Study of the Portuguese Society- Trust in government, institutions and public services, consumption and saving habits, and economic confidence (November 2017)
The Observatory of Portuguese Society of CATÓLICA-LISBON completed in November 2017 its eighth study that aimed to assess some variables and characteristics shared by members of the Portuguese Society.
This study, which was run next to 983 participants, assessed levels of political trust and trust in government, trust in institutions, changes in consumer habits and saving habits, economic confidence, income and savings, as well as general levels of happiness and satisfaction with life, in members of the Portuguese Society.
By comparing the results obtained in November 2017 with data collected in March 2016, the mean value of satisfaction with the way Portugal is governed increased by 30.3%, the optimism on how Portugal is governed improve in the next 10 years grew by 17.5% , the satisfaction with job creation grew by 35.1%, with national finances increased by 32.6%, and with economic growth increased by 28.2%. On the other hand, the mean value of satisfaction with issues related to natural phenomena decreased by 23.9%. We highlight that there was an increase of 46.1% in the mean value of confidence in the Presidency of the Republic and of 15.8% in the mean value of confidence in the Assembly of the Republic.
The results on consumption and saving habits indicate that, in general, participants did not change their consumption habits compared to 2016, are very interested in saving and have a positive level of saving habits. Concerning economic confidence, a greater proportion of participants assessed Portugal’s current economic conditions as weak or very weak, compared to the proportion that assessed as good or excellent. Nevertheless, a greater proportion of participants report that the economic conditions in Portugal will improve, compared to the ones who think they will get worse. Globally, participants assess the economic conditions in Portugal more negatively than positively, in particular regarding Portugal's current economic conditions.
Concerning general indicators of happiness and satisfaction with life, measured transversally between October 2015 and November 2017, results indicate a positive and satisfactory level of global happiness and satisfaction with life in the members of Portuguese Society. However, there is a stagnation in the evolution of these indicators. This is a CATÓLICA-LISBON contribution to the civil and academic Society.
Unfortunately, the studies are only available in Portuguese. Please contact us in case you need some more detailed information (E-mail: osp.cea@ucp.pt and Tel.: (+351) 217 214 122).
View the study in detail*:
*only available in Portuguese
