Germany Monitor ´25 - Main Survey

The Germany Monitor is an annual survey designed to empirically track changes in political and social sentiment and attitudes among the population nationwide. Each year, a new, current focal topic is selected. The survey consists of a nationwide main survey and a regional in-depth survey. In the regional in-depth survey, only individuals in pre-selected counties are interviewed. These surveys are available as separate datasets. The main survey of the Germany Monitor ’25 was conducted by the opinion research institute forsa on behalf of the Center for Social Research Halle e.V. During the survey period from April 23, 2025, to May 30, 2025, the German-speaking resident population aged 16 and older was surveyed via telephone interviews (CATI). In 2025, the focus topic is “How open to change is Germany?” Key topics include general openness to change and attitudes toward change in key policy areas (migration, climate change, digitalization, defense, demographic change, and structural change). Furthermore, the current wave also collects data on established attitude constructs—including satisfaction with democracy, trust in institutions, and populism—as well as sociodemographic characteristics. Respondents were selected through a multistage random sample drawn from an ADM selection frame that included both landline and mobile phone numbers (dual-frame sample) in a 70:30 ratio. A total of 4,505 telephone interviews were conducted. During data cleaning, one case was excluded due to an excessive proportion of missing values, resulting in a final sample size of n = 4,004 in the Scientific Use File. Life satisfaction; agreement with the following statements regarding life assessment: I have achieved the main goals I set for myself in my life so far, and society values my life’s achievements to date; optimism vs. concerns regarding one’s personal future and the future of Germany in general; the area with the greatest changes in Germany; perception of the depth, speed, and scope of the transformation; assessment of change: evaluation of the impact of societal changes over the past 10 years on the respondent personally, on their immediate surroundings, and on Germany as a whole; fundamental changes in society are seen more as an opportunity than a risk for Germany’s future. Attitudes toward changes in key policy areas (migration, climate change, digitalization, defense, demographic change, and structural change): Migration: expected depth of change in life in Germany due to the influx of migrants over the next 10 years; expected pace of these changes; agreement with political statements on the topic of migration (in my immediate surroundings, I perceive that immigration is causing many changes for the worse; for me, it is unreasonable if a refugee shelter is set up in my neighborhood; Germany should do more to integrate immigrants; Germany should promote the influx of skilled workers from abroad); Demographic change: expected extent of changes in life in Germany due to the aging of society over the next 10 years; expected pace of these changes; agreement with political statements on demographic change (I notice in my immediate surroundings that there are more and more older people; I find it unreasonable to have to work longer for the same pension amount; in the event of a dispute, policymakers should only take the interests of younger people into account); Digitalization: the expected extent of changes in life in Germany due to digitalization over the next 10 years; the expected pace of these changes; agreement with political statements on the topic of digitalization (I feel that digitalization is making my daily life easier; I find it unreasonable to have to handle everyday tasks exclusively online; policymakers should push even harder to expand digital infrastructure; the use of artificial intelligence to generate images and text requires very strict regulations); Structural change in the economy and industry: employment; expected extent of change in life in Germany due to economic development over the next 10 years; expected pace of these changes; agreement with political statements on structural change (In my immediate surroundings, the disadvantages of economic structural change are clearly noticeable; I find it unreasonable to have to reorient myself professionally; regions heavily affected by economic change should receive significant support); Climate change: expected extent of changes to daily life in Germany due to climate change over the next 10 years; expected pace of these changes; agreement with political statements on climate change (I can already feel the negative effects of climate change in my everyday life; I find it unreasonable that I’m no longer allowed to drive a car with a combustion engine for the sake of climate protection; policymakers must do more for climate protection); Defense: expected extent of changes to life in Germany due to the new security situation in Europe over the next 10 years; expected pace of these changes; agreement with political statements on the topic of defense (I personally feel threatened by war in Europe, Germany should stay out of world politics, The Bundeswehr should be part of a new European army). Personality: Internal locus of control (I am in control of my own life; in difficult situations, I can rely on my own abilities); External locus of control (whether in my personal or professional life: my life is largely determined by others, and my plans are often thwarted by fate); Anomie (these days, everything has become so uncertain that you have to be prepared for anything; everything has become so chaotic that no one knows where they actually stand anymore); economic perceptions: assessment of the current economic situation in Germany as a whole, in one’s place of residence, among friends and family, and one’s own economic situation; trust in institutions (federal government, mayor, Federal Constitutional Court, Bundestag); community life in one’s place of residence (Sociality Index: People in my community help one another/motivate one another to achieve something). Political attitudes: Democracy: Attitude toward the idea of democracy; satisfaction with democracy as enshrined in the Constitution; satisfaction with how democracy functions in Germany; has the development of democracy in Germany over the past 10 years been more positive or more negative; more advantages or more disadvantages—personally and for Germany—resulting from reunification; Extremism (What Germany needs now is a single strong party that embodies the will of the people as a whole; political decisions should be made by a strong leader who does not have to take Parliament into account; under certain circumstances, a dictatorship is the better form of government; democracy is the political system that best suits our society); Populism (Members of the German Bundestag should be committed exclusively to the will of the people; the people are, in principle, in agreement about what needs to happen politically; politicians talk too much and do too little; an ordinary citizen would represent my interests better than a career politician; what is called “compromise” in politics is, in reality, merely a betrayal of principles; the people, and not the politicians, should make the important political decisions; politicians only look out for the interests of the rich and powerful); party identification in general and political party; self-identification on the political spectrum (right-left); status (deprivation); fear of status loss; responsiveness (politicians strive to maintain close contact with the public; politicians do not care what citizens think; politicians generally strive to represent the interests of the public). Demography: gender; year of birth; age in categories; age numerically; age by generation; education: highest general education degree; desired educational attainment; highest vocational qualification; place of socialization before reunification; place of socialization after reunification; marital status; household size; number of children in the household; German citizenship; born in Germany; religious affiliation; household net income; net equivalence income. The following were additionally coded: Respondent-ID; survey mode; survey year; type of transformation; willingness to embrace change regarding migration: generated index; willingness to embrace change regarding digitalization: generated index; willingness to embrace change regarding climate: generated index; willingness to embrace change regarding defense: generated index; trust in institutions: generated index; democracy: typology of democratic orientation; extremism: generated index; Extremism (dictatorship-friendly attitudes)—categories; populism: generated index; populism: generated dummy variable; responsiveness: generated index; education: CASMIN: generated index; weighting factors; frame (landline, mobile); telephone connections in the household; number of landline numbers, number of cell phone numbers. Context variables: District type based on settlement structure according to BBSR; BIK regions; East/West region; ILTIS typology: Prosperity; Thünen rurality index; town size.