MUMBAI: The BBC Crossing Divides Global Surveyshows that while politics maybe a thorny issue, unlike popular perception, over half of urban Indians polled (55%) believe that it is important for them to listen to people with different views on politics, even if they disagree with them. Further, 42% urban Indians polled say that they feel comfortable sharing their political opinion with others even if they have a contrary view to theirs. India is placed fourth in the pecking order. Other three markets endorsing this view were Turkey (61%), Mexico (45%) and South Africa (43%). At the bottom of the heap were Japan (7%), South Korea (27%) and Italy (28%) – being least comfortable about sharing their political opinions.   

Hold a contrary view?43% self-righteous urban Indians believe opposers care less about India’s future. India is 2nd in pecking order. Turkey tops at 46%. Half of Indians polled (48%) tend to think that that opposers have been misled and 35% Indians feel that one should avoid conversation with them (highest across all markets). Indians realize the futility of the exercise – because 51% feel that those with opposing views even on presentation of evidence are likely to stay rigid with their opinions. 56% Indians profess to have conversations with people with opposing views on issues like politics, climate change, immigration, feminism etc. at least once a week.    

Only two in ten Indians (22%) feel that people’s divisive views on politics are dangerous for the society. Majority shrug off the negative impact of the same. Poland (56%) however is most worried, while Japan is least worried (6%).

At the same time, 34% Indians feel that compared to 20 years ago, our society now is more prone to clash of views between people on politics. 

Social Media – a boon or curse? 

Majority of urban Indians exhort merits of social media like Facebook and Twitter – at least 68% feel that these two platforms are giving a voice to people who would not normally take part in debates and social issues. Further, 63% Indians credit social platforms like Facebook and Twitter for breaking down barriers between the public and those wielding power. 

Though 64% Indians polled feel that the debates on these social platforms are quite divisive. 

Immigration, ethnicity, religion – myths busted?

43% Indians hail the positive impact of immigration on India. Though 2 in 10 (20%) hold the contrary view.

53% Indians say that they are comfortable in groups of people who are like them. Though in practice, it does not hold true, our study shows. 

Only 19% Indians have friends from the same ethnicity as them; only 18% Indians say that their friends are from the same religious faith or belief as them; only 25% Indians have friends with same level of education as them; only 29% Indians have friends of the same age group as them; only 16% Indians have friends with the same political views as them; only 22% Indians would have friends with same views on climate change as them; only 13% Indians would have friends with same level of income as them and only 19% Indians would have friends with same level of views on feminism as them.      

A new global study by Ipsos for the BBC Crossing Divides season carried out online among adults under 65 across 27 countries captures views on how differences of views are impacting societies.

“The study shows that Indians are taking the opposing views in their stride and have figured out a mature way of dealing with them by avoiding direct confrontation. Social platforms like Facebook and Twitter are a big hit among Indians as conduits enabling the common man to connect with public figures, something which has been a dream come true for them. Also, majority of Indians exhort the merits of social platforms as interactive mediums. Downside being, social platforms are denounced for being divisive though,” says Parijat Chakraborty, head of Ipsos Public Affairs, Ipsos India.    

