Georgians and other ethnic groups: understanding (in)tolerance (Part 2)

In the previous blog post, we saw that Georgians report approval of doing business with representatives of other ethnic groups less than in the past. Based on CRRC’s 2015 Caucasus Barometer data, this blog post looks at how (dis)approval differs for Georgians of different ages, and living in different settlement types. 

People living in rural settlements report disapproval of business relations with representatives of the other ethnic groups asked about more often than residents of the capital and other urban settlements. On average, 56% of rural residents report approval of doing business with the 11 other ethnicities asked about over time, while the average for Tbilisi residents is 78%. 

Note: Only the answers of those answering “Approve” are shown on the charts in this blog post. 

The highest reported levels of approval of doing business with foreigners in rural settlements was with Russians and Ukrainians, both at 69%. By comparison, in the capital, 83% and 89% approved of doing business with Russians and Ukrainians, respectively. The largest differences between the attitudes of the population of rural settlements and the capital are when it comes to Jews and Kurds/Yezidis, with approximately 30 percentage point gaps. 

Differences in the attitudes by age are also noteworthy, though the gaps are not as large as in the case of settlement types. On average, there is a 10 percentage point difference between the youngest (18-35) and the oldest group (56+). Georgians who are 56 and older show less approval of doing business with non-Georgians asked about, with the largest difference in the case of Americans: 79% of 18 to 35 year olds approve of doing business with them, while only 61% of people older than 56 say the same. The gap is almost the same in the case of Ukrainians. 

Young Georgians and those living in the capital and other urban settlements approve of doing business with people of other ethnicities more than older Georgians and those living in rural settlements. In the next blog post in this series, we present findings on who approves of Georgian women marrying men of other ethnicities. 

Explore more about attitudes towards non-Georgians in Georgia here.