Ágnes
Kapitány - Gábor Kapitány:
Symbols of the Hungarian
National Identity
1999
In 1996 we started to
draw up the plan of a research dealing with the symbolic elements
of the national identity in Hungary, focusing on those features
of the every day culture which are regarded by Hungarians as being
their national characteristics.
We published our hypothesis in Ágnes Kapitány -
Gábor Kapitány :Changes of the National and Political
Symbols in the 20th Century. (In: eds. Géza Balázs
- Vilmos Voight: The Centuries of Hungarian Signs (Symbols). Bp.
1998.)
This hypothesis was validated by empirical data. In 1997 sponsored
by the Austrian-Hungarian Scientific Action Foundation we had
our hypothesis tested empirically co-operation with the Ost und
Südost Europa Institut and the Sonda IPSOS Public Opinion
Research Institute.
Because of financial reasons all the questions of our questionnaire
could not be included in this present survey but we hope that
further surveys will allow its completion.
Our questionnaire consisted
of two parts:
I/ questions dealing with the symbolic elements of the national
identity of the every day life.
1/ Choose 3 of the following foods (dishes, meals) which are in
your opinion typically Hungarian? (You can choose 3.)
2/ Which is in your opinion the most typical Hungarian drink ?
3/ Think of the Hungarian costume which are its most typical elements? . (You can choose 3.)
4/ Which is in your opinion the most typical Hungarian landscape ? (you can chose 2.)
5/ Which is in your opinion the most typical Hungarian river/lake ? (You can choose 2.)
6/ Which is in your opinion the most typical Hungarian tree . (You can choose 2.)
7/ Which is the most typical Hungarian flower? (You can choose 3.)
8/ Which is the most typical Hungarian plant (You can chose 3.)
9/ Which is the most typical Hungarian animal? (You can choose 3)
10/What does in your opinion a typical Hungarian person look like? (Open-ended question)
11/ Which idea about
the origin of the Hungarian people do you feel most comfortable
with?
(You can choose
1)
12/ Which is the most typical Hungarian national holiday? (You can choose 1)
13/ Which is the most typical type of Hungarian music? (You can choose 2)
14/ Which is the most typical Hungarian sport? (You can choose 3)
15/ Who are the most typical representatives of Hungarian sport? (Open-ended question)
16/ Which are the most typical Hungarian Brands (trade marks)? (You can choose 3)
17/ What are your favourite foods? (You can choose 3) (Open-ended question)
18/ What is your favourite drink? (Open-ended question.)
These two question are designed to test of the answers given by the respondent match his/her preferences. Does the respondee consider himself/herself a typical Hungarian by eating/drinking what he has selected as typically Hungarian foods and drinks.
19/ Who are the most typical representatives of Hungarian literature? (You can choose 3) (Open-ended question)
20/ Who are the most typical representatives of Hungarian history? (You can choose 3) (Open-ended question)
21/ Who are those members
of current Hungarian political life who could be seen as representatives
figures from Hungarian history
(You can choose
3) (Open-ended question)
22/ Which of the following Hungarian coats of arms do you prefer? (You can choose 1)
In Austria Ernst Bruckmüller published the results of a research which also dealt with national identity. In order to make a comparison possible we used some of his questions without making any alterations.
II/
1/ What are Hungarians like ? (Range them on a scale of 1 to 5 )
modern old fashioned
clever silly (dull,
foolish, simple-minded)
loud quiet
masculine feminine
serious cheerful
peace-loving aggressive
purposive ,resolute
without purpose
successful unsuccessful
pessimistic optimistic
slow fast , quick
friendly, sociable
unsociable, unfriendly
tolerant intolerant
conservative progressive
sympathetic, pleasant
antipathetic, nasty
2/ What are Austrians like? Range them on a scale of 1 to 5 (see above)
These 2 scales can be compared in 2 different ways:
a/ The self-portrait of the Austrians can be compared with the opinion of the Hungarian respondents
b/ on the analogy of the Austrian- German comparison in the Austrian sample an Austrian-Hungarian comparison can be done which reveals the similarities and differences in our relationship with our neighbours ( the inhabitants of a modernised better developed Western-European country. These similarities and differences in the first case are influenced by the common German language and in the second case by the common traditions of the Habsburg Monarchy.
3/ What do you think about the following statements (choose one of them)?
Aggressive nationalism is:
The original Bruckmüller questionnaire used the expression "national-socialism" -- we used the expression "aggressive nationalism" because of the different connotation of these words. The differences between Hungarian and Austrian history of the 20th century justify the change of this expression.
4/ Which of the following statements characterises you?
5/ If you are proud of the things achieved by Hungary, which things are these (open-ended question)?
6/ Which nation do you feel you share a bond with (open-ended question)?
7/ Please range these two statements on a scale of 1 to 5. Number 5 means that you totally agree with the statement, 1 means you do not agree with it at all.
a/ foreigners are important for our country not only for economical reasons but their presence also makes every day life of the country more interesting.
b/ the presence of a lot of foreigners can cause many disadvantages for Hungarian employees and jeopardises our way of life and our culture.
8/ The presence and behaviour of which nationalities and ethnic groups are upsetting, antipathetic for you?
9/ The members of which nationalities and ethnic groups would you dislike as neighbours of your home/flat?
In addition to these questions we would like to have answers to the following questions : which a/ settlements; b/ regions; c/ style-periods; d/ dances; e/ musical instruments; f/ architectural styles; g/ public buildings; h/ famous squares; I/ institutions; j/ professions; k/ handicrafts; l/ actors; m/ historical periods ; n/ features of political culture are felt as typical symbols of Hungarian national identity. What do respondents consider Hungary is part of:: East-Europe, Central-Europe, East-Central-Europe, Europe without any restriction, Euro-Asia, people of Danube-basin.
This time it was not possible (because of financial reasons) to ask these questions , next time -with a sample of intellectuals -- we would like to check our hypothesis concerning these questions, too.
The questionnaire -- presented above -- was asked by the Sonda IPSOS on a representative sample of the country (1000 persons) in May 1997. WE have got the following data about the respondents: gender, residence (region) birthplace (region), age, education, profession, political-preference.
Results:
Hungarian foods
goulash, fish soup and staffed cabbage are on the first three places of the list of Hungarian foods.
The order of Hungarian foods
The common characteristic feature of all these Hungarian foods is their juicy, succulent feature. The low-rate choice of pastas is remarkable. It is interesting too that almost everybody answered this question: foods are such strong components of the national identity that everybody forms an opinion about the character of the national foods.
Favourite foods
This question was an open-ended one -- it hampers the comparison we made in order to reduce some similar answers into the same category.
all kinds of meat together
with poultry 97,6%
all kinds of paste
29,0%
all kinds of potato
foods 10,0%
The aggregate result is heterogeneous. Among the favourite foods there are foods standing on the second line of Hungarian foods -- there are even some foods which by their name are not of-Hungarian origin e.g. Wiener Schnitzel which today is a very important part of Hungarian cuisine. The most Hungarian food "gulyas" with its 11% percent can not be regarded as the most characteristic food of the present Hungarian kitchen. The high percent of vegetables present on the list of preferences is nicely surprising but on the other hand all the other meat-foods (and certainly stuffed cabbage is a meat-food too) and soups mentioned are the real characteristics of traditional Hungarian cuisine. The different pastas proved to be less preferred, even the Hungarian "turos csusza"(pasta with cottage cheese) and the most popular pasta "palacsinta" (pancake) have lost their position as favourites, the latter one having a preference of only 8,2 percent.
It proves the traditional statement about the Hungarians, that which they do not like sweets. We do not have to be afraid of the spread of the hot dog and Hamburger -culture in Hungary ,only 0,5% have chosen these foods as their favourite ones -- however the rate for fruits was similar, too.
Nevertheless a preference for Italian food can be observed, but only at a rate of 5 percent.
Hungarian drinks
The order of Hungarian preference for drinks did not cause any surprise
Favourite drinks
Wine is still in first place and in second place beer with quite a large per cent (15,9%) . Though few people mentioned it as a preferred Hungarian-drink, it is the favourite drink. of many of them.. Cola became a "national drink" with nearly the same per cent ,and if we take into consideration all the other soft drinks as well , they have by far the highest preference ( 3o,3 percent together with mineral water 35,2 percent). Water and fruit-juice were chosen by 1o percent in both cases and even mineral water has a higher preference than brandies. There are positive signs of healthy consumption habits.
Hungarian-costumes
Nearly all types of costume have quite a lot of votes. The costumes mentioned in the questionnaire were regarded as components of typical Hungarian costumes with an equal distribution. It is very interesting that peasant and noble costume traditions were separated by the respondents.
Boots compared with the moccasin of some of our neighbours and with the shoes of the imperial Austrian Monarchy became the typical Hungarian footwear and 'hussar" symbolises also the Hungarian identity versus other nations.
The image of the a typical Hungarian peasant wearing loose white linen trousers is the characteristic element of the romantic Puszta-image which was made popular by a great number of paintings and illustrations. It is -similarly to "suba" (sheepskin coat) ,"szür" ( the ornamented cloak), women's embroidered shirt and the smock-frock- a very distinctive element of the folk costume worn occasionally at Public holidays nowadays .
Lands and parts of relief
References to the lost part of "great Hungary" (parts belonging to Hungary before Trianon) were less mentioned than it was hypothised, most of the respondents chose different parts of present day.
Analysing the results of our questionnaire beside the traditional image of Hungary with Puszta -- the image of Hungary with mountains -- mainly wine growing mountains was quite strong.
