Eurobarometer 31A (1989)

The main focus of this Eurobarometer is: 1. Satisfaction; 2. Attitude to the EC; 3. Standard of living and poverty; 4. Energy questions and environmental protection. Topics: 1. Satisfaction: general contentment with life; satisfaction in selected areas of daily life (scale); assessment of future personal circumstances; satisfaction with democracy and satisfaction with democracy in the EC; personal opinion leadership; frequency of political discussions; postmaterialism; interest in the future; nationality and eligibility to vote at place of residence. 2. Attitude to the EC: evaluation of the European Parliament; personal election participation at the last European Election and behavior at the polls; reasons for non-participation in the election; most important reasons for voting decision; interest in the European Election campaign; evaluation of selected sources of information on the European Election; manner of search for information during the election campaign; frequency of use of television at the time of the election campaign and evaluation of the television election campaign; judgment on the importance of parliamentary institutions at municipal, regional and European level; particular solidarity or alienation to an EC country; satisfaction with national government; importance of selected political controversies; political interest and interest in EC policies; significance of the EC for the future of one´s own country; attitude to unification of Western Europe and EC membership of one´s country; advantages or disadvantages for the country from EC membership; regret of a failure of the EC; importance of selected problems in the area of environmental protection and social policy as well as preference for national or European decision-making in these political controversies; knowledge about the European domestic market and expectation tied to it; attitude to the social charter of the EC; judgment on the EC Commission; judgment on the success of the summit meeting of the heads of the European Governments in Madrid; perceived alternatives to EC membership. 3. Standard of living and poverty: sources of income and other payment in kind or privileges; significance of these privileges for the current standard of living; classification of personal standard of living as well as standard of living of both parents; expected social mobility for one´s own children; just treatment of respondent by society; demands of an up-to-date standard of living and demands currently not yet fulfilled (scales); necessity of restrictions due to insufficient income; perceived poverty and its change in one´s residential area, individual or social reasons for the poverty; assessment of the mobility chances of poor components of the population; knowledge of a legally guaranteed minimum income and of the prerequisites to qualify; adequate care for those in need by authorities; judgment on EC measures to combat need as well as personal willingness to help and willingness to make sacrifices. 4. Energy questions and environmental protection: choosing the form of energy most stable in price, most reliable and most environmentally friendly; attitude to nuclear energy; knowledge of selected environmental problems and assessment of the seriousness of these problems; assumed reasons for the greenhouse effect, acid rain and the destruction of the ozone layer; effects of the European domestic market on the provision of energy and energy consumption; judgment on the importance of expected effects; attitude to environmental protection organizations, ecology movements, anti-nuclear power movements and peace movements; membership in such a citizen initiative; Demography: self-assessment and assessment of the most important political parties on a left-right continuum; party preference and party allegiance; marital status; age at end of education; behavior at the polls in the last election; sex; age; size of household; number of children in household; monthly household income; occupational position; employment in the civil service or private enterprise (company sector); company size; superior function; party affiliation; union membership of respondent or another person in household; position in household; occupation of head of household; self-classification of social class; residential status; degree of urbanization; religious denomination; frequency of church attendance; religiousness; city size. Also encoded were: date of interview; length of interview; number of persons present during the interview; willingness of respondent to cooperate. Indices: postmaterialism; cognitive and political mobility; EC support.