Age major factor in whether Canadians, Americans support political correctness: poll

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — How politically correct are you?

The latest polling by Research Co.’s Mario Canseco suggests how old you are has a lot to do with it, based on an online survey of Canadians and Americans.

The term has been used to describe any language or behaviour that looks to minimize any potential offenses to racial, cultural, and gender identity groups, among others.

“If you’re aged 35 to 54, you’re sort of on the fence on this. People over the age of 55, there’s a little more hesitation, but if you’re 18 to 34 in Canada and the United States, you’re more likely to support the use of political correctness in your daily life.”

The poll – which sampled 1,000 adults in Canada and 1,200 in America – also found about 33 per cent of Canadians and 32 per cent of Americans were opposed to being politically correct.

Canseco says they didn’t see a lot of change when it came to comparing regions within the two countries, but along with age, the political party you voted for was slightly correlated.

Those polled also said there were certain kinds of people who should be politically correct “all” or “most” of the time: this included teachers (74 per cent in Canada and 71per cent in the U.S.), politicians (73 per cent in Canada and 66 per cent in the U.S.) and journalists (66 per cent in Canada and 64 per cent in the U.S.).

Canseco says within B.C., there were some interesting findings.

“There’s a little bit of a shift. I think what’s interesting here is there’s a situation where we embrace the concept a little bit more than other parts of the country. Quebec is way ahead on this, and this is understandable. We’re talking about one of the provinces where you have different languages, different ways of dealing with things, different ways to communicate…even different swear words. It’s understandable for Quebec to be higher than everybody else when it comes to political correctness.”

There’s something, however, that respondents in both countries would prefer not to change: that includes printing new editions of books or redubbing movies to get rid of offensive language. Many of those who responded said they’d prefer to see disclaimed added to such outdated material.

“There’s definitely a level of support for that than to essentially santitize everything that is there. If you remove the stereotype from some movies, they’re only going to be ten minutes long.”

Also in the entertainment world, 38 per cent of Canadians and 35 per cent of Americans think comedians should act in a “politically correct” manner “always” or “most of the time.”

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