A dive into “What the Greeks believe-2022” survey
DiaNEOsis’s research “What the Greeks believe” is an original attempt to map the mentality of Greek society, to measure attitudes, to value issues and to control the impact of the situation on the formation of Greek political -basically- culture. Having hopefully reached its sixth wave, the research now offers the possibility of comparison over time and allows to identify which value choices of Greek society are well established and which are most sensitive to the processes of change. The periodicity of the research and the sampling at these times (April 2015, November 2015, December 2016, February 2018, December 2019, February-March 2022) makes it an excellent observatory of “common perceptions’’ in desperate times.
It is useful to emphasize the subject, when answering questions that summarize “what people believe” or “how people feel”, do not reveal some of them deep and pure truths as they mediate a multitude of “filters” such as language, the degree of understanding of the question, etc. A tangible example that can lead to confusion both the question and the reader of the research is the question: “What of the following do you think should be done with immigrants who enter our country illegally…”. One possible answer is “To be fully integrated into Greek society”.
Here it has been observed that the language filter acts as a misinterpretation because the concept of integration can be read simultaneously from both the point of view of rights and the one of obligations. In other words, it can be considered as a pleasure of the institutional and financial aids provided by the Greek state. Also, it can be read as a forced subordination to a model of life and to specific traditions. This is why the combination of questions concerning beliefs with questions that focus on emotions enables the analyst, but also the ordinary reader, to overcome interpretive difficulties, such as the one mentioned above.
Initially, the survey “What the Greeks believe” tries to capture the overall significance of the multiple and continuous crises faced by the Greek Society. More specifically, the research compares previous important political conjunctions and empirical environments in order to make more noticeable the change of society in the 21st century. The period we are going through is historic because great crises are constantly manifesting themselves, affecting the emotions and the daily life of the world. The survey includes the analysis of a period of rapid change. That is why it is not limited to the war in Ukraine, nor to the technological crises of the past, nor to the great catastrophes that have occurred in our country recently, such as the countless fires that occurred during the summer and the problems of snow trapping this winter. Therefore, the survey includes and studies the emotions and the profiles of Greeks. The change in the attitude of the citizens is due to a large extent to social events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
So, we are going through a period of reshaping, of a modern society trying to balance in a threatening new world. The predominant emotions that characterize citizens at the moment are insecurity and frustration along with anger. The main feeling of financial insecurity of the citizens became more intense after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. In addition, in our country the pandemic has already found us burdened by the economic crisis of previous years. We live in a time when one negative event follows the next, with the result that citizens are unable to find the positive and become frustrated. In addition, existential insecurities have been created by the climate crisis and the demographic decline, as citizens believe that the quality of life directly affects their psychosynthesis.
Also, as for the rights and society regarding women, the percentage of people who believe that the phenomenon of sexual abuse in our country is widespread today has increased significantly compared to last year by 23.6% and the largest percentage who declare themselves abused are women. Meanwhile, the majority of the world believes that the penalties for very serious crimes and acts that leave serious or permanent damage should be tightened.
Therefore, what is understood is that the feelings of the Greeks are interrelated with the issues that occur in the 21st century, as there is a strong sense of danger. It is very reasonable for Greeks to feel this way because they are experiencing unprecedented crises and world-historical events that shape the period we are going through.
Τhe majority of respondents seem to be looking for rational tools and rational protection mechanisms. Τhis realistic turn is reinforced by the fact that in the research no evidence of the not-so-old resort to transcendental-type answers are detected. For example, the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine as a mean of combating the pandemic looks impressive with 84.6% of respondents being hyperbolic. In the same rational complex, we need to include the answers given regarding the cases where science clashes with religion, with the former dominating.
At the same time, in the search for rational answers, in a world that is constantly changing, Europe is related. In all policy areas, respondents say they want Europe to be more involved. Health (80.2%), education (71.5%), foreign policy (72%) and defense (77.3%) are areas in which people respond with very large percentages that they would like partial European competence.The last field in which we can identify data concerning the request for protection from the dangers of the modern world is the questions concerning the State. The Greek State as a protective mechanism is depicted somewhat blurred in this survey. General answers about prosperity coexist with the demand for tax reduction, and others.
