Berlin (dpa) - The people of Germany are not particularly impressed by the friendliness of their fellow citizens on average. This is shown by the results of an international online survey by the Basel Institute of Commons and Economics.
And there is some more evidence of the data collected by the researchers around the sociologist Alexander Dill: There is no causal link between peace, prosperity and friendliness.
Respondents were asked to tick on a scale from 1 (low) to 10 (high), as they assess the kindness of the people in their country. For Germany and Italy, the average score was 6.5 points. In contrast, the inhabitants of the Central African Republic appreciate their countrymen extremely friendly. In the poverty and conflict-ridden country, the value is at a record 8.9 points.
But anyone who thinks that an armed conflict will automatically bring people closer together in villages and neighborhoods is wrong, as a glance at other conflict regions shows. In Yemen (6.6) and South Sudan (5.0) respondents rate the friendliness of their fellow citizens as lower.
Somewhat better than the friendliness of the people in Germany appreciate the helpfulness of their fellow citizens (7.0 points). The picture is less rosy in terms of hospitality (6.0 points), where Germany is on par with Italy, Ghana and Bangladesh.
The results of the survey also show that people are particularly impressed by the hospitality of their own people in Sudan (9.6 points) and Ethiopia (8.9 points). For Austria, the researchers calculated only an average of 6.4.
The Basel Institute of Commons and Economics is registered as a partner for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The 17 goals agreed in 2015 include poverty reduction, gender equality and climate protection. Director Dill is a critic of international rankings, looking solely at indicators such as per capita income or infrastructure, without rating "social goods" such as hospitality or helpfulness.
In the Human Development Index, published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), countries such as Norway, Switzerland, Australia and Germany are always in the top group. The Central African Republic finished last but one last place. Yemen was last in 17th place. In addition to income and education, this index also takes into account the average life expectancy.
