Why are ACT and Greens supporters more likely to work from home?

ACT and Greens supporters are more likely to work from home, and very few Kiwis like smooth peanut butter. But why?

As responses roll in on The Politics and (Mental) Health State of the Nation Survey – which Stuff is asking readers to take part in – Aotearoa’s habits and attitudes are beginning to be revealed.

Several thousand people have already taken part and, with Victoria University researchers crunching the numbers, we’re taking another sneak peek at some of the early results.

This week, people were asked for their preference regarding crunchy vs smooth peanut butter. The result was much more clear-cut than the Marmite/Vegemite smackdown – 43% voted for crunchy, 11% for smooth, 27% were happy with either, and 19% didn’t like peanut butter full stop.

Again, as with Marmite/Vegemite, participants’ political preference was statistically unrelated to their peanut butter preference, says psychologist Marc Wilson, who designed the study.

“I’ve been playing the political psychology game for 25 years, and I’ve got no reason to argue that people who like ACT, for instance, should have any different peanut butter preference to Labour supporters.”

What else have we learnt from the survey?

When it comes to working from home, just 11% work only from home, and 42% say they don’t work from home at all. The proportion of folks who work from home some of the time, but not all the time – a hybrid model – is 45%.

Here, there are political differences – Labour and National supporters are less likely to exclusively work from home and more likely to work exclusively at a workplace. ACT and Greens supporters are more likely to work from home than other party supporters, but Greens supporters are more likely than others to work hybrid, and less likely to solely work from another workplace.

“Interestingly, hybrid workers reported that their occupation was a more important part of their identity than other workers,” says Wilson.

“This sounds consistent with the role that flexibility can play – if employers give staff flexibility, maybe they’re more grateful, and therefore more committed and productive?”

The survey also reveals good news for the All Blacks – after the thrashing of Namibia, estimates of their chances of winning the Rugby World Cup went up 5% from 44% to 49%. Fans also said they felt more positive about the team.

“Participants in week two of the survey reported feeling statistically significantly happier,” says Wilson. “They were also less likely to say the country is going in the wrong direction than week one survey participants.”

Could this be because of the All Blacks winning? Well, the more confident folks were of a a world cup win, and the more positive they felt about the All Blacks in general, the happier they said they were.

“Correlation isn’t necessarily causation,” cautions Wilson.

“It’s possible that our well-being and feelings about the All Blacks are actually unrelated – but both of them are influenced by some other, third, variable.”

This week, researchers will be cycling in some new questions including an old classic: if you could have a superpower, what would you choose?

The Politics and (Mental) Health State of the Nation Survey closes on October 1. Take it here.