Hello, totomigi-ga!
You have certainly asked about an extremely interesting topic.
Although it is very broad in scope, I found several recent polls which
seem tailor-made for your question! Each poll reflects a wide range
of opinions among citizens of the world and their hopes and feelings
about the future.
HARRIS POLL - 2003
==================
A recent Harris Poll measured the optimism and satisfaction of the
citizens of the United States and fifteen European countries. Excerpts
of the results follow:
Life Satisfaction
-----------------
"The big picture is that Americans are much more satisfied with their
lives than Europeans, much more likely to believe that their lives
have improved and much more likely to expect their personal situations
will improve."
"Fully 57% of Americans are very satisfied with their lives, compared
to an average of 21% in Europe. Forty-nine percent of Americans think
that their lives have improved in the last five years compared to 36%
of Europeans. And 63% expect their personal situation will improve in
the next five years compared to only 40% in Europe. However, Europe is
not at all homogenous and the mood varies widely from country to
country."
(In the survery, the one country that outranked the United States in
"life satisfaction" was Denmark.)
Life Improvement
----------------
"The largest proportions of people who feel that their lives have
improved in the last five years are in Ireland (54%) - whose economy
has been booming for most of the last decade - and Sweden (50%),
compared to 49% in the U.S. Relatively large proportions in Denmark
(47%), the Netherlands (47%) and the United Kingdom (46%) also report
their lives have become better.
"At the other end only 23% of adults in Germany, 26% in Belgium, and
28% in Austria think their lives have improved."
Optimism about the future
-------------------------
"Not even the most optimistic European country (Spain) is as
optimistic as America, and most countries in Europe are much less
optimistic than Spain is. The 63% of American adults who expect their
lives will improve in the next five years compares to 57% of
Spaniards, 53% of Italians and 51% of Irish who expect the same."
"At the other end of the spectrum, only 20% of Germans, 27% of
Austrians, and 31% of Belgians expect their personal situations will
get better."
Is there a pattern?
--------------------
"Within Europe, there is a clear pattern with some countries, mostly
in Northern Europe, giving generally upbeat and positive responses,
while other countries, particularly Germany and the Mediterranean
countries, indicating they are much less happy or optimistic."
"Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, the U.K. and Ireland score better
than average on all questions. Germany does poorly on all three
questions and scores worst of all on the last five years and the next
five years."
"Greece and Portugal have very low life satisfaction and are below
average on the last five years but are close to the European average
on optimism for the next five years. Spaniards are near the bottom on
life satisfaction but are also the most optimistic people."
"The other pattern, of course, is the big differences between
Americans and Europeans. The findings will not surprise those who
believe in "American exceptionalism" and the power of the American
dream."
(Please see the following article for charts and methodology)
"Americans Are Far More Optimistic And Have Much Higher Life
Satisfaction Than Europeans," by Humphrey Taylor. Harris Interactive.
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=378
A TWELVE COUNTRY POLL - 2001
==============================
A 12-Country survey initially performed before the September 11
terrorist attacks and repeated on the one-year anniversary of 9/11
found that Americans still hold the front spot with the highest hopes
for the future.
=
"As the events of September 11 approach their one year anniversary,
and with concern among nations over their economies and world events,
a 12-country survey by Ipsos replicates and compares the findings of a
survey conducted in the United States, Canada, Australia, the U.K.,
France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia,
and the Ukraine, prior to the events of September 11, 2001. The
resulting comparable findings examine citizens? ratings of their hope
for the future (culminating in Ipsos?s Hope Index, developed for and
tracked in Ipsos's World Monitor) and perceived quality of life."
"The most significant finding of the results is that despite a
traumatic year for Americans, comparisons made with the survey results
conducted pre-9/11 using the same questions and methodology show
almost the identical findings in a post-9/11 environment."
* In terms of hope, Americans are the 12-country frontrunners (61%
have the highest hopes for the future, defined as a "6" or "7" on a
7-point scale), despite the 9/11 trauma they endured just one year
ago, ongoing speculation about being committed to another conflict in
the Middle East, and a stagnant economy.
* Australians (45%), Canadians (43%), and Britons (42%) trail the
Americans, but significantly outdistance the French (29%) and
especially the Germans (15%).
* In Eastern Europe, roughly 4 in 10 Hungarians, Romanians, and
Ukrainians are optimistic about the future ("6" or "7"), which is near
the level of optimism among Canadians and Britons.
* By contrast, just 23% of Russians and 22% of Poles are hopeful about
the future ("6" or "7"). However, this is still less despondent than
Germans? predictions.
=
Please read the entire article since it contains more detailed
information as well as charts.
