Flying the flag for good manners. Photo credit: Chris Breeze
Breaking news: British people are polite. That’s according to a new report from the Young Foundation. This may not seem like a stunning revelation to those acquainted with the cultural stereotype of the courteous Brit, but the report also found that British people actually believe themselves to be increasingly unpleasant.
Hurrah! An Observer editorial was heartened by the news: “We are, in the main, tolerant, considerate, caring. We are not so rude Britannia.” The editorial also praised the Young Foundation for bringing the question of manners into the spotlight: “Good manners are not old-fashioned. The Young Foundation has done well to remind us just how much they matter.”
Diverse politeness. The report’s researchers travelled to both wealthy and deprived areas in order to observe the prevalence of good manners. According to the report, “Assumptions linking incivility to disadvantage or diversity are simplistic; we found very high levels of civility in some disadvantaged, diverse places, as well as instances of serious incivility, in the form of intolerance and rudeness, in more prosperous and homogenous contexts.”
Dangerous pessimism. Writing for the BBC, Mark Easton argued that the entrenched that British people are getting ruder can become a self-fulfilling prophecy: “If people assume that the world is a rude, individualistic and selfish place, they are more likely to act that way themselves.”
Rude? Meanwhile, Dominique Jackson at The Daily Mail seemed unconcerned with politeness while considering the report: “The prose is poor and its final startling insights, blindingly self-evident. Who commissioned this research and how much did it cost?”
