The study examined 34 countries in the EU and the OECD and has concluded that Lithuania is ahead of Latvia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania in terms of social cohesion.
Meanwhile Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland have the highest levels of social cohesion.
Social cohesion is defined as the special quality of how members of a community live and work together. A cohesive society is characterized by resilient social relationships, a positive emotional connectedness between its members and the community, and a pronounced focus on the common good.
The report found that the three most important socio-economic factors associated with social cohesion are national wealth as measured by GDP, and its level of development towards a modern information society.
The study broke down the concept of social cohesion into three domains—social relations, connectedness and focus on the common good. Each of these domains comprises three measurable dimensions: social networks, trust in people, acceptance of diversity, identification, trust in institutions, perception of fairness, solidarity and helpfulness, respect for social rules, and civic participation.
Lithuanian scored well in terms of trust in people, identification, social networks and acceptance of diversity. Meanwhile, the level of civic participation has dropped significantly over the last two decades.