The research, as already mentioned, attributes a kind of balanced social modernization and a clear process of liberalization of life as basic elements of the national profile that is formed nowadays. The positioning of the Americans at the highest point (49.3%) of the sympathy scale (and with a relatively even distribution in the ideological and political self-positioning of the respondents) shows that the stereotypical anti-Americanism of the post-dictatorship has subsided. The strong Russophilia (48.7%) that is only slightly bent by the Russian invasion of Ukraine (in contrast to Putin’s image, which is debunked compared to the previous measurement) mitigates, but does not negate the previous finding.
An important finding is the strongly positive opinion of the Jews (46.3%) — which is not canceled, but of course tempered by the existence and respectable percentage of negative opinions (31.9%) — which probably results from the political-strategic cooperation of the two countries in recent years and the significant participation of Israelis in the Greek real estate economy.
Furthermore, the disengagement from communitarian schemes, ideological predispositions and, as will be shown below, dogmatic forms of organization of life, will be reflected in other questions where the autonomy of the individual emerges as a primary concern. This is the cluster of questions about sexual harassment. This double premise (of gender-based violence as an element of the Greek reality on the one hand and an experience of harassment suffered by a woman -or a man- is a strong signal of both participation in a global wave of new female emancipation and a clear positioning of individual autonomy above any prejudice of national consecration and social conventionality.
The impression of a perceptible liberalization of the social body and a strong tendency towards secularism also shows a series of answers about the relationship of the respondents with religion. Apart from the very clear answers that show the predominance of scientific knowledge over the religious interpretation of the world when the two clash with each other — and to which we referred above — it is worth mentioning some specific changes that are recorded in the field of everyday practices. The 17.2% now say they do not believe in God while respondents who declare themselves close and very close to religion barely exceed 53%.
In any case, this is a clear sign of the liberalization of the social field and the development of a new habitat that favors the autonomy of the individual vis-à-vis the traditional institutions. It is extremely interesting, for example, to observe that quite high rates of sympathy are recorded by the figure of the refugee (which were further reinforced by the refugee crisis of the war in Ukraine -55.4% express positive emotion) while the feelings expressed towards immigrants in general are mostly negative (42.8% express negative emotion).
The survey “What the Greeks believe” created a lot of significant arguments as far as the value system of the Greek citizens and their behavior are concerned. In particular, a lot of changes and crises have occured the last few years affecting every different aspect in society like the political, the ethical, or the environmental aspect of the society. It becomes clear that the constant threats in the global environment are changing the way that people recognize the hazards. The pandemic of COVID-19 in conjunction with other threats, such as the European War that is happening in Ukraine, differentiate the mindset of people realizing that they are vulnerable and they should not take for granted values like health or peace respectively.
The crises of the last few years create serious consequences, some of them are predictable while others not but it goes without saying that all of them should be taken into account. These crises are interrelated with the polarization of the people as for their ideological points of view. Moreover, the disagreements of the different social classes continue to arise increasing the problem of inequalities. Hence, the disunity within the country and the government is truly affected by the crises.
The constant changes in the external environment create more challenges than the aforementioned in society. For instance, the rapid and unnumbered information of all those happenings are affecting the people. Nevertheless, it seems that this information does not constrict the society based on the data of the research. The results of the survey disclose that the phenomena of populism in the political system or the feelings of resentment are not dominant. The global challenges are creating more mature opinions about the happenings and the ethical reality. The opinions on these challenges seem to differentiate based on the ages of people. That is, the Generation Z (17–24 years old) are creating their own mindsets without supporting the existing dominant ideologies. Thus, this Generation seems to differentiate from the others.
To sum up, the results of the survey create a crystal clear conclusion as far as the affection of these threats in people’s lives are concerned. The conservatism of the society is not increased contrary to what is expected given current circumstances. Instead, the process of the evolution of liberalism in the society is not restricted by the happenings. Lastly, the crises that have place those years play a dominant role in the acquisition of a more realistic approach to this contemporary world, revealing that the mindsets are changing with the passage of time.
Source: https://www.dianeosis.org/2022/04/mia-sygxroni-koinonia-se-enan-apeilitiko-kosmo/
by ADream Team: Maria Patinioti, Marikelly Laskou, Mirto Theodosopoulou & leonidas lepidas
