Study title

This inquiry into the views of the year 2000 held by the younger generation took place under the auspices of the European Coordination Centre for Research and Documentation in the Social Sciences, established at Vienna, which was founded by UNESCO and which is a division of the International Social Science Council at Paris. The technical coordination was in the hands of the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, under the direction of Johan Galtung. To examine attitudes of people in the age group 15 - 40 years towards various aspects of the future, with particular reference to war, peace and disarmament. The great attractiveness of such an inquiry lies in comparing the results of countries with very different political and philosophical backgrounds. Eleven countries are covered by this study. Attitudinal/Behavioural Questions: Respondent's future-consciousness is assessed in terms of his thinking about the future of the world and of his country, his perception of the year 2000 as the near or distant future, his talking, seeing, hearing and reading about the future. Respondent predictions: what he considers will be the main differences between life today and life in the year 2000 (particularly what he feels would be the best and worst things that could happen). Employing a 9-point scale (i.e. 'best' - 'worst' possible life) the respondent is requested to indicate where he would place himself: a) at the present time, b) five years ago, c) five years from now, d) in the year 2000. Using the same procedure he is asked to assess future trends of his country and of the world. More specifically, the respondent is asked to predict social trends in his country covering topics such as: happiness and work satisfaction, leisure, unemployment, religion, kinship and marriage, material wealth, spiritual contentment, sexual freedom, mental illness, use of narcotics and drugs, crime, social differentiation, the role of women, the role of young people, city dwelling and...