Rivers and Lakes
References to Transsylvanian rivers and lakes or to the historical Hungary are rarer than in connection with lands. The "Blonde Tisza" contrary with our hypothesis is not the first on the list but it is not surprising because the Danube running through the middle of the country evokes a more personal impression and experience and became the symbol of Hungary similarly to Tisza. Lake Balaton gives personal water-experience for more people than Tisza however Lake Balaton is not the preferred national symbol, Tisza is.
Trees
The first place of acacia is not surprising but the degree of choice is very interesting. The great value of some of the trees (oak , beech , apple ) and deep sentiment (emotion) associated with other trees (weeping willow, nut tree, acacia ) influenced the order of trees. Oak is one of the "kings" of trees and associated with the cult of the Virgin Mary, nut is a tree planted for grand children, weeping willow is associated by its name and view with romantic emotions.
Flowers
Even though the rose is very popular and frequently used in Hungarian folk art - the roses first place was surprising to a lot of people. The choice of red poppy and cornflower was mainly influenced by emotions associated with wheat and the idea of wheat lands coloured by beautiful wild flowers. Geranium -- as the Hungarian name of this flower "muskátli" shows came from German-speaking countries -- but it became as popular a decoration of Hungarian rural and city windows as in all the Alpine-regions.
Plans
The importance of paprika as a symbolic image of Hungary was hypothised however there are very deep emotions in connection with wheat, too. Onion is a frequently used popular component of Hungarian cuisine and in some parts of the country a very important source of income -- but its third place and its close competition with wheat and paprika and the great difference with grape was surprising.
Animals
Gim-deer (stag) deer of Hungarian origin-mythology, srane, heron and falcon were mentioned only by some respondent. The first place of the horse was reasoned not merely by the spreading of horses but by there association with traditional imagery: Hungarians as horse riding people. Because of this image there are strong feelings for horses. Horses are frequent figures of folk songs, poems. The Hungarian cow is very frequent animal nowadays, too and its name -- titled as a "Hungarian" animal -- as in the case of the Hungarian beagle helped places these animals. Stork, swallow and lark are those birds of Hungarian avifauna which are associated with a lot of folk songs, folk costumes tradition. Turul become "national bird" as a figure of the mythology about the origin of Hungarians.
What does a typical Hungarian look like?
Which ever way this question was asked - some of the respondents chose to give inner personality features.
Typical appearance of a Hungarian as it was supposed: dark hair and eyes, moustache, corpulent figure. There are certainly more positive personal characteristics stressing and emphasising sociability, open mindedness, strong-character, working capacity of Hungarians than negative ones emphasising mainly pessimism inconsiderate negativistic temperament of Hungarians. It is important too that a third of respondents did not want or did not know how to characterise Hungarians even though we look very different to other peoples.
The origin of Hungarian
Decades of educational practice reason the hegemony of Finno-Ugrian origin -- what is interesting is that a quarter of the respondents chose Hunnish (Turkish, Scythian) origin title earlier as a romantic concept.
The most typical national holiday of Hungarians
The order of answers corresponded to our hypothesis (it was the same as was supposed) and official opinion, too. After the political changes of 1989, 4th of April lost its role. But it was a little bit surprising that after it was rehabilitated by political-changes, the 23rd of October did not became typical national holiday.
Music
Kodály's influence on musical education and the importance of folk music is the reason for his position at No. 3. in the music -list. The result of the so called Kodály-school and Kodály-method used during the last few decades - is that Bartók got quite a good position on the list -- what is surprising is that the great figures of romantic music of the last century have less percentage than modern composers.
Sports
Those branches sport have got a lot of votes which were very successful or are connected with the traditional life-mood of Hungarians. The first place of football was reasoned by its popularity and its former succession which brought international respect and appreciation for Hungary.
Heroes of sport life
Those sport men and women who got less than 4 per cent in the open ended question were analysed in contracted categories
The question was: "Who is the typical Hungarian sport man/woman?" and not "Who is the most successful one?" -- the result that typical and successful sport man/woman are the same -- show very well the role of sport in national identity: reinforcing national identity by success by winning: members of a nation identify themselves with those sport man/women who give them this feeling.
Trade marks
At the top of the list are foods and drinks. They are before industrial products showing that an agricultural style dominates the image of typical products of Hungary. Among the products of industry IKARUS is the most outstanding -- IKARUS has received great publicity and was named titled as a trade mark of Hungary sent all over the world.
Writers and poets
The list shows the centrality of lyric-poetry in Hungarian literature -- four outstanding poets are at the top of the list -- other writers even Jókai only follow them however the "untranslatable character" of Hungarian literature is especially true for poetry. Writers or poets after 1945 are mentioned less than 10 per cent.
Personality of Hungarian history
Kossuth is at the top of list but not as outstandingly as Petõfi at the top of the writers' list. The debating of Kossuth and Széchenyi which was such an important theme of historians in the last few decades can be seen here again. The place of the 2 great kings Stephen and Mathias and the reigning prince struggling for freedom (Ferenc Rákóczy II.) are understandable. The important role of 1848 and its precedents, the so called "period of reforms" in national identity, are so strong that Kossuth and Széchenyi outstrip Stephen the "state founder" who became a Saint in Christianity and Mathias who became a hero of folk tales well-known since childhood.
Politicians of nowadays
The well-known politicians and their dignity of constitutional law decide mainly this order of politicians and then comes the importance of their party-affiliation.
Other politicians have not got 2 per cent. It is very important to note that 47,7 per cent of respondents answered (and they are not those who answered "I do not know") that nowadays there are not any politicians who might be called a typical representative of Hungarian history.
Coats of arms of the nation
Because it is unambiguous which is the official arms, the measure of identification with this arms is not so high in spite of its outstanding first place. The choice of arms of Kossuth might be reasoned by historical associations of 1956 and 1848 and type of obstinate republican tradition, the choice of Kádár-armes could be motivated by nostalgia attached to Kádár-period in other cases it is just a matter of habit.
Which are Hungarian people like?
With this question we use a 5 grade scale similarly to the Austrian questionnaire.
There are 2 results: the first one is the percentage of the answer "it is very characteristic of a Hungarian person", the second one is the result of "it is quite characteristic".
friendly /41%,26,7%/
sympathetic/35,3%,28,6%/
clever /25%,32,8%/
peaceful /32",23,9%/
rather loud than silent/21,8%,3o,9%/
purposive /23,3%,26,8%/
Friendly, sympathetic and peaceful are those features which were chosen definitely to underline -national identity and center it around a pleasant, sociable character.
Among the unambiguously negative features pessimism/15,4%,18,6%/intolerant ,impatient /6,7%,16%/ slow /5,7%,14,4%/ aggressive, pugnacious /5%,13,6%/ unsuccessful /5,2%,12,6%/were on the first place .
This result coincides with the negative aspect of the Hungarian self identity, namely that quarrel, irritable, irascible, the faliable features of this nation.
What are the Austrians like?
There were certainly less answers to this question than to the previous one. Five percent of the respondents could not fulfil the question "What are Hungarian like" and 27%did not answer the question referring to Austrian people.
The results of the question:
successful /36,6%,24,9%/
purposive /37,3%,22,6%/
modern /27,1%,22,7%/
peaceful /23,6%,24,8%/
clever /2o,8%,24,2%/
optimist /22%,21,8%/
friendly /19%,22,3%/
The most outstanding features of the Austrians are the most doubtful elements of the Hungarian national identity, or are missed mostly by the respondents as national characteristics: successful ,optimist and modern too. On the other hand the same positive features of the Hungarian national identity are chosen as characteristic features of the Austrian-image too /peaceful, friendly, clever/ but evaluated with a lower percent as in the case of the Hungarians. It is interesting that aggressiveness and intolerance are stronger in the Hungarian national-identity than in the case of the Austrian-image: the traditional image of conquerors was replaced by the political neutrality of the last decades and the so called joviality /Gemütlichkeit/ of the Austrian people.
Modernity in connection with the Austrian-image was chosen mainly because the Austrian villages are more modernised than the Hungarian ones, on the other hand a lot of modern products come from Austria.
If we compare the results of the 5 grade scale we get important differences in 7 cases:
/The lower the number the higher the quality/
successful: Austrian:1,71%
Hungarian:2,75 /this is the biggest difference/
pessimist Hungarian:2,87
Austrian :3,8
purposive: Austrian:1,74
Hungarian:2,42
modern: Austrian:2,o9
Hungarian:2,67
friendly: Hungarian:1,96
Austrian:2,33
sympathetic: Hungarian:2,o1
Austrian:2,38
slow: Hungarian:3,15
Austrian:3,48
What is your opinion about aggressive nationalism?
The original questionnaire used the expression national-socialism -we used the "aggressive -nationalism" because of the different connotations of these words-this change was justified by the differences between Hungarian and Austrian history of the 20th century. "Aggressive nationalism" gives in our opinion a similar connotation of national socialism.
The results:
aggressive nationalism is
only bad23,2%
it has more negative elements than positive elements :25,6%
it has both positive and negative elements:26,2%
it has more positive elements than negative ones :5%
The distribution of answers is not symmetric: the majority of the respondents were against this type of nationalism . //rather negative than positive- 48,7% in contradiction to those 5% who chose "rather positive than negative". This result can calm those who are afraid of the danger of nationalism. But there will be those who think 31,2% i.e. the third part of the respondents, who found something positive in "aggressive nationalism." is a rather high percentage. Quite high -2o% the proportion of those respondents who did not know or did not want to answer this question.
Are you proud of your Hungarian nationality?
