In this third Preview of results we compare the responses received until April 27, 2020 in the three questionnaires that we have launched (in Spanish, Italian and English), to the questions about the most probable future scenario and the actions that citizens who have answered will carry out in order for the future to be better or not worse.
In the first place, we find that in the 3 questionnaires the dominant answer is of an unknown open future, in which everything will change, but we do not know very well how. The 2nd majority option, in the Italian and Spanish questionnaires, is the one in which the economic and political situation deteriorates enormously. On the contrary, in the English questionnaire the second dominant scenario is that the crisis is an opportunity to change our consciousness and attitude and that everything will be better. The continuity scenario, that everything will remain the same once the crisis is over, is the minority response in the 3 questionnaires.
In general terms, people who have answered the questionnaire in English seem to see the future in a somewhat more positive way, and people who have answered the questionnaire in Italian and Spanish seem to see the future in a somewhat more pessimistic way. Curiously, this difference in visions of the future is just the opposite in the general level of pessimism-optimism where people who answer the questionnaire in English were more pessimistic than those who answer the questionnaires in Italian and Spanish.
The multiple answer question about what they are going to do to make the future better or not worse brings us closer to the measure and potential of action of society. In this case, the vast majority of people affirm that they will act for a better future, and only a very small minority (4 to 5%) affirm that they cannot do anything. There are three major goals / objectives associated with a better future which in order of importance are: family and loved ones, the environment and the well-being of others.
There is a great similarity between the three questionnaires in the different importance given to actions for the future. Comparatively, there is a greater coincidence between the responses to the Spanish and Italian questionnaires (blue and yellow lines respectively) and the highest responses stand out in almost all the items in the English questionnaire (red line), showing a more proactive positioning.
The actions that stand out the most are, in order, being closer to loved ones followed by caring for the environment, in this case only in the questionnaires in English and Spanish. In the English questionnaire, helping others is the third action to achieve a better future, while in the other two questionnaires, the third action is to change consumption patterns. In descending order, with interesting differences, we have the actions of changing lifestyles, participating in social organizations and being less selfish.
The most notable differences between the questionnaires are in the care of the environment, with the answers to the questionnaire in Italian 23% below the answers to the questionnaire in English, while in the matter of changing the lifestyle it is just the opposite, the answers in Italian are above the other questionnaires.
At the bottom of the graph, that is, actions that will be done the least, are, along with people who say they cannot do anything for the future (between 4% and 5%), those who will vote for another party (between 4 and 9%). The possibility of being directly involved in political life is very low in the questionnaires in Spanish and Italian (8 and 11%), but it is substantially higher in the answers in the questionnaire in English (27%).
José Antonio Rodríguez Díaz; José Luis Condom Bosch; Aitor D. Aguayo, “Preliminary results 3: Most likely scenarios and actions for a better future”, (UB: EPP, May 2020).