Worlds Apart? Global findings

While people around the world agree there are political divisions in their country, they are split over whether these divisions are healthy or dangerous for society
•    Globally, while the majority of people (81%) say there are differences in people’s political views in their country, a third (33%) think these divisions are healthy for society but a similar proportion (32%) thinks they are so divisive that they are dangerous for society.  Only 16% think that these differences have no major impact on their society. 
o    People in Poland (56%) and the United States (51%) are much more likely to think these differences are dangerous for society, whereas close to half in Mexico (49%) and Peru (47%) believe they are healthy. 
o    Britons follow the global picture, with 85% agreeing that there are divisions in society.  And despite Brexit, they are more confident that these divisions are healthy for society (41%), but three in ten (31%) still think they are dangerous. 
•    Two in five (41%) think their country’s society is more at danger because of divisions between people with different political views than it was twenty years ago; this rises to over half (57%) in the United States (57%), Sweden (57%), South Africa (53%) and France (53%).  However, three in ten (29%) say that divisions are about the same as they were twenty years ago, and more so in Japan (40%), Italy (39%), Belgium (38%) and Canada (37%). Only 14% believe that society is less in danger now than it was 20 years ago.  This is higher in Chile (27%), but perhaps they were still recovering from the Pinochet dictatorship two decades ago.
Half believe that it’s important to listen to people with different viewpoints, but only a third say they talk to others who have opposing views on a weekly basis
•    Half of all people (50%) say that it is important to listen to people who are different to themselves, even if they disagree with the other person, they still want to understand them – this sentiment is significantly higher in South Africa (71%) and Turkey (68%).  But the study shows that in Germany (43%), Malaysia (44%), Belgium (45%) and Brazil (45%) there is less of a willingness to listen to those with opposing views. 
•    However, despite saying it is important to listen to others just over a third (35%) of people say they have conversations with people who have opposing views to their own (on issues such as politics, climate change, immigration and feminism) on at least a weekly basis, although nearly three in five (58%) say they do on at least a monthly basis. Just one in ten (10%) say they never speak to people holding opposing views to them, while a similar proportion saying they don’t know (11%). 
•    One in five (21%) say they talk to people with opposing views on a less than monthly basis, and is higher in Canada (33%), the United States (30%) and Russia (30%). Weekly conversations among people with different views happen more frequently in India (56%) and an array of Latin American countries – Peru (54%), Argentina (49%) and Colombia (49%). Meanwhile, respondents in Japan (40%) and South Korea (34%) are more likely to say they never have conversations with people holding opposing views to them. 
•    Around two in five say that over half of their friends have similar views or beliefs to them, in terms of religion (38%), immigration (38%), climate change (42%) and feminism (37%). However, when asked about political views, this drops to around three in ten (32%).
Politics is a thorny subject - only one in three say they’re comfortable sharing their political views with other people 
•    Around a third (35%) of people globally say they feel comfortable sharing their political opinions with other people, including those they do not necessarily agree with them.  Respondents in Turkey (50%) and Mexico (45%) are much more comfortable sharing opposing political views than average - but this is much less the case in South Korea (27%), Germany (28%), Italy (28%) and Malaysia (28%). 
o    One in five globally (19%) say they do not feel comfortable sharing their political opinion with others at all, and this is higher in the United States (24%) and Peru (24%). 
•    Two in five globally (41%) say they feel more comfortable in groups of people of people who are similar to them, and this is significantly higher in China (68%) and Hungary (57%), while less so in Italy (30%) and Belgium (30%). 
•    Around half of all people say that over half of their friends share similar demographics to them, in terms of ethnicity (56%), age group (49%) and levels of education (46%). However, this drops to less than a third (30%) when discussing levels of income. 
Political views are fairly entrenched; half of all people think that people with opposing views are unlikely to change their opinions regardless of the evidence presented 
•    Around half of all people globally (49%) agree that those with opposing political views to them are unlikely to change their opinions regardless of the evidence presented (just 14% disagree). And this rises to three in five in Hungary (63%), the United States (62%) and South Africa (62%).
•    People are split on whether people with different political views care about the future of the country or not.  Close to three in ten (28%) think that people with opposing political views to their own don’t care about the future of their country but a similar proportion (31%) disagrees.  Respondents in Turkey (46%) and India (43%) are much more likely to think those with different views don’t care about their country’s future.  However, people in the United States (39%) and Colombia (38%) are more likely to disagree that this is the case. 
•    Over a third (36%) believe that people with opposing political views to them have been misled (19% disagree).   This is particularly the case in Hungary (55%), South Africa (54%), Turkey (51%) and Colombia (50%).  On the other hand, people in South Korea (31%) and Mexico (25%) are most likely to disagree with this statement.
•    Despite political differences, only a quarter globally (24%) think that people with opposing political views to them aren’t worth trying to have a conversation with, although this is much higher in India (35%) and South Africa (33%). Two in five (37%) however disagree - with those in Poland (50%) and South Korea (48%) the most likely to disagree with this statement.
•    A third of people globally (31%) agree that people with opposing political views do not care about people like them, with a quarter disagreeing (24%). Turkey (46%) and India (44%) were more likely to agree, while more disagreed in Columbia (31%) Mexico (30%) and Poland (30%).
•    However, only one in ten (11%) say that all or almost all of their friends have the same political positions to them, and around three in ten (32%) say over half their friends share the same politics. One in five (20%) they were unsure of their friends’ political views, which reaches over a third in France (36%) and Australia (36%).
o    Respondents in South Africa (20%), Russia (18%), Hungary (18%) and Peru (18%) are the most likely to say that all or almost all of their friends have the same political views as them while this is much lower in Japan (2%), South Korea (3%) and Australia (6%). 
•    These findings link into other recent polling by Ipsos MORI, which show that nearly two in three (65%) think that people across the world live in their own internet bubble, but only one in three admit they do themselves (34%). It also reveals that three in five (60%) think that other people don’t care about facts anymore, they just want to believe what they want. 
•    Two in five Brits (38%) say that over half of their friends share the same views as them on Brexit, while only 12% said less than half do.  Close to three in ten (28%) say that do not know their friends’ position on Brexit, which is notable given that Brexit is one of the key dividing lines in UK politics. 

Social media – boon or curse?  Views are mixed; it has enabled more people to join in on social debates but it has made society more divisive.

•    Across the world, three in five (61%) agree that social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are giving a voice to people who would not normally take part in debates about social issues, and 44% agree that they are breaking down barriers between the public and people in power. However, over half (54%) believe that social media platforms are making these debates much more divisive than they used to be – only one in ten (11%) disagree. 
•    Belief that social media is empowering people who were previously not engaged is highest – over three in four – in South Africa (78%), Mexico (76%) and Colombia (75%). Comparatively, it drops to under half in Germany (45%), South Korea (48%) and Belgium (50%). 
•    Latin American countries are much more likely to agree that social media is breaking down barriers between the public and people in power – Colombia (67%), Peru (67%), Chile (61%) – and are joined by India (63%) and South Africa (63%). This sentiment is lowest in Hungary (24%) and Belgium (28%).
•    Respondents in Colombia (67%), South Africa (65%), Mexico (64%) Turkey (64%) and India (64%) are most likely to say that social media is making debates much more divisive while respondents in Russia (32%), Poland (41%) and Germany (45%) are less likely to agree with this sentiment. 

Globally, more think that immigration has had a negative impact on their country rather than positive impact but the British are most positive
•    Around a quarter (24%) think that immigration has had a positive impact on their country compared with two in five (39%) who believe that it has been negative. 
•    People in the UK (48%), Saudi Arabia (48%) and Australia (46%) are the most positive, but seven in ten say that it has been negative in Colombia (71%) and Turkey (71%).  These findings for Colombia and Turkey are likely to reflect the fact that both these countries have recently taken in large numbers of refugees. 
•    A number of European countries are more negative than average too – Italy (55%), Hungary (54%), France (53%), South Africa (53%), Belgium (52%) and Germany (51%). 
•    Immigration is an issue that divides people; globally just 16% say that all or almost all of their friends have the same view on immigration as them, this more than doubles in Hungary (35%) and is much lower across East Asia - Japan (2%), South Korea (3%) and China (8%). One in five (21%) report that they don’t know their friends’ views on immigration, which rises to over a third in Australia (36%), Canada (34%) and France (33%).