@@ -83,114 +82,126 @@ function setHeighestGroup(group, percent) {
-
Multicrisis
-+
Can you feel the (poly-)crisis yet?
- While some focus on the melting of the polar caps, others fear the decline of their culture - due to foreign overrun. Groups even contradict each other in their crises perception and deny - the - existence of the other's crises. The perception of crises and the extent to which people are - affected by - them depends heavily on their own social position; a consensus on crises seems to be difficult - to - achieve in society. If everyone perceives the many crises differently, is there a chance to find - a - common ground of perception, share mitigation strategy and build collective resilience? + Reality check: we are living in instable times. Climate change, the former number one topic of + concern, is falling behind more pressing and feasible ones, such as inflation or political + conflicts. All topics are intertwined and already changing the ways we are able to live and + move. What do you experience?
Who is feeling the crisis?
-While some focus on the melting of the polar caps, others fear the decline of their culture due - to foreign overrun. Groups even contradict on each other's crises perception and deny the - existence of the other's crises. Stereotypes are mixed with factual realities. Still, perception - of crises and the extent to which people are affected by them depends heavily on their own social position. The following section will - introduce some of these groups and their feeling for crisis.
-Social status and crisis perception
-- The topic of generational justice became very prominent with a rising awareness on climate - justice. How (much) crisis do different generations, genders or income groups feel? -
+Who is feeling the crisis?
+Each crisis has a multitude of narratives to explain its origin and solutions. + Perceptions of crises and the extent to which people are affected by them depends + heavily on their own social position. They all result in different demands towards + politicians and our political system. But before we delve into what crisis means for + democracy, we ask about the feeling of crisis: depressed, anxious, angry, left behind. + Who is concerned? Is it the old? The poor? The people on the countryside?
+ +-
- If we look at the differences of perceived crisis throughout
Feeling of Crisis in % among {{ selectedOptionWhoIsConcerned }}
++
{{ { + 'Generations': 'GenZ (born after 1995), Young (1965 to 1994), Boomer (1945 - 1964) and Old (born before 1945)', + 'Gender': 'Gender is only divided into Men and Women due to small sample sizes for other Genders.', + 'City - Rural': 'City (population density of ZIP > 150/km2), Rural(population density of ZIP < 150/km2)', + 'Class': 'Poor (group with the lowest 25% of income), Rich (group with the highest 25% of income) ', + 'East - West': 'Former East Germany, Former West Germany' + }[selectedOptionWhoIsConcerned] }}
"{{ [ - 'I am feeling a sort of doomsday mood.', - 'I am suffering more than others in the current situation.', - 'To what extent are you concerned about no longer being able to pay your bills?' - ][selectedOptionPerceivedTruthIndex] }}"
+Between real feelings and perceived truth
+ About felt realities and perceived truths
- According to famous Thomas Theorem, formulated by by William and Dorothy Thomas in 1928, we can - point out, that the interpretation of a situation (however "objectively" false it may appear) - has real consequences because the actions of actors are based on their definition of the - situation. In other words, the interpretation of a situation causes the action. This - interpretation is not objective. Actions are affected by subjective perceptions of situations. - Whether there even is an objectively correct interpretation is not important for the purposes of - helping guide individuals' behavior. + A heightened sense of anxiety can hinder trust in the surrounding and strengthen the tendency to + stick to our own beliefs; it can make us prone to extreme positions of our multi faceted and + ever changing reality. Humans rarely base their decisions on mere rational input-output + calculations, and we observe a clear drift towards populist opinions. This is why understanding + the feelings in the crises is just as important as the concrete discussions on how to solve + them. +
++
+ Now that we have a feeling for who is, well, feeling the crisis overall, we look at more + concrete psychological effects: social comparison, financial fears directed towards the future + and the feeling of self-efficacy *Side-Fact Self-Efficacy*.
- People that show the feeling of crisis are especially more extreme in the estimation of their - current situation. A hightened sense of anxiety can hinder curiosity and strengthen the tendency - to stick to our own beliefs; it can make us prone to extreme positions which provide a clear - interpretation of our multi faceted and ever changing reality. + These Effects add up to a person's perception of justice, importance and control within their + own lives and in society.
Effects on Democracy
+Effects on Democracy
Different Interpretation of Realities has strong effects on cooperation in a democratic @@ -209,8 +220,8 @@ function setHeighestGroup(group, percent) { to handle a crises. Strong
+
Liking AFD and having tendencies to antidemocratic opinions
- -In Germany, not only is there a clear polarization between +
Populist Narratives and the Idea(l) of a strong Leader
+In Germany, not only is there a clear polarization between people favoring the Green party and the AFD. The datasets show, that as a dangerous reflex to crisis people who sympathise with the AfD, do also have a hire desire for a strong leader [Statement: is the agreement that under certain circumstances, a dictatorship is the better form of government in the national interest] as well as a higher opinion towards nationalism.
- -
-
+ 
- 
Crisis Resilience
-- Although crises lead on different spectrums of society to distrust on governmental institutions - and political parties, people still express their political position in demonstrations, no - matter the level of crisis, socioeconomic or demographic background. On the other hand, levels - of trust have been eroding no matter the political position or the feeling of crisis. On the - contrasting side to the referred feelings of crisis, anger and concern lays the feeling of - Self-Efficacy. »The traditional, hierarchical government model simply does not meet the demands - of this complex, rapidly changing age. [...] thriving in the net worked age requires governments - to change the way they think and operate. [...] we need to update our thinking.« (Eggers: »The - changing nature of government«, S. 28) - +
Crisis Resilience
+We see how feeling crisis - angry, uncertain, left behind - goes hand in hand with peoples + financial status and generational outlook more than their gender or living area. Feeling crisis + then relates to political polarization, governmental distrust and favoring populist narratives. + Those felt and factual realities need to be addressed in other ways than either overtaking right + wing ideals or simply defending the political and societal status quo. Because it is not only + the angry and sad who loose trust, we also observe a general tendency of eroding trust and + rising anger as well as polarization and favoring right wing parties amongst all examined + groups.
-
- In the future, more diffused approaches to governance in all parts of society will only work if - there are frameworks in place that assure very high levels of transpar- - ency, accountability and integrity. At the same time, for public authorities and - society more broadly, the ability to put new forms of governance into the service - of realising people’s collective good will depend on a common commitment to - democratic values, human rights and equality of opportunity. Even with these - frameworks and values in place, the emergence of new forms of governance will - still depend fundamentally on the capacity of individuals and groups to partici- - pate actively in making and implementing decisions. -
+In other words:
++
»The traditional, hierarchical government model simply does not
+ meet the demands of this complex, rapidly changing age. [...] thriving in the net
+ worked age requires governments to change the way they think and operate. [...]
+ we need to update our thinking.«
(Eggers: »The changing nature of government«,
+ S. 28)
+
What now?
+Dataset
+Our Datastory is based on the Survey 'Social Sentiments in Times of Crises' that investigates + feelings and political attitudes in Germany in the period from 2022 - 2024. +
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