Mutual Perceptions Research

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Mutual Perceptions Research

• What young Germans and Britons think about each
  others countries. Key-findings.
• Part 1 Young Britons Perceptions of Germany

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Introduction (1)Background
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Introduction (2)Questionnaire design - overview
I Socio-demographics

• II Foreign countries in general Foreign
  languages

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Introduction (3)Sample description

• 49,9 16-20 years
• 50,1 21-25 years

Age

• 49,8 Primary/Secondary school completed
• 15,6 University completed
• 34,6 Not yet completed school / University

Education

• 12,8 Schoolboy / schoolgirl / learner at school
• 39,4 Students at University (or similar)
• 34,4 Full or part-time employee / Trainee
• 13,4 Others / Not working

Employment
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Personal future (1)
All in all, what would you say how optimistic you
are with respect to your personal future?
70 more optimistic

• Young British look quite optimistic into their
  personal future. About 70 indicate a positive
  general attitude.
• Just 7 are more pessimistic.

In . Base UK total (N1046)

• Asked for concerns regarding their personal
  future, just 15 spontaneously mention something
  about job or work (e.g. being out-of-work, not
  finding the dream job etc.). More are afraid of
  being faced by financial problems (debts) and
  personal situations like illness or loneliness.
  However, this is all exceeded by more general
  threats like international conflicts, becoming a
  victim of crime, economical crisis etc. (Among
  young Germans, the fear of being unemployed
  dominates anything else.)

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Personal future (2)
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Personal experienceswith Germany
How much time have you spent in Germany?
More than a year 3 months to a year 1 month to
less than 3 months 2 weeks to less than 4 weeks 1
week to less than 2 weeks Less than 1 week
In . Base ever visited Germany (N377)

• Only 34 of young British have ever been to
  Germany.
• 10 have spent more than 3 months in Germany.
• About 24 have close friends or relatives in
  Germany.
• Just about 14 have contact to Germans living in
  the UK.
• And only about 23 have some knowledge of the
  German language.

• 50 of young British have no personal
  relationship with Germany.
• (Vice versa 64 of the Germans have a personal
  relationship (visits or contacts) with the UK.)

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Perceptions of Germany (1)Rankings

• Of all countries in the world, which countries
  are you best informed about? (first mention)
• Of all countries in the world, which countries do
  you think most highly of? (first mention)
• If you were thinking of going abroad to study or
  work, which country would you choose first?
• Which country would you consider first for
  exchanging ideas and experiences?

1. USA (54) 2. France (10) 3. Ireland (8) 4.
Spain (7) 5. Australia (4) 6. Germany (4) 7.
Canada (2)
... best informed ...
... think most highly of ...
First choice for study or work.
... exchanging ideas and experiences.
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Perceptions of Germany (2)
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Perceptions of Germany (3)
What would you say are the two most
positive/negative things about Germany?
Positive issues with regards to Germany
Negative issues with regards to Germany
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Perceptions of Germany (4)
All in all, how would you rate your personal
overall opinion regarding Germany / your home
country?
In . Base UK total (N1046)
very positive 1 2 3 4 very negative 5 I dont
know

• Compared to their home country, young British
  people have a very negative opinion regarding
  Germany.
• Just 37 think in a positive way about Germany.

• A majority of young British believes that Germany
  values relations with the UK. Among the group
  disagreeing with that (38), the 2nd world war
  (historical antagonisms), the Iraq conflict and
  different goals in foreign politics (mainly with
  respect to the EU) are seen as main reasons for
  keeping distance. (In Germany, a majority do not
  believe that the UK values relations with
  Germany.)

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Thinking back over the last 3 years, what have
been the 2 most important influences on your
current positive / negative perceptions of
Germany?
Perceptions of Germany (5)Influences/source of
information
Positive perceptions of Germany are clearly
driven by personal visits, teachers and/or study
material and personal contacts whereas several
sources contribute to negative perceptions to a
similar degree. 31 of young British people do
not know where the negative influence comes from.
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Perceptions of Germany (6) Conclusions

• The majority of young British do not know much
  about Germany. The German image profile does not
  show many strong characteristics.
• With this lack of knowledge, young British in
  general tend to have more negative perceptions of
  Germany. People having personal contacts and
  experiences have mostly successfully managed to
  overcome this attitude.
• The German culture and history contribute to the
  perceptions positively and negatively to a
  similar degree. Surprisingly, even for a young
  British generation World War II and the German
  Nazi past are still present.
• Even among the people who have been to Germany
  personally, the mentality of the Germans is seen
  as ambivalent. On the one hand, Germans are nice
  and pleasant, well-organized and effective
  people. On the other hand, however, Germans are
  seen to be extremist, arrogant and impolite.
• Although the British seem to have difficulties
  with the German mentality, and although they do
  not consider Germans and British to be very
  alike, they still agree on a similar background
  in terms of respected values and living
  standards.

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Perception of the GIIN (1)Awareness
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Perception of the GIIN (2)Purpose of the GIIN
The very few people who having heard of the GIIN
have a correct picture of its purposes and
objectives.