Final report of activity 2

Second Task: personal values

October 2010 - February 2011

coordinating country: Italy

FINAL REPORT

Presentation

For the first task we decided to make a survey to see whether all the six countries had similar opinions about different values. Each question had to be answered by at least 90 people, including teenagers, parents and grandparents. These were the steps of the work:

1. Brainstorming about values (Italy, all the group, October 2010)
2. Each student suggested at list five statements to be voted
3. creation of a 'personal values' task force (4 students)
4. Selection of 16 sentences by the task force
5. Translation of the selected statements into English
6. Questionnaire preparation
7. Questionnaire and tasks sent to the different partners
8. Submitting the questionnaires (all the countries)
9. Collecting the results of the questionnaires (Italy, 'personal values' task force, January 2011)
10. Treatment of the data, considering both age difference and different nationalities (Italy, teachers)
11. Meeting of the in order to discuss the results of the questionnaire & drafting final report (Italy, all the group)
12. Writing the final report (Italy, coordinator teacher, February 2011)

Statements & answers

1. «You cannot be happy if you do not have money»

>> rather disagree than agree, but Dutch elders are more 'dreamers', while teenagers (specially Turkish & Dutch) are the most pragmatic ones

There is a clear difference between Holland, which shows a big disagreement (only the 50% of people agree), and Turkey, which in the contrary agree at 65%. So Holland appears to be the most 'idealist' country. But there is an evident  difference between young Dutch, very concerned by money (70%), and parents/grandparents at the top of the opposite ranking (only 40%). Italy and Spain are very similar in their opinion, for all categories (around 52 % of agreement). Comparing categories, young people are the less idealist (46% agree, then very much concerned by money), contrarily from parents (only 32%).

2. «If you obey all the rules, you’ll miss the fun: if you really want to enjoy yourself, you must go beyond limits»

>> 67% 'agree' or 'rather agree': as expected, elders rather disagree (especially Dutch) & teenagers rather agree (especially Polish & Dutch), but Dutch teenagers are the most transgressive, while Italian & Spanish the most 'quiet' ones

Dutch teenagers are very transgressive, but parents are not. Italian teenagers are quite at odds, while parents and grandparents are totally at odds. Polish teenagers and parents tend to agree, but the grandparents are in disagreement. In Spain and in Turkey all the people mostly disagree. German teenagers are quite with parents and grandparents disagree.

3. Underage smoking and drinking should be prohibited

>> 71% agrees (more parents than teenagers), but Dutch are totally prohibitionist, while Germans want more freedom

In the majority of all ages 'totally agree' prevails . The only countries that deviate from the average are Germany and the Netherlands. The Netherlands is fully in agreement on all categories (100%), and then shows a healthy and prohibitionist attitude, while Germany appears the less prohibitionist among all the countries.

4. Boys should be allowed more freedom than girls

>> a worrying 32% agree: Dutch are the most anti-feminist, Polish the most egalitarian; teenagers (especially Germans) are more sexist than parents (?!)

Dutch  appear more conservative and anti-feminist than others countries. 70% of Dutch parents and 100% of Dutch grandparents think it’s correct to give more freedom to boys than girls (is the reason security or the excessive control that males familiars have on females one?). Italian parents are the most liberal.

5. Children should leave home as soon as possible and try to be independent

>> fifty-fifty, but absolutely no for Turkish and absolutely yes for Germans. Italians are not so papa's boys as one would say!

Turkish are the most mama's boys or girls, while Germans agree that kids should be employed as soon as possible. Italian teenagers are the most freedom-seekers. There is also a gap between parents and grandparents: parents are more related to their children and therefore disagree with the statement.

6. Your individual interest is more important than common interest

>> general disagreement (63%), but Germans and Turkish are the most 'social', while Spanish are  hyper-individualist

Spanish and Dutch are less socially responsible than others, while German and Turkish take care of common interests. Young people are more selfish than their parents, and than aged people.

7. Natives should have more rights than immigrants

>> 34% agree (especially Turkey & Germany): Dutch are the most pro-immigrant, while German grandparents (followed by Italian ones) are the most xenophobe

8. In a love relationship, betrayal is inevitable

>> Noooo (71%)! Italians are the most romantic one, Dutch seem the most pessimistic (but romanticism decreases with age!)

9. You should feel ashamed if, when you are 20, you have never had sex

>> 70% no! It's not even a question for Turkish, but a big one for Dutch (?!?). Teenagers are much more worried than elders, especially the German ones!

10. Nobody has the right to kill:  even killing someone who has killed is wrong

>> 82% agree (mostly parents), but Germans (especially grandparents) approve killing a person who has killed

More than 2/3 of the population agree that it is wrong to kill somebody even if he is a murderer. The Dutch totally agree (100%), the German don't agree, especially the grandparents: they agree with death penalty. In general grandparents agree with death penalty, while teenagers don't agree.

11. It is not a crime to interrupt an un-wanted  pregnancy

>> very controversial: 63% no vs 37% yes. Approval decreases with age (Germans the most liberal).

For 40% of the general population, interrupt an un-wanted pregnancy is a crime, in particular the Netherlands agree with 100%. While the Germans don't consider it as a crime. Considering the age, the problem of abortion in young people is less severe than the thoughts of parents and especially grandparents.

12. The right war does not exist: even the 'war on terror' is not a right one

>> yes! (but a little less for Germans, Spanish and the teenagers)

The 60% of the population agrees with the statement that the right war not exist, Netherlands with 100%. On the contrary Germans, followed by Spanish show a certain disagreement, like most of the parents.

13. Homosexuals cannot ask for the same rights as heterosexuals

>> a stunning 61% agree, especially grandparents: Turkish & Dutch fully support discrimination, while Spain is the most liberal.

Generally the people of the six countries agree that homosexuals can’t have the same rights as heterosexual. The category which is most different than the common average is the grandparents’ one, which almost agree with this statement, while parents and teenagers don’t agree totally. The countries which are most different for their totally agreement are Turkey and Netherlands , while Spain is more tolerant.

14. Religion plays an important part in our education : you are not completely educated without religion

>> Yes, Europe is a religious continent, mostly thank to Turkish, Italians & grandparents, while Spanish, Germans & teenagers are the most secularized

In general, the people of the six countries is partially agree with the statement (2.61). The category which is most different than the common average is the grandparents' one, which almost agree. Turkey almost totally agree, while Spain almost totally disagree

15. Culture is essential for every aspect of life:  I would rather buy a book than a new dress

>> yes for 66%: the most pro-book are the Italian grandparents, the most anti-books the Polish tenagers. Unfortunately approval decreases with age...

Generally the people of the six country rather agree (2,85), There is quite a difference between the teenagers opinion and grandparents' ideas: the grandparents think that the culture is essential for every aspect of life. Polish teenagers are less interested in books than other countries

16. Honesty always pays: when you behave honestly, you feel you are a stronger and better person

>> of course (86%), especially for the elders and the Dutch, not so much for the Spanish

Generally the people of the six countries almost totally agree with the statement (3.5), less the teenagers than the parents and the grandparents. Polish grandparents & Dutch 100% (!) agree with the statement.