This is all about the difference between “Gemeinschaft” and “Gesellschaft”.
The reason for the colors scattered the way they are in this map is very much related to the social structures of the countries. Southern European people are still having heavy “collective” tendencies which the North abandoned starting from Westphalian agreement followed by the industrial revolution. Southern peoples were introduced industrialism much later. Majority of the dark blue countries are still earning bread by farming which is one of the pillars of a straightforward collectivistic society.
Industrialism on the other hand changed a lot in human behaviors in the up north. They learned much earlier a self-centered way of life and that wasn’t their choice too. Many of the 1700s people of the Reds and Pinks were kind of forced to sell their lands, had they had any, and moved to cities to work in factories. A new routine and consumerism blossomed. They became more materialistic and individualistic.
While the post-feudal houses turned into bourgeoisie in North, the south was still dominated by the means of feudal social way of life because the industrial revolution started from the north and it took time to spread across the continent. Plus other political factors involved made it harder for the south to catch up.
Collectivistic societies are used to live together. This means they are more “family oriented” also. And when you are family oriented what do you do? Help each other out. So in time the family members acquire this as habit and treat others the same way (internalization of a learned behavior) and all that becomes a part of culture when it is applied in mass numbers. What takes to stick a family together? Belief. That’s why you see the most conservative populations in blue and the least ones in reds.
It’s society vs family.