Nearly everybody answered this question. Most of the respondents chose the moderate, balanced opinion "with moderation proud of my Hungarian nationality"-it seems that this is the most typical attitude in Hungary today. More than the half of the respondents /5o,8%/ gave this answer. The result of "very proud" is of 32,9% ,"not very proud" 1o,3% and "not proud at all" 3,3%.Those presuppositions that Hungarians have lost their national identity-were not justified by the data of our research-13,6% of the respondents /only eighth part of them/ could be titled as members of this category.
Which of the results of the country are you proud of?
When the respondents have to specify the sources of their pride they become more uncertain. Contrary to the previous answer , 26,8% of them answered that "there is nothing to be proud of" and 17,7% could not answer the question. So only half of the respondents specified something as the object of their pride:
Hungarians became established in Hungary and have got the necessary abilities for this establishment /14,8%/
scientific results, inventions, talented people /13%/
sport /12,5%/
values connected to the system-change of 1989 /11%/
glorious periods of history and their values /6,8%/
arts /4,1%/
efforts to establish peace /4%/
results of the socialist period /1,6%/
traditions/1,2%/
regional possibilities /1,1%/
The first place of Hungary's role in Europe might be reasoned by the propaganda of the mille-centenary and given to the connection of Hungary to an United Europe . Hungarian science and sport as an object of national pride are well -known but their quite low percent is surprising . The proportion of arts is much smaller than that of science and sport. The data of this survey did not show the nostalgia for the Kadar era.
Which do you consider impressive (sympathetic) nations for you?
1.Germans 26,1%
2.Austrians 17,6%
3.Italians 12,6%
4.the English nation 11%
5.the French 9,5%
6.Americans 8,5%
7.the Polish nation 7,5%
8.Scandinavians 1%
No other nation has got more than 5%.If we analyse the other votes we can conclude that:
-other West European and the Anglo-Saxons 26,5%
-East-Europeans: people of the former socialist countries 1o,1%
-other non-European coloured people 3,7%
-"there is no such nation" and "only Hungarians are impressive (sympathetic)" 18,1%
-Impressiveness (sympathy) does not depend on the nationality of a person" 7,4%
The Germans' first place might be surprising but in our opinion the reason for this result is mainly the welfare of Germany, its high standard of civilisation and the image of high German work-ethics and cleanliness. During Hungarian history German culture was several times a reference, or model for Hungarian culture.
The Austrians' second place might be explained by similar reasons and certainly by its closeness and by the common imperial tradition.
Poland, the traditional kindred nation's position on this impression (sympathy)-list is quite surprising however they are those who got the greatest number of votes from the eastern block. The whole sympathy-list indicates that the sympathetic nation are those which represent higher a civilisation standard, living standard, effectual culture, and who might be model for them. The second neighbours-as it used to be-precede the immediate neighbours: Bohemians, Bulgarians got twice as much votes than Serbs, Russians, Slovakians.
The presence of foreigners is advantageous or disadvantageous?
It is interesting that in both cases of answers, the result of the scale tend to the "agreement" part of the scale, however not in the same measure. It might be explained by two main reasons: first of all it is an old social-psychological truth that it is easier to agree with something than to oppose something, on the other hand in this case it is not meaningless if somebody agree with both previous statements which are in principle contradictory but practically do not exclude each other.
Foreigners by their presence enrich our culture-46% of the respondents agreed with this statement /23,5% agreed completely/ 15,5% refused this statement /7,1% completely/.This result shows the cultural open-mindedness of the majority of the Hungarian population.
"The presence of a lot of foreigners cause disadvantages for Hungarian employees and jeopardise the normal activity of our life-mood, culture"-this statement does not mean complete rejection either, 37,3% agreed with this statement and 23,3% rejected it.
The distribution of supporters and opponents is more balanced, anyway there are less who are afraid of the negative effects of foreigners than those who see the positive aspects of it. It is sure that because of different personal experiences one third of the population worry about the presence of foreigners. Perhaps several respondents agreed with both statements at the same time-they are open-minded to the presence of foreigners but they see the dangers and disadvantages of this social phenomena too.
Which are antipathetic nations for you?
1.Gipsies 28,9%
2.Roumanians 24,5%
3.Turks 12,5%
4.Russians 7,3%
5.Serbians,Jugoslavians,Bosnians 7,2%
6.Arabs,Moslems,Islamics 6,3%
7.Chinese people 5,3%
Other East-Europeans 8,7%,other West-Europeans 3,1%,other non-Europeans 1,9%.These results show the prejudices and conflicts of coexistence in Hungary today. Perhaps the quite high percent of Turkish people mentioned, might be surprising, the literary and historical memories of struggles against the Turks could not be the reason of this phenomena, because there is no similar manifestation in connection with Austrians, the influence of German opinion about the Turks and the transition of Turkish guest workers through Hungary might cause a kind of tension, It might be surprising that neither Jews nor Slovakian have got enough votes to be on the list. (In the case of Jews it is quite remarkable that there is still a taboo, people do not like to speak about this question after the Holocaust).
Representatives of which nation would you dislike as next door neighbours?
1. Gypsies - 42.5%
2. Rumanians - 17.1%
3. Ukrainians - 9.5%
4. Arabs, Moslems - 5.6%
5. Serbs, Yugoslavians, Bosnians - 5.3%
6. Chinese people- 4.6%
7. Russians - 4.2 %
There are no big differences between the two lists. It is remarkable that political prejudices in connotation with the Russians are weaker when choosing a neighbour (a similar but not so strong tendency can be observed in connection with Romanians, too). But in the case of Gypsies cultural prejudices became much more stronger. The respondents mentioned Ukrainians more frequently as disliked neighbours, it might be motivated by the fear of the so called "Ukrainian maffia" as a frequent topic of media and criminal news. "I do not choose my neighbours" - "there is nobody whom I do not want as my neighbour" - "it does not depend on the nationality of a neighbour" - types of answers similarly to the previous question got 34.4 %.
Factors
Because of the small number of variables, the divergence of results and other reasons there was not possible and reasonable to use factor-analyses at every question. Finally there were eight questions where we got factors-now we analyse those which were used in the research of Bruckmüller, too.
1.What are Hungarians like?
Answers to this question were arranged into 4 factors/with 52,3% explication-value?/.The first factor /25,7% of the answers/ might be explained by an attitude which uses nearly all the features /except the earnest-joyful, loud-silent, masculine-feminine dichotomies/ for characterising the Hungarians. The second factor ,the so called "respondents by an atmosphere" -in this case the loud-silent and the earnest-joyful features are the most deterministic elements. The answer of the third factor were organised by a kind of "dynamics-vitality" dimension: pessimist-optimist, masculine-feminine and the earnest-joyful, conservative-progressive dichotomies were in the centre of this factor. In the case of the forth factor :sociability is the central aspect, friendly-unfriendly, earnest-joyful and sympathetic-antipathetic are the most important categories of this factor.
2.What are Austrians like?
In the case of the opinion about Austrian people 5 factors could be distinguished /with 63,4% explanative value -it seems to be easier to value others than ourselves. In the first factor most of the features can be found- similarly to the judgement of Hungarians. In the second factor sociability is the most dominant value: joviality /Gemütlichkeit/ is an important element of the image about Austrian people in Hungary. In the third factor earnest-joyful and pessimist-optimist are outstanding. In contrast to the Hungarian self-image in this case joyful, positive attitude to life are more determinant aspects than atmosphere. In the fourth factor masculine-feminine and loud-silent aspects are connected - it means that dynamic is more important than dominance. The fifth factor shows a kind of attitude based on the value of development.
3.If you are proud of your Hungarian nationality what is the object of it?
In the first factor there are these successful spheres /science, art, sport/ which could be "measured". The second factor is dominated by the "treasures of nature", the third is specified by the value of political changes and tradition. We can distinguish very well 3 types of national pride:
a. those who are proud of our achievements
b. those who are proud of our "treasures of nature"
c. those who are proud of our historical-political role.
4. Which are impressive (sympathetic) nations for you?
We have got 2 factors which explain 33.2.% of the answers. In the first factors there are those who sympathise with the Germans and the Austrians. In the centre of the second factor are the Italians. The Germans-and the Austrians are rejected as well as the East-European.
5. Which are the antipathetic nations for you?
We have got 3 meaningful factors. In the centre of the first factor is - the antipathy for the Rumanians . Turks, South-Slaves and other Eastern-Europeans are rejected, too in this factor. An other factor is composed by those, who reject the Gypsies, and Arabs. And finally in the third factor are those who reject non-Europeans, (blacks and Chinese). These three factors separate from each other those who reject the people of the Balkan, the Gypsies and "coloured" people - form different groups.
6.Who are rejected as neighbours?
Results are similar
to the previous question -but in this case the 3 factors could
explain 54,6% of the answers while earlier this percentage was
of only 39% . In the first factor Rumanians, Ukrainians and other
East-European are rejected, in the second factor coloured people
and Gypsies and in the third factor coloured people and Russian
are rejected: the first group is based on a kind of cultural-supremacy,
the second on an ethnic segregation and the third one on politically
reasons.
We try to analyse the results of the data from different aspects.
First of all we had a hypothesis according to which there might
be a connection between specific answers. We collected these answers
which were supposed to be characteristic features of a special
types of Hungarian -Image. We hypothesize 3 different blocks:
l. titled as stereotype Hungarian-image and characterised by the choice of the "Puszta", "Tisza", "goulash", wide linen trousers, horse, football, Petõfi, Kossuth, king Mathias (the most well-known persons of Hungarian history) Hungarian popular songs, dark hair and eyes, moustache as possible answers.
2. the second one was a kind of conservative-literate type of the Hungarian image based on sentiments - stressing the association of Great Hungary and Transsylvania.
