Saxonian longitudinal study - wave 32, 2021

The Saxonian longitudinal study is a social science longitudinal study. It was begun in 1987 and examines the change in political attitudes of young adults in the new federal states of the former East Germany. Since the 16th wave (2002), the topic of unemployment and health has been intensively studied. Another new focus is on questions of partnership and personality. The present study was conducted in 2021 and represents the 32st wave.<br>1. Political attitudes, life in the GDR: opinion on the unification of GDR and FRG; more dividing vs. more similarities between East Germans and West Germans; estimated number of years until East/West alignment, until East Germans and West Germans have grown together into a real community and until one´s income is 100% of that in the West; changes in East Germany since reunification in the following areas: Social security, protection against crime, relationship between people, equal rights for women, respect for human dignity, school education, support for the family, care for children, social justice, morality of ruling politicians, personal freedoms, democratic participation, health care/medical care, opportunities for self-development; feeling threatened by possible (renewed) own unemployment or (renewed) unemployment of partner and children, occurrence of personal hardship, increasing cost of living, own social decline, deterioration of health, poverty in old age, consequences of the Corona pandemic, increasing immigration of foreigners, expansion of international terrorism, military actions of the USA, spread of left-wing radicalism, increase in crime, spread of right-wing radicalism, military actions by Russia, consequences of climate change, increase in Islamic terror in Germany, increase in aggressiveness and violence, increase in egoism, increase in mobbing, increase in pressure to perform, increase in drugs, increase in anger and hatred between people, brutalisation of emotions, outbreak of a new world war, increasing rise in rents); satisfaction in various areas (political system in the Federal Republic of Germany, current economic order, democracy, social policy, pension policy, family policy, wage policy of the state in East Germany, labour market policy, level of German unity reached after 30 years, alignment of living conditions in the East with the West); confidence in the future for the respondent personally, for parents, for own children, for the development in East Germany, for the development in Germany as a whole, for the development of professional plans and for the development of cooperation in the EU; satisfaction with the possibilities for political influence, with income, with social development, with one´s own state of health and with the chances of achieving something in life through performance; convinced of an unconditional basic income; amount of an adequate basic income for a person of full age (euros); left-right self-assessment; party preference (Sunday question); assessment of life in the GDR; assessment of social development in East Germany as progress or regression; joy that German unity has been achieved; socialism as a good idea that has so far been poorly executed; support for the aims of the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident (PEGIDA, LEGIDA); many West Germans treat East Germans as second-class Germans; in the current social system everyone receives their fair share of social prosperity; secure future in East Germany; glad to have lived through the GDR; glad that the GDR no longer exists; not everything we learned about capitalism at school was wrong; often afraid of the Stasi in the time before the fall of the Wall; politically close ties with the Federal Republic of Germany; preference for a reformed, humanistic socialism instead of the current political order; getting along with the current social conditions; agreement with statements: East Germans should take to the streets again to draw attention to the situation in the East; the GDR was a state of injustice; happy to live in a capitalist Germany today; it was high time that the SED regime was removed; goals of the ´Peaceful Revolution´ in autumn 1989 have been realised today; with the ´Peaceful Revolution´ in autumn 1989 East Germans won freedom; Capitalism is the best economic system that history has produced so far; I would like to emigrate; I support the unification of the GDR and the FRG; I hope that my own children will grow up in the present system; the USA is setting a good example in spreading freedom and democracy; with the collapse of socialism, capitalism has won forever; the 30th anniversary of German unification on 3. October 2020 is a cause for celebration; socialist ideals of society will one day prevail; hope that the present social system will be preserved forever; attitude to foreigners in general; interest in politics; national pride; evaluation of personal experiences with the new social system; in the national interest, a dictatorship is the better form of government under certain circumstances; without the extermination of Jews, Hitler would be regarded as a great statesman today; what Germany needs now is a single strong party that embodies the Volksgemeinschaft; we should have a leader who rules Germany with a strong hand for the good of all; as in nature, the strongest should always prevail in society; foreigners only come here to take advantage of our welfare state; even today, the influence of the Jews is too great; we should finally have the courage to have a strong national feeling again; actually, Germans are naturally superior to other peoples; when jobs become scarce, foreigners should be sent back to their homeland; the crimes of National Socialism have been greatly exaggerated in the writing of history; what our country needs today is a tough and energetic assertion of German interests; the Jews work more evil tricks than other people to achieve what they want; the supreme goal of German politics should be to give Germany power and prestige; there are valuable and unvaluable lives; the Federal Republic has been dangerously over-alienated by the many foreigners; the Jews simply have something special and peculiar about them and do not really fit in with us; National Socialism also had its good sides; trust in parties and trust in institutions (SPD, CDU/CSU, Bündnis90/Die Grünen, Die Linke, FDP, AfD, current federal government, current social system); party by which the respondent feels best represented; identity as a German, as a Saxon, as a European, as a citizen of the former GDR, as a citizen of the Federal Republic, as an East German, as a citizen of the city/municipality, as a winner or loser of German politics, as a citizen of the former GDR, as a citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany, as a citizen of the former East Germany, as a citizen of the city/municipality, as a citizen of the former GDR, as a citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany, as a citizen of the former GDR, as a citizen of the Federal Republic of Germany as a loser of German unity; agreement with statements: Society should deal harshly with outsiders and non-payers; troublemakers should be made to feel clearly that they are unwanted in society; social rules should be enforced without compassion; we need strong leaders so that we can live safely in society; people should leave important decisions in society to leaders; we should be grateful for leaders who tell us exactly what to do; traditions should be maintained and upheld at all costs; tried and tested behaviours should not be questioned; it is always best to do things in the usual way; crucial to live in freedom vs. freedom is of no use if there is no work; own experience coincides with earlier characterisation of the Federal Republic as an exploitative state; retrospective assessment of the pace of reunification in the first survey after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990; assessment of the pace of reunification at that time; arrived in the Federal Republic as a former GDR citizen; positively assessed aspects of German unification (open); negatively assessed aspects of German unification (open).

