世論 What Japan Thinks

Here’s a quicky from goo Ranking, as I only have time tonight for this short translation of a ranking survey into what situations people end up using flattery, for both men and women.

Demographics

Between the 23rd and 25th of March 2009 1,043 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. 52.2% of the sample were male, 7.8% in their teens, 17.1% in their twenties, 28.2% in their thirties, 24.8% in their forties, 11.4% in their fifties, and 10.7% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

I’m terrible at all this social lying, but fortunately my wife usually accepts my straight answer or overlooks my artless fibbing…

Apologies for the photograph but it tickled my fancy despite being not quite relevant to the survey! It was discovered by sticking “ugly child” into flickr, and was uploaded to the service by Theremina.

Ranking results

Q: In what situations do you end up using flattery? (Sample size=544, male)

Rank		Score
1	When looking at photographs of children	100
2	When someone cooks me dinner	80.9
3	When someone changes their hair style	79.0
4	When my boss, senior in the office takes me out to his/her recommended restaurant	68.5
5	When I receive a souvenir	61.7
6	When someone is wearing new clothes	52.5
7	“Does my bum look big in this?”	51.2
8	When I get a birthday, anniversary present	48.8
9	When a friend introduces his new girlfriend	48.8
10	When someone tells me how old they are	47.5

Q: In what situations do you end up using flattery? (Sample size=499, female)

Rank		Score
1	When looking at photographs of children	100
2	When someone changes their hair style	97.4
3	“Does my bum look big in this?”	73.1
4	When someone tells me how old they are	67.0
5	When someone cooks me dinner	63.9
6	When I receive a souvenir	56.8
7	When a friend introduces her new boyfriend	51.5
8	When someone is wearing new clothes	49.3
9	When my boss, senior in the office takes me out to his/her recommended restaurant	48.0
10	When I get a birthday, anniversary present	44.5