"Measuring Hope For The Future And Quality Of Life - A 12-country
survey from pre-9/11 replicated and released on the eve of the 9/11
anniversary." Ipsos News Center. Released September 4, 2002.
http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=1607
GLOBAL ISSUES MONITOR POLL - 2002
=================================
About the poll:
----------------
"The Global Issues Monitor is the most comprehensive survey currently
conducted worldwide on globalization-related issues. Since 2001 It has
been conducted annually in 25 countries by agencies that form part of
the Environics network, and of which Eurisko has been the Italian
member since 1997. A sample of 1000 individuals aged 18 and over is
interviewed in each country."
Results:
---------
This results of this poll paint a somewhat different picture. Expect
for U.S. respondents, most of those surveyed exhibit a feeling of
dismay.
"The future is perceived to be anything but rosy. Overall only 30% of
respondents believe that the world is "moving in the right direction".
This pessimistic view is shared by a majority in all countries, with
the sole exception of the United States of America.
There appears to be a clear gap in the way the Americans see the
future of the world and how the other countries see it. The USA is
also the only country, along with Russia, in which the perception of
the future improved between 2001 and 2002."
"The perception of the national situation in all countries is better
than the global one. Americans are also the most positive in their
views on the direction in which their country is moving. The 25 point
increase between 2001 and 2002 is a striking indicator of the markedly
positive attitude towards the present political leadership.
Other countries also saw an improvement in the course of the last
year. In particular, Russia followed by Spain, United Kingdom, Italy,
Germany and Canada. In other words all those countries making up part
of the G8, with the exception of France and Japan.
Latin American countries, in contrast, perceive a clear worsening.
In general men, young people under 34 and respondents with higher
levels of income and education are the most optimistic about their
future."
"Despite the relative pessimism about the future of the world in about
half the countries considered, the majority believe that the future
generations will enjoy a better quality of life than the present one.
The citizens above all of poor countries (India, Mexico, Chile) are
most optimistic, alongside the United States, United Kingdom and
Russia. But in many countries with a high level of per-capita income
(France, Germany, Japan, Italy) there is a widespread awareness that
it is difficult to maintain the present levels of affluence.
"On the whole about 40% of respondents perceive themselves as
"citizens of the world" rather than citizens of their own country.
Only in three countries - India, Germany and Italy - is there a
majority of "global citizens". National identity is more deeply rooted
in Russia, Latin America, the United States and Japan than in Europe
(with the exception of France). A "global" identity is shared more by
those who have a higher income and a higher level of education as well
as by the younger age groups."
"Opinions as to the influence of US culture indicate a sharp rift. In
many countries, the majority of the population feel that US culture is
not having a positive effect. People with a high level of education
are the most critical. Young people are split. There is a significant
relationship between those who believe that the world is moving in the
right direction and those who praise the influence of US culture."
"The majority of respondents in 19 out of the 25 participating
countries believe that the effects of globalization are more positive
than negative. On the whole 61% express a positive view while 24% are
critical. The percentage of those in favour of globalization has grown
by 6 per cent on 2001. The six countries in which the majority
believes that the effects are mainly negative are Argentina, France,
Spain, Russia, Turkey and Japan."
"Opinions as to the effects of globalization vary. The economic (viz.
cheaper goods), and political effects are considered positive by the
majority in particular as regards the spread of freedom and democracy
and the greater respect of human rights. In contrast, opinions are
much more critical as regards the social and environmental
consequences of globalization. They expect an increase in poverty and
less respect for the environment."
"In brief, globalization appears to be perceived by the majority as a
global extension of the benefits and shortcomings of Western
societies, in particular US society. A system which guarantees
democracy and access to affluence, but which at the same time still
appears to be characterized by strong social inequalities and scarce
attention to the environment."
"Indeed a clear majority feels that the globalization agenda pays too
much importance to trade and investment and not enough on protecting
human rights and the environment."
* Please see article for a the various charts.
From "Global Issues Monitor 2002." Eurisko
http://www.eurisko.it/english/english/euris2inglese/socialtrends/sel99.htm
American Views
==============
Two polls taken in September 2002 confirmed that Americans were still
optimistic about the future of our country.
"Americans are more patriotic, more inclined to spend time with their
families and very optimistic about the future of the country.....These
positive feelings come at the same time they have increasing doubts
about the effectiveness of the campaign against terrorism and
continuing fears of more terrorist attacks."
From "Brief items related to the 9/11 anniversary." Seattle Post
Intelligencer. (Sept 11, 2002)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/86514_note11.shtml
===========
Since your question was very general in scope, I answered it in the
best way that I could without singling out any specific topics or
country. I hope you find the information beneficial. It is often very
difficult to answer such a broad question but in this case, I believe
the above surveys were right on target!
umiat
Google Search Strategy
views about the future of the world
are americans optimistic about the future?
world citizens views of the future |