2. Unemployment: own unemployment since the fall of communism; frequency of unemployment overall; total duration of unemployment since the fall of communism in months; months of unemployment since March 2020; months of unemployment in each of the years 2011 to 2020; partner´s unemployment since the fall of communism; parents of the respondent were or are affected by unemployment; job security; worries about the job; short-time work due to the Corona pandemic.

3. Attitudes towards Corona (COVID-19): fear of being infected with Corona virus; little control over being infected with Corona virus; feeling that I would not survive a Corona infection; feeling that I would have to give up because of Corona; fear of infecting others with Corona; my family and friends are afraid that they will contract Corona from me; the federal government has done the right thing in dealing with Corona; Corona worries me; I am sure that we can overcome Corona; in the face of Corona, many things no longer seem so important to me; after Corona, our world will change; Corona is not much worse than the annual flu; the real background to Corona will never come to light; the Corona crisis has been talked up so that a few can profit from it.

4. Health: tendencies towards depression: often feel depressed and despondent (for years vs. only a few months); sometimes I no longer know what the meaning of my life is (for years vs. only a few months); am often at a loss, no longer understand the world (for years vs. only a few months); fear of the future (for years vs. only a few months); complaints in the last 12 months (stomach ache, insomnia, heart complaints); assessment of own state of health; opinion on whether own state of health can be influenced; suicidal thoughts (for years vs. only a few months). only since a few months); complaints in the last 12 months (stomach ache, insomnia, heart problems); assessment of own health status; opinion on the influenceability of own health status; suicidal thoughts; frequency of sleep problems in the last four weeks - Jenkins Sleep Scale (difficulty falling asleep, how many days woke up at night, how many days woke up and then had difficulty falling asleep again, how often felt exhausted and tired in the morning even though slept at night); sleep duration in hours on a normal working day and at weekends; life satisfaction.

5. Personality: Self-perception scale (sometimes experience myself as a stranger, when I think about myself a lot, I tend to get confused, letting others get too close can be dangerous, I often find it difficult to make myself understood to others, there is often such emotional chaos inside me that I cannot describe it at all, I sometimes misjudge how my behaviour affects others, when others know a lot about me, I often feel somehow controlled or observed, my feelings are sometimes so intense that I get scared, I have already been hurt a lot because I was wrong about a person, I find it difficult to make contact with others, I don´t have good self-confidence, if you trust people too much, you can get nasty surprises); importance of different areas of life (friends/acquaintances, leisure activities/hobbies, health, income/financial security, job/work, housing situation, family life/children, partnership/sexuality); satisfaction with the aforementioned areas of life.
Only to persons who have lived or are currently living in the old federal states or abroad: Length of residence in the West/abroad in years; reasons for moving to the West (earnings, situation on the labour market, better working conditions, partner-related reasons, desire to experience something, desire to meet other people, desire to get to know another area).

Only to persons currently living in the old federal states or abroad: Intended return to the East; time period for return to the East; origin of partner (from the West, from abroad or from the East); identity as a citizen of the state/country; regretted moving to the West/abroad; feeling comfortable in the place of residence; acceptance by neighbours, by work colleagues and by superiors; live in a nice environment; created new circle of friends; work/activity is fun; nice home; could imagine that my (future) children will also live here; separation from parents, from friends in the East and from home in general causes problems; advice to all unemployed young people in the East to go to the West.
Only to persons who have moved back to the new federal states: Reasons for returning to the East (dissatisfied with job in the West/abroad, found better job in the East, dissatisfied with place of residence in the West/abroad, wanted to return to my familiar surroundings, no longer felt comfortable in my social environment in the West/abroad, missed my family and friends, other family reasons, other reasons (open)); conceivable to move to the West/abroad again.

Demography: sex; age; urban or rural living environment; current residence in East Germany, in West Germany or abroad; temporarily lived in the West or abroad and returned to the East; length of stay (years) in the West/abroad; number of moves between East and West/abroad; occupational status; full-time or part-time job; part-time job; marital status; stable partnership; length of relationship with current partner; divorced; number of divorces; occupational status of partner; net personal income per month (grouped); net household income (grouped); household size; getting by on personal/family income; own children; number of children; number of children living in household; sex and age of these children; satisfaction with the current living situation.

Additionally coded were: Respondent ID; willingness to be interviewed on topics of the study; waiver of fee in favour of the study; type of survey; world view; GDR and FRG identification; unemployment grouped; extremism (advocacy of right-wing authoritarian dictatorship, chauvinism, xenophobia, Social Darwinism, trivialisation of National Socialism); FLZ comb. general part: friends, hobbies, health, income, occupation, housing situation, family life, partnership, total score); D-Score; G-Score; Short Scale Authoritarianism (authoritarian aggression, authoritarian submissiveness/submission, conventionalism, total scale); OPD-12 Scale (self-perception, relationship model, contact design, total score); Jenkins Sleep Scale - sleep problems.