3. the third was hypothesized as a kind of cosmopolitan anti-nationalist kind of image, denying the specific featurs of the Hungarian image. The result is important: these three hypothesized images were not justified at all.
Hungarian-Austrian similarities and differences
As we mentioned in the preface of our paper, we adopted nine questions of Bruckmüller ,so that a comparison of the results of the Austrian and Hungarian sample population was possible.
What are the Austrians like?
In the case of the Austrian
respondents it is a question of self-definition - in the case
of the Hungarians it reflects the image about their neighbours.
The differences between the self-image and neighbour-image are
very interesting..
On the scale of modernity Hungarians value Austrians a
whole number higher (that means more modern) than themselves.
On the five degree scale it means quite a great difference, and
if the objective state of development of the Austrian economy
might explain this result, the measure of the difference in scaling
is quite surprising.
On the scale of cleverness there is no such a great difference
between the two judgements. The Hungarians have a better opinion
on the Austrians than on themselves.
On the loud-quiet scale the difference is similar: Hungarians
value Austrians louder than Austrian themselves.
On the masculine-feminine scale the two judgements coincide
with each other (however the judgement of this scale seems to
be quite equal).
On the serious-cheerful scale the differences are very
big again: Hungarians think Austrians are more serious.
On the peace-loving-aggressive scale the two judgements
coincide. Hungarians consider Austrians a little bit more peace-loving,
than the Austrians think about themselves. But the difference
is not significant -more important is that both the Hungarians
and the Austrians consider themselves to be peace-loving nations.
On the resoluteness-scale the difference is big again.
Hungarians think Austrians are more resolute, than they do about
themselves. The results and achievements of the Austrian economy,
the high standard of Austrian life and the differences becoming
bigger and bigger during the last thirty years are reflected in
this image.
The result is nearly the same on the scale of successfulness.
Pessimism-optimism does not result in great differences:
both Hungarians and Austrian regard Austrians as being optimistic.
On the slow-fast scale the difference is very big again,
more than 1 point. The difference comes from the advantage of
the Austrians in progress: the better developed is considered
to be also more successful, more modern, more purposive, faster
at the same time.
The difference in the judgement about friendliness is smaller
but could be interpreted. This is one of the few exceptions where
the image given by Hungarian respondents is more unfavourable
than the self-image of the Austrians. Hungarians consider Austrians
to be more unfriendly than the Austrians judge themselves.
The result is the same in connection with the tolerance-intolerance
dimension. Hungarians consider Austrians to be more intolerant
than the Austrians do about themselves but in this case the difference
is not so important.
On the dimension conservative-progressive the difference
is big again ,it means that Hungarians think Austrians are more
progressive. Hungarians consider Austrians more sympathetic on
the Sympathy-scale /however the difference is not significant/.
To summarise the results: Hungarians value Austrians by most of
the scales higher than they do themselves- it is merely true for
the features concerning progress. In the case of interpersonal
relations the self-image -the internal judgement is more positive
than by the judgement of an "outsider". and the dimensions
where there are no differences are significant ,too: the external
and internal view coincides in the judgement about masculinity-femininity,
optimism, the sympathetic, tolerant and peaceful character of
the Austrians.
What are we like and what are they like?
In most of the cases
-and it might be surprising -the self-ranging of the Hungarians
is more favourable than that of the Austrians. Hungarians consider
more modern, more clever, louder, more serious, more progressive,
a little bit more aggressive but more impressive (sympathetic),
less successful, more intolerant, more pessimistic and slower
than the Austrians - but equally masculine, resolute, and friendly.
Friendliness , resoluteness and masculinity are those values where
the self-definition of the two nations coincides. Development
is a key-value and very important for Hungarians -they think themselves
more progressive than the average. For the Austrians cheerful,
optimism, quickness, and peacefulness seem to be more important
and more characteristic than for the Hungarians. It is characteristic
for both nation at the same time, that they set their western
neighbours above themselves, and regard them as a model in a lot
of dimensions. While the Hungarians think Austrians are more resolute,
the Austrians think Germans are more resolute with nearly the
same measure. The tendency is nearly the same in other aspects
however with not the same proportion. The Austrians consider Germans
to be more successful, more serious, more progressive and quicker
than Hungarians do about Austrians.
Modernity, progress, resoluteness, seriousness, successfulness,
quickness are the key-values of goal/aim-rationality, achievement-orientation
and /technical/ progress where both nations considered their western
neighbour more developed than themselves. At the same time both
of them think they are more friendly and impressive (sympathetic)
than their western neighbour- the ability for personal contact
is not in direct connection with progress -or might be in inverse
ratio to it. Certainly there are differences too. In the opinion
of Austrians cleverness is a component of aim-rationality and
progress while for Hungarians cleverness is a separated independent
ability-capacity and they value themselves quite high in this
respect. There are characteristics which seem to be not compared
but "objective" judgements e.g. the national character
of the Austrians is both by external and internal judgement more
silent, tolerant and peace-loving than that of their neighbours
. E.g. optimism is an "objective" component of the Austrian
national identity ,while pessimism is similarly a rather stressed
component of the Hungarian national identity in this respect the
two national identities are in contradictious.
How much are we proud of our national identity?
The measure of the Austrian national identity is higher than that of the Hungarian one. The answer "not proud at all" might be negligible -its proportion is very low in both countries -however in Hungary it is 3 times higher- 3%- than in Austria. On the other side, while only 33% of the Hungarians are "very proud of their country" the same answer was given by 61 % of the Austrians. More than the half of the population chose the identified but critical national-identity. While the unconditional emotional identification got absolute majority in the case of the Austrians.
Impressive (sympathetic) nations
The Germans are on the
top of the list in both cases however not with the same motives.
The judgement of the Italians is similar too. The Austrians seem
to be more closed to other cultural influences than the Hungarians.
English and Scandinavian people are 5 times, French 3 times, American
and Australian ones 2 times more popular for the Hungarians than
for the Austrians but the other so called "small " Western-European
nations, Swiss, Dutch, Belgian are chosen by the Austrians to
a much higher proportion.
This last result shows that the Hungarians prefer great cultures
with adoptable, integrateable models ,while the Austrians , feeling
themselves closer to Europe, know all about it , and as a so called
small nation sympathise with those who have similar conditions.
Polish people do not stand on the sympathy-list of the Austrian
,while they got 8% by the Hungarian respondents and this is a
great difference. Other East-European nations are mentioned with
a higher percentage by the Hungarians, too than by the Austrians
Hungarians (9%)and Austrians (3%)which shows that though the Hungarian
orientation turned dominantly to the West, the East-European common
fate is still stronger in Hungary than in Austria. It is interesting
,too that in both countries the inhabitants of the neighbouring
regions sympathise with each other : in Austria the inhabitants
of Burgenland in Hungary the Northern and Western part of Transdanubia
show a higher mutual, reciprocal sympathy.
Are foreigners useful for us, or not?
The open-tolerant type of answer /foreigners are important for our country not only because of economical reasons but their existence make the everyday life of the country more colourful/ was chosen by 25% of the Austrians and 27,5% of the Hungarians / 46% with those who quite agree with this statement the intolerant-closed type of answer /the presence of a lot of foreigners cause a lot of disadvantages for Hungarian employees and jeopardise the normal activity of our life-mood and culture was chosen by 42% of the Austrians and 22,5% of the Hungarians /37,3% with those who quite agree with this statement / the proportion of the tolerant and intolerant attitude is in the two countries quite inverse. The Austrian rejection is higher and referring to more nations than the Hungarian rejection in the case of the questions about "antipathetic people" and "disliked neighbours".
According to these results
we can state the followings:
1. Because of the different recent past historical experiences
national pride ,unconditioned national identity is lower in Hungary
.It is not substituted by national nihilism but by a more critical,
modest identification.
2.The proportion of ethnocentrism and isolation is lower in Hungary.,
can also be attributed to this modest identification.
Cross-tabulation
Hungarian foods
One of the main fact
causing differences between the social groups is the conventional
and non-conventional attitude. There are so called conventional
foods like breaded cutlet /Wiener schnitzl/ , paprika chicken,
stuffed cabbage on the one hand , and on the other hand these
foods are neglected and among the favourite ones are chosen not
traditional components of the Hungarian kitchen e.g. Italian foods.
Non-conventionality characterises mostly the young generation,
the more educated /secondary school and degree-holding/ white
collar workers.
The separation of Hungarian foods is connected to status-symbols
in two respects: on the one hand we can see a hierarchy of different
foods, on the other hand the symbolic-prestige-foods of the different
social groups is quite different, it means that different prestige-foods
function as holiday-food for the different social groups. Three
groups might be distinguished :breaded cutlet /Wiener schnitzl/
and "disznótoros" /dinner on pig-killing day/
for the lower-middle class, paprika chicken and stuffed cabbage
for the middle-class and fish-soup for the upper classes -are
these symbolic prestige foods.
In a comparison of the Hungarian regions, among other factors
,fish-soup and "rétes" /strudel/ divide the country
exactly like the Danube into two parts- Transdanubians prefer
them above the average and lowlanders below the average .
Favourite foods
The preference of foods
by different age groups show certain trends - the changes in values,
orientation life-style, way of life can be analysed by these trends..
Italian foods, pastes, poultry and cabbage foods. are chosen by
youngest people above the average. The choice of the oldest is
nearly inverse: stew, meat-soup and Goulash are preferred above
the average and Italian foods, poultry and fish foods are below
the average.
