Ipsos: Malaysians tend to be over-apprehensive

KUALA LUMPUR: Ipsos’ latest global study, which highlights our misperceptions about the economy, population, the environment and other key issues, has shown that Malaysians tend to be over apprehensive on these facts.

Ipsos’ Perils of Perception study shows which key facts the online public in Malaysia and 36 other countries get right about their society - and which they get wrong.

Now in its fifth year, the survey aims to highlight how we’re wired to think in certain ways and how our environment influences our (mis)perceptions.

The study found that Malaysians did not quite get it right, and tend to be over apprehensive.

“Ipsos’ global Perils of Perceptions study shows that, around the world, people overestimate the real extent of social issues. This applies just as much to Malaysia - as we tend to be apprehensive about social and economic issues,” Ipsos Malaysia managing director Arun Menon said.

“Malaysians believing that half of the population is currently unemployed and that majority are going to be 65 plus when we reach 2050, shows the extend of our overestimation, irrespective of the facts.

“There are many different reasons why we are far from social and economic facts. These can include external influences on us, such as what we hear in the media or emphasised in online platforms, but our own internal biases are just as important. These biases include the tendency to focus more on negative stories.

“Misperceptions can be a very useful pointer to people’s real concerns. It also means that trying to correct this by only repeating the facts is unlikely to work instead policy makers and media need to engage the public on the real emotional reasons that are driving these misperceptions”.

Malaysians are among the least accurate in terms of overestimating the proportion of fellow countrymen who are unemployed and seeking work.

On average, Malaysians estimate that half of Malaysia (49 per cent) are unemployed and looking for work, with the actual figure being as low as three per cent (46 per cent gap). Malaysians are not alone though; across the globe unemployment figures are heavily overestimated, with an average perception gap of 34 per cent.

The concern about unemployment is largely in line with the findings in Ipsos’ “What Worries Malaysia” monthly survey, which shows that 34 per cent of Malaysians see unemployment as one of the top three problems the country is facing (only corruption, crime and violence are seen as bigger problems).

People tend to underestimate the size of their country’s economy relative to others, and Malaysia is no exception, with an estimation that the country’s economy is ranked 120 out of the almost 200 countries in the world, while the actual ranking is 37.

“We are in good company though, with Americans estimating their economy to be only the fifth largest, and the Chinese estimating their economy to be the 12th largest. The US and China have the world’s first and second largest economies, respectively,” Ipsos said.

On climate change, Malaysians strongly overestimate the share of the country’s energy that comes from renewable sources.

The average guess puts the renewable share at 39 per cent, while the reality is only five per cent.

That’s a perception gap of 34 per cent, much higher than the global average of eight per cent, and higher than any other country surveyed.

Malaysia also greatly overestimates the levels of growth of its elderly population.

The average guess is that 57 per cent of the population will be above 65 years old 2050, while the actual projection is only 16 per cent.

All other countries overestimate their future elderly population, although none to the same degree as Malaysians.

It is also common for people in all parts of the world to overestimate both the immigrant and the Muslim share of the population.

In Malaysia’ s case, the perception gap for immigration is 27 per cent (36 per cent perception versus nine per cent actual), while when it comes to guessing the Muslim share of population, Malaysians are fairly accurate compared to the rest of the world.