rank order. Security, Face, Benevolence, Universalism, and Humility are endorsed with high and closely similar importance, with Security and Face at the top. More than 90% of respondents rate protecting nature, a strong state able to protect its citizens, personal safety, and never being humiliated as very important. Conformity, Self-Direction, Tradition, Hedonism, Stimulation, and Achievement form a second, more selectively endorsed cluster. Within Power, wealth is considered important by two thirds of respondents, while exercising control over others is clearly rejected.This profile is shared across social groups. For the most highly valued values, no difference by age, education, gender, or region exceeds a small effect size. Age is the main dividing line, operating through Tradition, Conformity, and Self-Direction, but these differences reflect the intensity with which the same values are held rather than a generational rupture. The core structure has also been stable over time. Security, Benevolence, Universalism, and Tradition form the top cluster in 2004, 2008, and 2026 alike. Compared with other societies, Türkiye shares the common hierarchy in which Benevolence, Universalism, and Security rank highest. What distinguishes it is the relatively high importance of Tradition and Rule Conformity and the relatively low importance of Self-Direction. Read together with classic analyses of state and society in Türkiye, the findings suggest that expectations of a protective state and an ethic of solidarity rooted in close relationships have broad counterparts at the level of individual values, and they set clear limits on common narratives of value change.