More similar than we think Risk averse and unimaginative: report shows

ilovecyprus


Joined: 08/05/2007
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Message Posted:
31/10/2008 12:53

GREEK Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots may be more alike than they think when it comes to personal and shared values, according to a report published yesterday by the Centre for European Policy studies.



The study shows that majorities in both communities value independence highly, consider themselves religious, say they are unimpressed by wealth, shun adventure, distrust almost everyone, and do not place much store in imagination, creativity and altruism.



“Cypriots share, as citizens, many important similarities in terms of their political values and aspirations, with differences between them appearing to be rooted more in their different contexts and historical trajectories than in fundamental divergences in values and ideologies,” said the report presented in Nicosia.

ilovecyprus


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Message Posted:
31/10/2008 12:54

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Only 21 per cent in each community place importance on imagination and only 23 per cent of Greek Cypriots and 24 per cent of Turkish Cypriots place any importance on altruism.



Both appear to be religious, with 94 per cent of Greek Cypriots and 88 per cent of Turkish Cypriots viewing themselves as either practising or non-practising Christians or Muslims respectively.



Close to 85 per cent in each community attach prime importance to their sense of security over 70 per cent to tradition.



Only 17 per cent of Greek Cypriots and 28 per cent of Turkish Cypriots attach any importance to wealth, they said, while one third in each community said they were adventurous.

ilovecyprus


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31/10/2008 12:55

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“The shared reluctance to embrace adventure may also indicate an underlying tendency in both communities towards risk aversion, creating a potential impediment to reaching a solution, which inevitably calls for a considerable leap of faith,” said the report.



Asked if they thought most people would try to take advantage of them, only 5 per cent of Greek Cypriots and 11 per cent of Turkish Cypriots felt other people generally played fair.



The report said over 95 per cent in both communities tended to trust only their immediate surroundings including family.



This drops to 85 per cent for Greek Cypriots and 76 per cent for Turkish Cypriots when it came to trusting friends, and dropped another ten per cent in relation to people in their immediate community.

ilovecyprus


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31/10/2008 12:56

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“While both are distrustful of strangers and people of other nationalities and faiths, Greek Cypriots in particular also appear to be fomenting the potential for ethnic intolerance and xenophobia, probably not only towards Turkish Cypriots but also towards immigrants of other European countries, with only 8 per cent of Greek Cypriots as opposed to 37 per cent of Turkish Cypriots believing that ethnic diversity enriches life,” the report said.



It said the difference in this aspect probably comes from Greek Cypriot concerns about the social consequences of an increasing influx of immigrants, while the Turkish Cypriots were concerned about their isolation.



Other areas where two communities converge are their attitudes to conditions in society.

ilovecyprus


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Message Posted:
31/10/2008 12:57

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Over 70 per cent in both value economic growth highly, and they converge at around 40 per cent on the importance of the environment.



The two communities also mirror each other in terms of their ideological preferences, with the distribution of political preferences across the far left-far right spectrum following a similar curve, the report said.



“Both communities are relatively centrist and non-polarised politically. This finding bodes well for the future of a sister political party or common political parties within a reunified island,” said the report.







Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008

Coachie



Joined: 29/07/2008
Posts: 2135

Message Posted:
31/10/2008 13:24

susanne..I suppose the Turks are not impressed about wealth???They must have changed somewhat in the last few years than...