There are two poles according to education, too: on the one side
those with than 8 years elementary school prefer Goulash, meat
soup above the average and breaded cutlet , pork, poultry, fish-foods,
Italian foods, cakes below the average. As we can see there are
a lot of preferences below the average - it signs a kind of deprivation,
narrowed, one-sided possibility of choice and in their case a
"poor" cuisine-culture- and their preferred foods are
merely components of a traditional cuisine while the foods of
a healthier alimentation are missing. On the other hand there
are those with diploma, as the other end of educational scale.
The occupational prestige is connected with the choice of different
foods. The preference of bean-soup and stew is more frequent in
the case of lower occupational prestige, while the fish-foods
are less frequently chosen - and contrary - the higher the occupational
prestige is the more frequently are fish foods preferred and less
frequently bean soup and stew .
Typical Hungarian drinks
The three drinks divide
the population into 3 parts according to occupation, too. Skilled
workers, semi-skilled workers and managers prefer wine above the
average. Beer is the drink of lower occupational prestige groups,
e.g. unskilled workers. /The higher occupational prestige groups
choose it below the average./ Palinka is chosen by craftsman-tradesman,
professionals and students above the average.
Respondents are divided by the choice of wine and beer according
to their residence. Wine is chosen above the average and beer
is chosen below the in Transdanubia and beer is chosen above the
average and wine is below the average in the Northern part of
Hungary and in the Great Plain as a Hungarian-like drink.
Favourite drinks
Among the three alcoholic
drinks /wine, beer, palinka/ wine proved to be the favourite but
not as an outstandingly Hungarian-like drink.
There are great differences according to the gender of the respondents:
it is not surprising that wine is chosen meanly two times more
,beer four times more by men than by women. Women prefer non-alcoholic
drinks /except champagne/.
According to age-groups the youngest and oldest age-groups have
got the two extreme values. The difference between the youngest
and oldest age-group is determined by the choice of six drinks:
wine, water, mineral water on the one hand and cola, other non-alcoholic
drinks and fruit-juice on the other hand.
These drinks divide respondents according to their education,
too. Wine is the favourite drink of the highest educated groups,
on the other hand there are the skilled workers with beer as -their
favourite drink . Cola is their favourite drink, too- cola is
rejected by the degree-holding group either because of sanitary
or ideological reasons. Drinks have got their symbolic meaning
according to education too. Beer and cola instead of wine and
water are the prestige-drinks of the upper-middle class, and instead
of cola the higher educated respondents choose fruit-juice as
being a healthier drink.
According to their residence wine is the favourite drink of the
transdanubians.
National costumes
The choice of different
costumes is certainly according to the gender of the respondents:
the typical Hungarian women costumes is chosen rather by women
and the masculine costumes rather by men.
It is quite surprising that there are no significant differences
according to the age of the respondents, these costumes seem to
be historical, museum-like pieces for older and younger respondents
as well. The only exception is the kerchief - it is chosen above
the average by the older generation and below the average by younger
generation and it shows that the kerchief is still a living ,
usual article which today is losing its function as a symbolic
identity-sign during the generation-change.
Though there are no significant differences concerning the age-groups,
the differences among the social groups are important . Kerchief
is a symbolic sign for the lower social-status groups and the
braided military coat /vitézkötés/ is a symbolic
costume for the upper social groups when they have to define the
typical Hungarian national costume. According to the social status
/according to both education and occupation / we can distinguish
three main groups - the lower status groups prefer kerchief and
boots above the average , the middle class groups prefer wide
white linen shepherd trousers , boots and the Bocskai cap and
for the upper classes the "hussar" short fur-lined coat
, the braided coat, the bonnet, the ornamented cloak and the hat
with needlegrass function as elements of a typical symbolical
Hungarian costume.
Two types of traditions - the peasant and noble traditions are
the main distinctive aspects of the costume-preference.. These
two traditions divide the answers and although there is hardly
anybody nowadays wearing wide sheepskin coat or bonnet, the choice
of the typical Hungarian costume shows extremely explicitly the
different affinities to a peasant or noble image of Hungary. The
choice of the kerchief and boot above the average on the one side
and that of the braided coat ,hussar coat and bonnet on the other
side.
There are however some museum-like elements of the peasant costume
/ e.g. wide sheepskin coat, embroidered shirt / and other usual
elements of everyday life / e.g. boots, kerchief/. The last ones
are the symbols of the peasant tradition.
Landscapes
Local- patriotism is
an important factor of decision: choosing a typical Hungarian
landscape the inhabitants of each region tend to regard their
region as being typical Hungarian landscape. This type of partiality
is in the smallest degree characterising the inhabitants of the
Great Hungarian Plain.
In addition to locality another decisive aspect of choosing a
typical landscape is its economic utilisation. Wine -districts
are chosen because of this economic reason, too - e.g. Tokaj-Hegyalja
is chosen above the average by Northern-and Western Transdanubians.
There is an interesting difference between the preferences according
to genders. The Danube-bend was preferred rather by women while
men mentioned the mountains and the Great Plain more often than
women.
According to the education level of the respondents, the Carpathians
have a symbolic role- those with an elementary school qualification
mentioned them below the average while degree-holdings above the
average, the reason of this phenomenon might be the definition
of Hungary situated in the Carpathian-basin involving a more abstract-global
political "mental-map".
According to occupations the oscillation from the average are
also very interesting too. The preferences of craftsmen and tradesmen
were influenced by the practical utility of the region e.g. Tokaj-Hegyalja
and the most important Hungarian agricultural region -the Great
Plain .
Waters
According to age, the
choice of the Tisza polarises the respondents: the Tisza as a
typical Hungarian river has a preference above the average by
those older than 6o.
According to education there are two main groups- the Danube and
the Tisza are mentioned above the average by those with less than
8 years elementary school,while the Lake Balaton and the "four
river" involving historical knowledge are in their answers
below the average.. Those with final examination at a secondary
school or with university degree behaved on the contrary - they
chose the " four rivers" and the Lake Balaton above
the average and the Danube and the Tisza below the average.
Trees
Some of the trees have
got quite strong emotional associations: like the nut-tree, the
oak-tree, the apple-tree and the acacia tree. In some of the cases
the utility of the given tree, in other cases the stubborness,
branchiness, long life of the tree was the base of the symbolic
meaning of the tree. Sometimes the symbolic meaning of the tree
is in connection with the turning points of human life and these
emotions, beliefs and associations are interlocked with these
trees.
The distribution of answers is characteristic according to gender,
too. Women choose the apple-tree and men the oak-tree and beech-tree
to a higher proportion -it can be explained by the division of
labour- fruits are utilised merely in the kitchen -and beech-tree
,oak-tree -as we mentioned before -are important for wood-working
.
If we analyse the distribution of the population according to
age-differences - the two extreme poles are complementary again
.Young people /18-3o/ chose the beech-tree and the oak-tree above
the average and mentioned the acacia-tree, nut-tree and mulberry
tree below the average. The result is just the contrary in the
case of the oldest respondents /over 6o/ they mentioned the acacia-tree,
mulberry-tree and nut-tree above the average.
Differences are bigger according to regions. The Great Plain behaved
contrary to the more industrialised Northern and Western Transdanubia:
the acacia-tree and nut-tree are chosen above the average by the
inhabitants of the Great Plain, the "industrially" utilised
trees -as beech-tree and oak-tree are mentioned above the average
by the Transdanubians.
Flowers
The main distribution
of answers might be explained by the difference of the urbanised
and traditional attitude to nature. From this point of view the
main significant category are red poppies and sunflowers and opposed
to the -roses.
Women choose to high eater proportion "forget-me-not"
which is associated with strong emotional feelings, they chose
geranium, too, used as a decoration of houses -while men choose
roses, tulips, and pinks to a higher proportion.
According to age the dividing line is at the age of 45 . Those
who are younger chose above the average red poppies and sunflowers
- and below the average roses, pinks, tulips, and geraniums. It
is just the contrary in the case of those older than 6o - they
chose roses, pinks, tulips and they hardly mentioned red poppies
and sunflowers - because red poppies are a kind of weed for them
and sunflower is considered to be just a plant and not a flower.
According to education there are two blocks - the dividing line
is the school for skilled workers. Those with less than 8 years
elementary school chose above the average roses, tulips, pinks,
geraniums and below the average red poppies, cornflowers, sunflowers.
Those with a final examination at a secondary school or with a
university degree mention roses, tulips, pinks above the average.
According to regions Budapest and Northern and Western Transdanubia
are outstanding from the average. In Budapest red poppies, cornflowers,
sunflowers are preferred above the average according to an urbanised
attitude, and roses, pinks, geraniums are chosen below the average
, the choice of northern and western Transdanubians is quite special:
they preferred red poppies and at the same time geraniums and
daisies. The influence of an urbanised attitude can be seen here
but is due to the alpine influence / the preference of geranium/
Plants
In the case of plants
differences can be analysed not only by the rural-urbanised aspect
but by a modernised and traditional agricultural attitude too.
On the one hand there are the products of an extensive, great
fields agriculture on the other hand the products of a market
garden.
Those who are over 6o chose the product of great fields: maize
and wheat above the average and the product of an intensive type
of agriculture: onion, grapes below the average. On the contrary
those who are under 45 choose onion and grapes above the average.
According to education there are two groups: those with less than
8 years elementary school have a significant attitude towards
traditional agriculture / maize, wheat above the average ,onion
below the average/ those who attended a secondary school or have
a university degree chose above the average paprika, onion, grapes
and wheat and below the average maize and rye- barley.
According to occupation there are three groups: 1. unskilled and
semi-skilled workers preferred maize and sunflower 2.craftsmen
and tradesmen onions and grapes and 3. degree-holders chose paprika,
onions and grapes above the average.
If we analyse our data according to the residence of the respondents-
we can see clearly that the modernisation of agriculture explains
the differences of attitudes. In this case the regional traditions
of different plant-cultures could have had an important role.
