Moon-landing, maggots and mental health: Survey set to take snapshot of Aotearoa

Friday, 8 September 2023

How do you feel about touching a dead body? ​​​​​​Reckon the moon-landing was faked? What’s your reaction to maggots?

From impostor syndrome and the effects of rugby fandom on wellbeing, to our beliefs about pre-marital sex and the existence of God, New Zealanders are soon to get much more of an insight into how we all tick.

Today, in a collaboration with university researchers, Stuff is launching a new survey canvassing Kiwis’ mental wellbeing and attitudes towards various social and scientific issues.

And, if previous results are anything to go by, we’re likely in for a few surprises.

Victoria University psychologist professor Marc Wilson says The Politics and (Mental) Health State of the Nation Survey allows researchers to gain much-needed yet often-missing data on the current shape of Aotearoa.

“This year we have the confluence of the general election and Rugby World Cup, culminating with an ongoing conversation about mental health, and what it means in a post-Covid world.

“As far am I'm aware no-one has ever tried to take a snapshot of the mental health in NZ - at this very moment in time, how are people feeling?”

To gauge that, he’s working with Dr Gloria Fraser, and PhD students Jordan Payne and Terise Broodryk of Victoria University's School of Psychology, and Dr John Kerr of Otago University. Responses are anonymous and results will be analysed before being serialised on Stuff with expert commentary.

It’s the fourth time Wilson has surveyed Stuff readers and says he’s hopeful this latest endeavour will be as well-supported and informative as the ones preceeding it.

And there’s no doubt we were informed.

In 2011, his Politics and Rugby Survey found rugby lovers ate lots of meat, loved their country and worried about dying. Those loathing the national game were more likely to flirt with vegetarianism, and believed businesses should pay higher taxes.

Perhaps more importantly it also revealed that when it came to eating jelly babies, of 6000 respondents 5% ate them legs-first, 37% head-first, 30% all in one go, 26% never paid attention, and 1% wouldn't eat a lolly shaped like a person. The latter were likely to be socially conservative and had low incomes, by the way.

Politics-wise, when asked to estimate the heights of John Key and Phil Goff, National supporters put Key as taller while Labour voters guessed the opposite.

It was also revealed that NZ First voters drank a lot of tea and liked country music, while ACT voters were keener than average on smacking children and eating meat.

While none of this might be surprising, you’d be hard-pressed not to blink an eye at the results of 2009’s Believe it or Not Survey, again a large-scale collaboration led by Wilson.

This one delved into public views on supernatural phenomena and superstitions including black cats, horoscopes and Elvis Presley conspiracy theories.

Regarding the latter, of the nearly 6000 respondents, 180 (3.3%) thought Presley may well have faked his 1977 death, while another 12.5% weren't sure.

Meanwhile, 40% of respondents believed in God and another 10% weren't sure; 38% either believed or were neutral about reincarnation, and 33% reckoned there were actual cases of witchcraft.

Women had much higher levels of belief in both religious and paranormal phenomena, conspiracy theories and urban myths. Almost 58% (but only 30% of men) believed it was possible to predict the future; 47% of women believed it was possible to communicate with the dead, compared to only 18% of men.

Believe it or not, says Wilson, even the most seemingly silly questions will go on to inform serious data used to bring about, or lobby for, both solutions and understanding.

“I haven’t just pulled them out of the air, they are validated and based on extensive studies and research.”

And this year – while it’s easy to pick out some of the more outrageous topics for a story intro – there are plenty more serious examples.

One of those is the section citing research showing that perhaps as many as 60% of Kiwis have deliberately hurt themselves without any intention to die.

“However most of this research comes from adolescents and young people, and we have no idea how many adults have thought about this,” says Wilson.

With other questions focusing on common features of problematic food-related beliefs and behaviours, and the mental health of people living in rural areas, he says the survey will shine a light onto the scale of the issues.

“We've seen the Mental Health and Addictions Inquiry; we know whatever is going on isn’t supported by a system able to help to the extent that’s needed, and we’ve heard all the stuff from people on panels.

“This survey allows us to quantify the problem, look at the people affected, and essentially put numbers to our intuition.”

Like with its title, the survey also takes a look at attitudes to rugby and politics; both topics featured in previous questionnaires. The point of repeating questions in surveys is to track how beliefs and behaviours wax and wane as time goes on.

Unsurprisingly, conspiracy theories also make a return.

“Every time we run [those questions], what we find is pretty much everybody believes in one example of one story that runs counter to the official version. Only about 55% of New Zealanders believe the lot; 35% have consistently indicated they believe the All Blacks were poisoned in 1995.”

Even so, Wilson predicts this year’s findings will reveal people are more sceptical and cynical than in previous years, and not just because of the internet’s ability to transmit counter-official ideas.

“We have more reasons to go looking for those ideas. Covid was a motivator, and not unreasonably - we developed a vaccine faster than ever before, so people should do their due diligence.”

Ultimately, says Wilson, this survey is likely to be one of the largest of its type ever conducted in NZ, and research from its findings will fill the knowledge gaps as well as feature on the world stage.

“It takes about 40 minutes to fill out… We’re hoping people will see that as worth it.”

The Politics and (Mental) Health State of the Nation Survey closes on October 1. Take it here.