Attitudes towards diversity and racism

Racism refers to the lack of value attributed to certain individuals or groups on the basis of biological or cultural characteristics associated with them. The racism index captures the disagreement or the agreement with this attitude.

The average value of the index measuring racist attitudes is 1.4 in 2022, on a scale from 1 (disagreement with the attitudes) to 4 (agreement with the attitudes). Over the 2018-2022 period, negative attitudes (index values between 3 and 4) are less prevalent in the population than positive attitudes (between 1 and 2).

Comparison

The agreement with racist attitudes is less widespread and less strong than the agreement with all other types of negative attitudes towards diversity: 1.4 compared to 2.1 for xenophobic attitudes and 1.8 to 1.9 for hostile attitudes.

Method

The index is a synthetic measure of a given concept (racism). It is based on several negative statements about diversity (see codebook questions dis_life, dis_work, dis_neighb). According to the degree of agreement of the respondents with these statements on a scale from 1 to 4, an individual average value per concept is calculated. This average value lies between 1 and 4, with 1 expressing a positive attitude and 4 a negative attitude towards diversity. The overall index value is the average of the individual average values and is thus the mean of the individual attitudes towards this concept.

Codebook

Discomfort caused by diversity

Used to construct the index measuring racist attitudes, the results below detail which groups or individuals are likely to make the population feel uncomfortable because of their difference. They provide information about the situations in which these differences are considered to be the most problematic.

Prevalence by situation: One third of the population said they might feel uncomfortable when facing diversity, regardless of the situation and the cause. People are significantly more likely to feel a sense of discomfort at work than in other situations.

Language: Language-related discomfort is greater at work (18%) than in other areas of life (approximately 10%). If this factor is not taken into account, the workplace becomes a situation in which discomfort towards diversity is less likely to occur (8% against 11%).

Itinerant way of life: In everyday life, the population is most likely to feel a sense of discomfort when facing someone with an itinerant way of life.

Integration: In addition to the causes of discomfort presented, people perceived as "not integrated" and people who do not respect Swiss culture or values can be a source of unease.

Specific groups mentionned in an open question	2022
People who do not want to integrate	4.7%
Other people	3.9%
Travellers	3.4%
Muslims	2.7%
Roma	(1.8%)
People who take advantage of the system	(1.7%)
People who do not respect swiss culture and values	(1.7%)

Method

The indicator presents the proportion of the population that says it feels uncomfortable with regard to at least one cause and in at least one situation (see codebook questions dis_life, dis_work, dis_neighb).

Attitudes towards an itinerant way of life

What are the attitudes of Switzerland’s population towards persons with an itinerant way of life? For example towards some Yenish and Sinti? What obstacles may they encounter in Switzerland?

As persons with an itinerant way of life represent part of Swiss diversity, this publication addresses the population’s attitudes towards them.

Further information

Tables

Sources

• Source: Survey on diversity and coexistence in Switzerland
• Year: 2018, 2020, 2022
• Universe: Permanent resident population aged 15 to 88                      
• Non-weighted numbers: n (2022) = 2908
  

Links

Related integration indicator: Acceptance of diversity

Documentation on survey