Brainscan■Last month more than 6000 New Zealanders completed a Victoria University/Sunday Star-Times survey of their psychology and politics ... and attitudes towards rugby. Here’s a taste of what we’ve learnt. ■On page 6, researcher Marc Wilson explains the importance of the survey, plus: meet the Focus cover stars.

2.9 servings in past three days

Greenvoters 2.1 servings in past three days

Meat

Veggies

6.7 servings in past three days

5.6 servings in past three days

Booze

4.1 servings in past three days

3.3 servings in past three days

Tea

6 servings in past three days

4 servings in past three days

Who’s taller?

Let’s reduce minimum wage

Race determines abilities

13%We should

accept fewer refugees

37%

Let’s tax the rich more

65%

We approve of civil unions

71%

Being Kiwi is important

94%

We trust the police

87%

13%

1inchIs John Key’s height advantage over Phil Goff, as guessed by National voters.

It’s OK to sell off NZ’s natural resources

13%

We want retirement age to rise

51%

Money buys happiness

54%

Inside the heads of rugby-lovers (and haters)

Rugby-lovers are ...

Happier

More worried about dying

More keen on hunting

More positive about smacking

More negative about the Treaty

More easily disgusted

More physically aggressive

Far more nationalistic

Less supportive of civil unions

Rugby-haters are ...

Unhappier

Less keen on more economic ties with China

Far less patriotic

10 times more likely to be vegetarian than rugby-lovers

More in favour of raising company tax

More supportive of the Mana Maori party

More opposed to selling off natural resources

Less likely to see the world as dangerous or competitive

More likely to believe humans cause climate change

The death penalty is OK

30%Discrimination against Maori

is no longer a problem

30%

Humans didn’t cause climate

change

31%

We don’t trust politicians

69%

Party, partyHow voting preferences predict your opinions.

Thinks smacking OK

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Thinks death penalty OK

Thinks physical aggression OK

Thinks world is competitiveThinks world is dangerous

Likes MMPLikes authoritarianism

Likes social heirarchy

Blames climate change on humans

Greens Labour national nZ First act

Likes rugbyDislikes vegansLikes country musicLikes reggae/dub

Is patriotic

Is materialisticIs happy

strongly disagree neutral strongly agree1 4 7

We approve of the Treaty

44%

Science trumps

scripture

83%Premarital sex is OK

87%

3People whoare easily disgusted are

times more likely to be anti-refugee

of people told fibs while completing the survey

For screeds more detailed results and analysis by Marc Wilson, go to

* Dots are averaged responses from supporters of each party.

Your politics even affect what you think you see. When asked to guess the height of John Key and Phil Goff, respondents who liked National added inches to party leader Key and took them away from Labour’s top man Goff. Labour supporters did the exact opposite.

We reckon ...Percentages show how many respondents agreed, at least to some extent, with longer versions of each statement.

Greenvoters

ACTvoters

ACTvoters

Nationalvoters

NZ Firstvoters

Meat, drink ... and votesHow voting preferences reflect dining habits.

NZ Firstvoters

ACTvotersCurios and

oddities:

Men with a moustache only were most socially conservative. Clean-shaven men favour National and Act. Men with both moustache and beard favoured Labour.

of men said they were clean-shaven76 % 10 %

Several questions were used to identify people who flatter themselves. If you claim that you “never hesitate to go out of my way to help someone in trouble”, and similar statements, you are probably fibbing, so scores are tweaked to reflect this.

of people prefer to eat jelly babies feet-first5%

Just 1% said they’d never eat a lolly shaped like a person. This group were also the most socially conservative and reported the lowest incomes.

Certain questions tested if you are easily disgusted by maggots, rotten food and so on. “Easily disgusted” people were more likely to oppose increased immigrant and refugee numbers.

tinyurl.com/brainscan2011

‘Rugby-lovers’ and ‘rugby-haters’ were those at the very top and very bottom of a six-point ranking based on a series of questions.

Graphic: Umut Aydin / Adam Dudding