But in Budapest the two spice-plants: paprika and onion are preferred
above the average while in the Great Plain maize is above the
average while paprika and onion, which are important products
of this region /Kalocsa! Szeged! Makó!/ are below the average.
Animals
The borderline between
the preferences of the different animals are more interesting.
Even thousand years after the settlement of the Hungarians these
borderlines show the symbols of two types of culture - the symbols
of a nomad life-mood / horse, swallow, lark/ or the symbols of
a "settlement " -type life-mood / Hungarian cow, "puli"/.
These two models show the separation of two animal-keeping attitudes.
The only exception is the stork. There is no significant difference,
the preference of this animal. Though the stork is not the most
typical Hungarian animal, it was similarly mentioned by the different
social groups, thus the stork is an "all-Hungarian"
bird.
The great difference according to gender is quite interesting:
birds / swallow, lark, stork/ are mentioned mainly by women and
shepherd-dogs / puli, komondor, kuvasz/ and "turul"
are mentioned mostly by men.
According to age-groups the two models can be seen too: the nomad
horseman and the rejection of this symbol. Those aged between
18-29 are characterised by the settlement-type model /They mentioned
the puli and Hungarian cow above the average/ over 6o - the choice
is just the contrary of it : the horse, swallow, and lark preferred
above the average and Hungarian cow, puli, kuvasz, komondor, Hungarian
beagle below the average.
According to education the nomadic model dominates in case of
those with less than 8 years elementary school - higher educated
respondents preferred the settlement type model.
What does a typical Hungarian look like?
The emphasis of the
eyes is unambiguously a sign of intellectual interest, it means
that when the respondents have to define the typical outlook of
a Hungarian , those with higher education showed more interest
in the expression and symbolic meaning of the eyes.
Moustache is a symbol mainly for the older generation, those who
are over 6o mention it more often than the average.
The critical-ambivalent self-identity in case of those who mention
inner characteristics does not only depend on education but also
on the generation they belong to. The judgement of the age groups
between 3o-45 is the most negative one, while pensioners represent
the other extremity -they chose pessimism as a typical national
characteristic below the average and they abstained from choosing
other negative judgements, too.
The ambivalent image of Hungary is characteristic for Budapest
and South-East-Transdanubia, too: the respondents of Budapest
mention sociability and other inner positive characteristics below
the average - the respondents of South and East Transdanubia choose
honesty and other inner positive characteristics below the average.
North-Hungary chose just the contrary: they mentioned honesty
and other positive characteristics as typical peculiarities of
the Hungarians.
In the case of the question "how does a typical Hungarian
look like" - for the younger generation and the higher educated
the moustache becomes less important and the dark hair and eyes
as characteristic features become more important. The inner characteristics
as signs of the outlook are more important - pessimism, the absence
of sociability and other positive inner features are stressed
by those who are more educated, more urbanised and belong to upper
social groups.
The origin of the Hungarians
Most of the respondents
chose the Finno-Ugrian origin of the Hungarians. This knowledge
becomes dominant in direct proportion to the younger generations.
The knowledge of the Finno-Ugrian kinship increases in direct
proportion with higher qualification - the mixed origin of the
Hungarians is mentioned mainly by those who have a university
degree and among the different social groups, by craftsmen and
tradesmen..
The Finno-Ugrian origin was mentioned above the average by the
North and West Transdanubians, while South and East Transdanubians
prefer the "Hun" origin to the same proportion.
The National Holiday
The l5th of March -like
always - seems to be the symbolic national holiday for the young
generation- 20th of August - connected to the statehood - is preferred
by the generation /45-59/ the life of which - and we can see it
in the case of other questions, too -as determined by the decades
of the so called state-socialism. /2oth of August was mentioned
by young respondents below the average. The 23rd October was accepted
as a national holiday by the generation that was most closely
connected with system-change /age 3o-44/.
According to regions the polarisation of Transdanubia and the
Great Plain can be seen. The 15th of March is chosen mainly by
Transdanubians and below the average by the respondents of the
Great Plain. The 20th of August is chosen in contrary above the
average by the Great Plain and below the average by the South
and East Transdanubia. This polarisation signs a type of difference,
one of them is the symbol of a civil, citoyen development and
the other one is the symbol of an autoritarian-state stability.
Music
According to gender
there is no significant difference in the choice of typical Hungarian
music. The only exception is Bartók, whose more tragic,
dramatic music was chosen mainly by men while Kodály was
chosen mainly by women.
According to age the choice of original folk-songs and the negative
judgement of the operetta is characteristic for the age group
18-29 between. Original folk-songs were chosen below the average
by the age-group between 45-59 - while Kodály was mentioned
above the average. A third type of musical taste characterises
the age -group over 6o - the preference of the so called "Hungarian
popular melody" above the average.
According to educational qualification there are three groups.
Those with less than 8 years elementary school chose the Hungarian
popular melody and Hungarian folk song above the average / it
is supposed that these two music-form6genre are mixed in their
opinion/.Those with 8 years elementary school still prefer the
Hungarian popular melody above the average but they mention Liszt,
Bartók and Kodály at the average. The third group
is represented by those who have attended secondary school or
have university qualification - they mention Bartók, Kodály,
Erkel above the average and the Hungarian popular melody and operetta
below the average.
According to residence Erkel and Bartók were chosen above
the average in Budapest and the Hungarian popular melody below
the average. South and East Transdanubia mentioned the Hungarian
popular melody above the better than average and the Hungarian
folk-song and Bartók below the average.
Sport
In connection with sport
the aspect of elite-sport and mass-sport divide the answers. According
to gender the only difference is in connection with boxing - it
is chosen certainly mainly by men - but there is no similar difference
in connection with other so called "men's sport" like
football, wrestling - and these answers sign a type of emancipation.
According to age-groups pentathlon, swimming, water-polo and kayak-canoe
are preferred mainly by the age-group between 18-29 - these sports,
though some of them are team-sports, their common feature is the
role of individual achievement, and their need for instruments.
Those over 6o have opposite preferences - they chose swimming,
pentathlon, kayak-canoe below the average.
According to educational qualification different sports have special
social symbolic meanings: those with less than 8 years elementary
school chose football above the average and kayak-canoe below
the average - on the other side the group with a secondary school
or university qualification mentioned pentathlon, fencing, kayak-canoe
above the average and football, boxing, wrestling below the average.
According to different social groups, those who are in direct
connection with (material) production (unskilled, semi-skilled,
and skilled workers and lower leaders of production) mention football
above the average while other social groups chose football below
the average. Degree holdings, brain-workers on the contrary chose
pentathlon, swimming, water polo, kayaking-canoeing, fencing and
riding with a team of horses above the average, and football and
wrestling below the average.
According to regional differences Budapest is outstanding in the
preference of pentathlon and fencing and in rejecting football
and boxing.
Summarising the result we can outline the social symbols of different
sports separated like different "casts": football and
boxing belong to a lower social prestige, while pentathlon, fencing,
kayak-canoe belong to the "upper" world, though we know
that these are not real "elite" sports - like golf,
yachting, tennis, squash and so on - but these elite sports were
not on the list of the questionnaire.
Sportsmen, sportswomen
Women who by their choice
proved to be quite emancipated gave many "I do not know"
answers when they had to mention names of sportsmen/women In the
choice of boxing, FTC (the most popular Hungarian sports club
with political connotation) and football (fans of previous times)
the men -dominance were characteristic.
According to age groups the choice of sportsmen/women has two
main types: those aged between 18-29 mention Krisztina Egerszegi,
swimmer (Olympic champion, in 1988, 1992, 1996) Tamás Darnyi
swimmer (Olympic champion in 1992, 1996), István Kovács
boxer (Olympic champion in 1996). Respondents over 60 Egerszegi,
Darnyi, Kovács, other Olympic champions of the recent past
and FTC football players are mentioned below the average. For
the age group between 45-59 sports have other "heroes"
: László Papp ,boxer(Olympic champion of the Fifties)
András Balczó (Olympic champion in pentathlon of
the Sixties), and Olympic champions of previous times. According
to educational qualification there are two types: those with less
than 8 years elementary school mention every figure of the sport-life
below the average - the only exception is László
Papp, the hero of boxing (l95Os), a symbol of carrier starting
from a law layer. Those with a university qualification mentioned
above the average the stars of different periods and branches
of sport: Puskás, Darnyi, Egerszegi, Papp, Balczó,
the Polgar sisters , "other Olympic champions" of previous
times - great international success is the common characteristic
of these names. This group of respondents make one quite meaningful
negative exception :the low preference of FTC football players.
Trade -marks
The difference between
the social groups are very well revealed by the results of national
trade -marks, too. These differences are due to the different
images about the typical production of Hungary. There are four
main models .One is the traditional image of Hungary as an agricultural
country . The main signs of this image are the choice of the "Pick-salami"
and the goose-liver. The second model is the image of the "socialist
industry". Rába and Ikarus are the main symbols of
this image / although these firms had a reputation already before
the socialist period/.The symbols of the third model are the products
associated with creativity, innovation / e.g. Rubik, Herendi-Zsolnay
/. There is a fourth model, too: industry based on qualified working
- like electronic industry / Videoton, Tungsram are symbols of
this fourth model..
The preference of a certain model expresses the attitude of the
given social group to a special period of the recent past of Hungary
and an attitude to a kind of modernization strategy, too.
We can find differences according to gender too - women chose
important kitchen and household products / like "Pick.salami",
goose-liver, paprika/ Herendi-Zsolnay porcelain.
