A survey run by gfs.bern of more than 57,000 people responding to the question of what makes someone Swiss was published by RTS this week.
One of the takeaways from the survey is that behaviour is more important than a person’s origin. 54% said that origins were of secondary importance when establishing Swissness.
The most important behaviour was respecting Swiss institutions and laws. 96% of those surveyed said this was very (74%) ot fairly (22%) important. In second place was speaking a national language, considered by 95% to be very (72%) or fairly (23%) important. Next in line was respecting Swiss nature, something deemed very (64%) or fairly (29%) important by 93% of those surveyed. Respecting Switzerland’s diversity (90%), feeling yourself in Switzerland (88%), knowing Swiss history and culture (83%) and living in Switzerland (77%) were also key attributes.
Attributes that may seem by some to be surprising low on the list included: holding Swiss citizenship (72%), speaking a Swiss dialect (59%) – something only really relevant in German-speaking Switzerland, being born in Switzerland (45%) and belonging to a Swiss religion (25%).
A fondness for cow bells, fondu, raclette, chocolate, punctuality and Swiss army knives were not mentioned.
Source: Lenews