Questionnaire

Thank you for participating in a brief study on friendship in the 21st Century. We aim to understand the nature of the conversations you have with your friends, colleagues, and family members, and how these conversations impact your relationships.

Confidentiality and anonymity

This survey is anonymous. No personally identifying information will not be collected or stored, and it is impossible to identify you from your responses.

Use of responses

At the end of the questions, your responses will generate a short results page comparing your answers to those of the average person. Save this URL if you want to keep your results.

The aggregate results will be published in a subsequent article on BBC.com later in the year, with a particular focus on people who live in the US and Canada. No individual results will be published.

Informed consent

By proceeding with the study, you acknowledge and agree to these conditions. If you have read this information are happy to continue, please proceed to the next page.

Thinking back over the last 10 years, how have conversations about politics impacted your relationships?

Based on your experience over the last 10 years, how much would you agree that:

Imagine you are at a social gathering and you have met someone who holds very different political opinions from your own.

How important would each of these goals be for you in the conversation?

How important would each of these goals be for your partner in the conversation?

How important are the following behaviours for persuading another person of your political views?

Consider your day-to-day discussions with your friends, family, colleagues and strangers. How often do you disguise your opinions about social or political issues to avoid conflict?

When meeting a new person, what characteristics are most important for determining whether you are likely to form a friendship?

All of these questions are completely optional. If you do not feel comfortable completing any or all of these questions, please feel free to leave them blank.

This background information is used only for research purposes. It will not be used to identify you, and this information is confidential and never transferred or sold.

	Strongly Disagree	Strongly Agree
It is harder for me to discuss political issues today, than it was 10 years ago	1 2 3 4 5
Other people find it harder to discuss political issues today, compared with 10 years ago	1 2 3 4 5
My conversations about political issues have caused me to gain social connections	1 2 3 4 5
My conversations about political issues have caused me to lose social connections	1 2 3 4 5
It is important to me that others share my political views	1 2 3 4 5

	Strongly Disagree	Strongly Agree
Acknowledging doubt and uncertainty weakens my arguments	1 2 3 4 5
Being honest about my doubt and uncertainty can make me more persuasive	1 2 3 4 5

	Not at all willing	Extremely willing
How willing would you be to start a constructive conversation with this person about politics?	1 2 3 4 5
How willing do you think the other person would be to have a constructive conversation with you about politics?	1 2 3 4 5

	Not at all important	Extremely important
Persuading your conversation partner about your point of view	1 2 3 4 5
Convincing your conversation partner that you are right	1 2 3 4 5
Presenting evidence of your point of view	1 2 3 4 5
Learning about your conversation partner's point of view	1 2 3 4 5
Understanding your conversation partner's point of view	1 2 3 4 5
Hearing the evidence for your partner's beliefs	1 2 3 4 5
To start an argument	1 2 3 4 5
To make the conversation more exciting	1 2 3 4 5

	Not at all important	Extremely important
Persuading you of their point of view	1 2 3 4 5
Convincing you they are right	1 2 3 4 5
Presenting evidence for their point of view	1 2 3 4 5
Learning about your point of view	1 2 3 4 5
Understanding your point of view	1 2 3 4 5
Hearing evidence for your beliefs	1 2 3 4 5
To start an argument	1 2 3 4 5
To make the conversation more exciting	1 2 3 4 5

	Not at all important	Very important
Civility	1 2 3 4 5
Describing personal experiences	1 2 3 4 5
Using logic and reason	1 2 3 4 5
Evoking positive emotions	1 2 3 4 5
Evoking negative emotions	1 2 3 4 5
Quoting facts and statistics	1 2 3 4 5
Appealing to the other person's core values	1 2 3 4 5
Humour	1 2 3 4 5

	Never	Always
Friends	1 2 3 4 5
Family	1 2 3 4 5
Colleagues	1 2 3 4 5
Strangers	1 2 3 4 5

	Least Important	Most Important
Having the same worldview on social and political issues	1 2 3 4 5
Having the same hobbies and interests	1 2 3 4 5
Having the same sense of humour	1 2 3 4 5
Having the same first language	1 2 3 4 5
Growing up in the same region	1 2 3 4 5
Having the same educational experiences	1 2 3 4 5
Having the same career experiences	1 2 3 4 5
Having the same taste in music	1 2 3 4 5