According to ages there are three groups: in the case of the age-group
18-29 the image of a modernised production and consumption of
Hungary is dominant (Videoton and Herendi-Zsolnay are mentioned
above the average - Pick-salami and goose-liver below the average-
the image of agricultural Hungary is rejected quite obviously
by this generation). In the case of the age group 30-45 Herendi-Zsolnay
are preferred above the average while the symbols of socialist-industry
(Ikarus, Rába) are rejected. Another characteristic group
is that of respondents aged between 45-59. Opposite to the 30-45
group they prefer the symbols of socialist industry (Ikarus, Rába)
and reject the symbols of a so-called "consumption culture"
(Herendi-Zsolnay and "ground paprika"). In the case
of the group over 60 the traditional image of agricultural Hungary
dominates: they mention goose-liver, paprika above the average
and Ikarus, Videoton, Herendi-Zsolnay and Rubik below the average.
According to educational qualification in the case of those with
less than 8 years elementary school the traditional image of an
agricultural Hungary is dominant (goose-liver, ground paprika
are mentioned above the average). The other group with 8 years
of elementary school or a special school for skilled workers (they
are mainly workers) expresses the image of an industrialised Hungary
(Ikarus and Videoton are mentioned above the average, and goose
liver, ground paprika below the average). The third group is the
group of the secondary school or university qualified respondents.
For them the symbols of creativity and high quality consumption
are important: the Rubik's cube, Herendi-Zsolnay, old Tokaj-wine
and ground paprika.
According to regions we can find the influence of local patriotism.
Rába is chosen mainly by the respondents of North- and
West Transdanubia (where their firms are) while Ganz is mentioned
above the average in Budapest (the cause is the same).
The symbolic meaning of trade marks shows very important distinctions.
It expresses different degrees of the modernised production model:
from the agricultural model through a model of engineering industry
and precision-engineering mechanics and electronic industry to
the information-innovation based society with a high standard
of consumption.
These symbols express different degrees of the so-called socialism:
from the industry of the previous period through the heavy industries
of the fifties, the consumption-oriented industry of the Kadar's
era, to the attitude of nowadays opposing the socialist period.
There are other aspects of these symbols, too: the prestige-hierarchy
of consumption (e.g. goose-liver, old Tokaj-wine) the contrast
of rationalism and belief in miracles, the two poles of technicism
and housing. Through their combinations there are quite different
value- and taste-structures can be expressed. Beside the ancient
symbols of the trees, and animals, the symbols of production of
the modern era are excellent signs of different mentalities.
Writers and poets
Knowledge is a strong
limit in choosing writers and poets: the knowledge of different
writers, poets and especially the knowledge of their works, compositions
is quite diverse in different social groups.
The comparison of genders gives a very interesting result: Ady
and Petõfi (the great representants of the Hungarian poetry
of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century) are mentioned
mainly by women (this show women's greater affinity to poetry,
lyric poetry) while Móricz (one of the greatest novel-writer,
who represents the "prose", prosaic life and rough reality)
is chosen by men above the average.
According to ages there are two characteristic taste-structures:
Ady, Attila József (the greatest poets of modern literature)
Kölcsey (the author of the National anthem) and Petõfi
are mentioned above the average by the younger age-groups /18-29/
- for them Mikszáth and Jókai (romantic novel writers)
are less important -it signs that the calm, and long narration-mood
of the last century is quite strange for the accelerated life-mood
of this generation. The other group is represented by those who
are over 6o -in their case there are a lot of negative deviations
from the average. In the case of the middle aged the two paradigms
are separated by the preference of Attila József and Endre
Ady.
According to educational qualification the distribution is similar:
those with less than 8 years elementary school mention Ady, Jókai,
Attila József, Kölcsey, Radnóti (a 20th century
poet of the urban lyrics), Petõfi below the average - in
this qualification group literature does not function as a symbolic
role. /This result stresses again the importance of the 8 elementary
school!/ There is a great qualitative change by those with 8 years
elementary school - Ady and Radnóti are the only poets
who are mentioned below the average. The other extremity is represented
by the university qualified respondents: in their case Ady, Attila
József, Móricz, Radnóti, Jókai are
chosen above the average - Petõfi is the only exception
- mentioned below the average.
According to regions there are a lot of negative deviations from
the average results in the Great Plain and in North-Hungary -
the symbolic role of literature is not so important in the attitude
of these respondents. Writers of the Journal Nyugat /"West"
= west oriented literary journal of intellectuals at the beginning
of this century/ are mentioned above the average in Transdanubia
/this result refers to a more modernised, urbanised taste of reading/.
Ady, Jókai, Attila József, writers of Nyugat and
"other classical writers" are chosen above the average
in Budapest.
Historical personalities
The answers to this
question show which historical events and who are the historical
reference-points in history.
According to age there are three groups: one of them is the group
of those between 18-29-. For them Saint Stephan is more important
than for the average. Those who aged between 45-59 chose Deák
above the average - Deák became the symbol of compromise
in Hungarian history. There are only negative deviation from the
average in the case of those who are over 6o.
According to educational qualification there are two groups -in
the case of those with less than 8 years elementary school we
can find only negative deviation from the average - these deviations
refer to different historical periods which means that the cause
of these deviations is historical knowledge and not the preference
or rejection of one or another historical period. The other extremity
is the group of the secondary school or university qualified respondents
- different historical periods and their representatives are mentioned
above the average in their case / the of Árpád house,
king Mathias, Saint Stephen, Deák, Kossuth, Széchenyi
/.
Among regional differences we can find two important results:
in Budapest there are a lot of positive deviations from the average
- in the centre of power, history is a stronger reference. While
in the case of the Great Plain and North Hungary - all deviations
from the average are negative in spite of the origin and places
of activity of certain historical personalities.
In the case of historical pesonalities the main borderlines are
based on the knowledge rather than in the case of writers and
poets.
The other distinctive meaning of these historical symbols is the
separation of heroes who struggled for independence or the power
of reprisals / the attitude to the insurrectionist movement of
the 17th and 18th century divide the answers quite obviously /
and certainly the attitude to the politicians after the second
world war differ the answers, too.
Personalities of the political life
According to age-groups
the answer "there is no such representative politicians nowadays"
was given by more than the average by those who are 18-29 and
they mention József Torgyán above the average and
socialist politicians /Gyula Horn,Miklós Németh
/below the average. In the case of the group over 6o all the deviations
from the average are negative . According to educational qualification
students mention Torgyán below the average / which means
that mainly the lower qualified young people mention Torgyán/
. We can find most of the positive deviations from the average
in the case of the group aged between 3o-45 / this group is politically
the most active, and most involved. They mention according to
the political differences of this age-group Miklós Németh,
Árpád Göncz, József Antall above the
average.
According to educational qualification we can find in the case
of those with less than 8 years elementary school only negative
deviations from the average. Antall, Göncz, Németh
, this groups reject three types of political period and style,
too. Quite contrary in the case of the university qualified respondents,
Antall, Göncz, Németh and Horn are mentioned above
the average. Educational qualification measures especially in
connection with two politicians - Árpád Göncz
and Gyula Horn are chosen by degree-holdings above the average
/ Göncz is chosen by secondary school qualified persons,
too / while Árpád Göncz is mentioned below
the average by the respondents with less than 8 years elementary
school, and Horn is mentioned in the same way by those who finished
a special school for skilled workers.
Coats of arms
The coat of arms of
Kadars' period was chosen by more women than men.
According to age-groups the Kadar arms was chosen mainly by the
generation socialised during this period.
According to educational qualification while the lowest and highest
qualified groups hardly chose the coat of arms of Kádár
- those who have attended an elementary school or a special school
for skilled workers chose the coat of arms of Kadar above the
average - which shows that Kádár period has had
a strong influence on these groups.
The distinction of the answers according to social groups show
the same. Coat of arms of Kádár is chosen above
the average by unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workers and
by semi-skilled white-collar workers - these employees are the
ones who / and the unemployed and other inactive workers / are
by no means winners of the system-change.
The characteristic features of the Hungarians
The high proportion
of the answer " I do not know" is quite remarkable -
the use of the scale was quite strange for a lot of respondents
( mainly for low educated and old persons/.
The older the respondents the more optimistic were the judgement
about Hungarians . Another important distinction among the different
age-groups is the judgement of quickness - over 6o they value
Hungarians quicker than the average while the age-group between
18-29 appreciates Hungarians as being slower than the average.
As a result the group over 6o appreciates Hungarians more positive
than the average and than the younger groups - for them Hungarians
are more developed, more optimistic, more friendly, and quicker.
The age-groups between 18-29 misses resoluteness , successfulness,
optimism and quickness - mainly the values of modernisation.
Women consider the Hungarians more impressive (sympathetic) than
men, while men think Hungarians are more resolute.
According to educational qualification those with less than 8
years elementary school are the most satisfied with the Hungarians
- while the group of secondary school qualified are the most unsatisfied.
One of the biggest differences in judgement is on the scale of
optimism-pessimism: those with less than or 8 years elementary
school or a special school for skilled workers consider Hungarians
are more optimistic - while the group of secondary school and
university qualified declare Hungarians as being rather pessimistic.
The higher qualified groups are rather unsatisfied with the Hungarians-
in their opinion Hungarians are less modern, more pessimistic,
slower, less tolerant, more conservative. The different Hungarian
characteristic features are related by the different educational
attainment groups / to themselves similarly to age-groups / and
to their social-situation.
According to occupation-groups: unskilled workers do not form
definite opinions about the characteristic features of the Hungarians
- the only exception is friendliness - in their opinion it is
an important feature of our nation. Skilled workers appreciate
Hungarians as a modern, developed, / as managers do/ masculine
and resolute nation-these are the ideas of an industrialised and
rational modernisation. The lower managers / together with other
managers / value the Hungarians more successful, more friendly,
more impressive (sympathetic) than others- these values show that
personal contacts are quite important for the managers and the
results justify their activity. The university qualified respondents
appreciate Hungarians less resolute, more pessimistic, more intolerant
, more aggressive and at the same time more old-fashioned, more
conservative and unsuccessful than the average - they miss -according
to a more critical, reflective mentality of the intellectuals
- both the sociability and the modernisation abilities of the
Hungarians.
According to residence the opinion of the respondents in Budapest
is more critic and negative than in North and West Transdanubia,
where the image of the Hungarians shows acceptance.
The characteristic features of the Austrians
The opinion of the older
generation is more positive about the Austrians, too - except
two values, the value of cheerfulness and progressiveness - the
youngest age group (18-29) appreciates Austrians better than the
older generation.
Women value Austrians a little bit more positive than men - the
differences concern quickness, cheerfulness, progressiveness,
successfulness, and peace-lovingness.
Those with lower educational appreciate Austrians more positive
than the average. The group of degree-holders deviates above the
average in two aspects - they say Austrians are more cheerful
and conservative than the others, but less friendly, less tolerant
and less impressive (sympathetic). Those with a special school
for skilled workers appreciate technical abilities - but they
appreciate the humanistic abilities of the Austrians, too - considering
Austrians more friendly, more impressive (sympathetic) than the
others.
According to profession-groups the most characteristic judgements
belong to the group of small enterpreneurs - they have vivid intensive
economic contacts with the Austrians and perhaps the most personal
good and bad experience with the "neighbours". In the
opinion of semi-skilled and skilled workers Austrians are more
modern, clever and serious - perhaps they acknowledge the higher
standard of Austrian production. Skilled workers and lower managers
appreciate other abilities, too, which are important for qualified
work, : resoluteness, progressiveness, optimism and successfulness.
The judgement of managers and qualified white-collar workers is
similar in this respect: both say Austrians are more resolute,
more progressive - expressing the benefits of modernisation -
and at the same time more old fashioned, more conservative and
less friendly.
According to regional differences the respondents of Budapest
have a more critical opinion about Austrians, but not so critical
as in the case of the Hungarians. They consider value Austrians
less clever, less modern, and less resolute, than the average,
but more cheerful than the others. The respondents of North and
West Hungary are more critical in three respects, : they regard
Austrians less modern and clever but louder than the others (due
perhaps the experience of the so-called shopping tourism at the
borderline), but it does not mean - as we see above - that they
do not consider them impressive (sympathetic).
The view of the Austrians in North Hungary is more aggressive:
they consider Austrian are more masculine and less peace-loving.
The respondents of the Great Plain and South and East Transdanubia
appreciate Austrians more positively - they stress two values:
Austrians are more clever and more modern.
Aggressive nationalism
There are quite big
difference according to gender. A Great proportion of the women
reject the answer to this question / answering: I do not know
/.
According to ages the most oldest ones answered: "I do not
know". At the same time they are those who reject the less
nationalism. People aged between 3o-44.are the most critical concerning
nationalism.
According to education the answers like : " nationalism is
unambiguously negative "and " it is more negative than
positive" are more frequent in direct ratio with a higher
education.
Are you proud of your Hungarian nationality?
Summarising the results
we can say that the self -identity of the middle-classes is the
weakest.
The pride of national identity is related to a quite acceptable
living standard / or rather to the satisfaction with this living
standard / and the possibility of social activity. The role of
political culture is though an important but not a primary factor
of this pride.
What are you proud of ?
The result of this question
can show the symbols of identification, self-confidence. Which
of the symbolic elements are determining the identity of the different
social groups.
According to ages we find three main groups: the group of people
between 18-29 is proud of our historical tradition and political
processes below the average , but they are proud of sports achievement
above the average. The group over 6o lays stress on historical
tradition above the average and on sports achievement below the
average. Sport had not got less importance and publicity when
they were young. Political processes as the base of national pride
are mentioned by the group between 3o-45 / the so called system-changing
generation/ above the average.
According to gender differences - in connection with different
political interests - men mention political results and sport
above the women - while women answered several times " I
do not know" or "There is no such a reason for pride"
-their identification with these social results are weaker than
that of men.
According to educational attainment there are four groups. In
the case of those who with than 8 years elementary school we find
only negative deviations from the average. The other characteristic
group is that of degree-holders -they - on the contrary- mention
above the average scientific results, arts, political processes
and historical traditions. / All these are important factors of
their identity/.The answers of those who have attended a secondary
school are ambiguous - they chose scientific results above the
average but they mention sport, too - similarly to the group of
skilled -workers. This is the fourth group /those with a special
school for skilled workers/ they chose scientific results below
the average and sport above the average. Sport became very an
important factor of national identity in the case of this group.
The measure and type of national pride is a good sign of social
status and satisfaction. The content of pride is quite hierarchised:
the upper social groups mention result of science and arts, political
changes and historical tradition as the source of national pride.
Impressive (sympathetic) nations
The list of impressive
(sympathetic) nations shows the cultural models of a social group-
which cultural models are examples to be followed or similar to
their own.
Analysing the date we can distinct four main models according
to age, educational attainment, occupation group and party sub-cultures:
the American, European, German-Austrian, and eastern-European
models.
According to ages the group between 18-29 mentions North -Americans,
Italians, other Europeans as impressive (sympathetic) nations
above the average and East-Europeans below the average.
Quite characteristic is the positive American-image of the youngest
group and their attraction toward the South part of Europe / against
the Northern part/ and the rejection of East-European. In the
case of the oldest group the affection for East-Europeans and
the distrust to USA and Latin cultures is still remarkable. The
third group represented by those between 45-59. They mention the
Polish nation above the average.
According to educational qualification those with less than 8
years elementary school deviate negatively from the average -
they mention the East-Europeans above the average. In the case
of degree-holders a lot of nations are mentioned above the average:
e.g. French, Italian, Scandinavian, and other European. This is
the sign of a quite obvious a kind of European orientation, toward
both parts of Europe - the North and the South. It is significant,
too that they emphasize the Latin civilisations as symbols of
culture and the Scandinavian welfare-state model. Those with a
special school for skilled workers chose above the average the
Austrian -German model - as a symbol of technical virtue- e.g.
exactness, accuracy, correctness.
What is your opinion about the presence of foreigners?
"Foreigners enrich
by their presence our everyday-life" -professional classes
agree with this statement above the average - they are the most
tolerant in this respect. The group of small enterpreneurs behave
similarly. The semi-skilled workers are the less tolerant ones
in connection with this question.
According to age-groups the youngest are the most tolerant and
the oldest are the less tolerant.
According to educational qualification the acceptance the role
of foreigners /as enriching the country/ is growing in direct
ratio with higher qualification. The biggest difference is after
the elementary school.
According to residence North and West Transdanubia is the most
tolerant again and the most intolerant is North Hungary.
"Foreigners jeopardise working places" -those who are
between 45-59 reject this statement most of all.
According to educational qualification the rejection of this statement
is growing in direct ratio to higher qualification / the neutral
answer is chosen by professionals above the average./
Antipathetic nations
Concerning this question
we can divide 4 types of rejection with this question: the rejection
of East-Europeans, non-Europeans, Gypsies, and Russians. The base
of these rejections might be of political nature /as in the case
of the Rumanians or gypsies/ it might have religious, cultural,
ethnic reasons / Arabs, gypsies, non-European nations/.
According to age the rejection of Gypsies is above the average
in the case of the group between 18-29. The group of 45-59 is
the most tolerant in this case - they answer above the average
that "there is no such - antipathetic nation" and they
reject Gypsies and other East-Europeans below the average.
According to educational qualification there are three groups,
the group of those who have not finished an elementary school
- they mention Gypsies, Arabs, Rumanians, Serbs, and Turks worse
than the average and they answer above the average that there
is no antipathetic nation. The second group is represented by
those with the secondary school and by professionals - they reject
above the average Gypsies, Turks, / secondary school/ non-Europeans
/professionals/.The third group is the group of skilled workers
- they reject Rumanians above the average / the effect of the
concurrence on the labour market might cause this result/.
Disliked neighbours
Similar to the previous
question the oldest ones are the most tolerant. Over 45 the two
age-groups chose above the average the answer " there is
no such nation" - while the youngest /18-29/ mention above
the average Rumanians, Gypsies and coloured people as disliked
neighbours.
According to educational qualification there are two extreme poles
- those who have not finished elementary school - they mention
above the average Rumanians, Ukrainians and other East-Europeans
as disliked neighbours / and answer worse than average that "
there is no such nation" /. Professionals are less intolerant
in this respect than secondary school finished respondents - but
they reject above the average Gypsies , Russians and other coloured
people - and are less intolerant with Rumanians / as potential
neighbours/.
The results about the sub-cultures of certain political parties
are summarized in a separate paper. We publish the detailed results,
cross tabulations and their analyses in a book.
The results of this research can be analysed from other aspects,
too. This individual and collective research experiences , practical
and theoretical knowledge , a lot of facts of cultural history
- the analysis of these symbolic meanings are very fruitful to
discover specialities - peculiarities of values and mentality.
Not only the symbolic meanings are representing the present Hungarian
identity of the different social groups but also the answers divide
the population to such an extent that we can use these question
approximately like a test - to discover peculiarities of the different
social groups. The results show that different parts of the questions
symbolise quite different aspects of national identity / e.g.
urbanisation differences, economic preferences, the degree of
individualisation /. We hope that the results of our survey can
be useful for other social research,too.
Budapest-Velem, l997-l998