The Australian Character in the Eyes of Polish Itnmigrants

in Western Australia

B Y RUTH JOHNSTON

The purpose of this study is to probe into the characteristics of the Australian people as seen by Polish immigrants in Western Australia.

Answers to two parts of one question formed the basis of inquiry. Immigrants were asked: ‘What do you think of the Australian people as a whole? What do you like about them? What don’t you like about them? The question was asked in a personal interview conducted by the researcher in connection with a major research project. For the descrip- tion of the sample used, refer to a previous article. (International Migration, 1968, VI, 3, 151).

HYPOTHESES

Two classes of hypotheses are proposed. The first class is related to positive traits in the Australian character as seen by Polish immigrants. The second deals with negative traits.

Hypotheses Class One

Immigrants who answered to the first half of the main question ‘I don’t like the Austra- lians’ or ‘I like everything about them’ are omitted from calculations. In the first instance no traits were mentioned. In the second the descriptions were too general to deduce any traits. Eight respondents in the metropolitan area were excluded on these grounds.

In the country towns sample, seven people declared that they did not have any contacts with Australians and knew nothing about them. It is of interest to note that six people in the same sample could not find one single trait in the Australian character which appealed to them. In sum only 52 immigrants are considered in the metropolitan sample and only 29 in the country towns sample.

Hypothesis (a) Immigrants with University degrees and those living in the metropolitan area think more often of Australians as being friendly than do immigrants in the country sample. The calculated ~2 with one degree of freedom equals 0.87. It is not significant (p > 0.05). It can be concluded that immigrants with University degrees and those residing in the metropolitan area do not differ significantly in the frequency with which they think of Australians as friendly, from immigrants in the country towns sample.

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Hypothesis (b) University graduates and metropolitan immigrants think of Australians more often as being carefree and happy than do immigrants in the country towns sample. The calculated ~2 with one degree of freedom equals 4.04. It is significant (p < 0.05). University graduates and metropolitan immigrants think of Australians as being carefree and happy significantly more often than immigrants in the country towns sample.

Hypothesis (c ) University graduates and immigrants in the metropolitan sample think more often of Australians as helpful than do immigrants in the country towns sample. The obtained xz equals 0.005 with one degree of freedom. It is not significant. University graduates and metropolitan immigrants do not differ significantly from country towns immigrants in the frequency with which they think that Australians are helpfui. One country immigrant whose neighbours showed extreme kindness during her husband’s illness stated: ‘They will always help in a critical situation’.

Hypothesis (d) University graduates and metropolitan immigrants think more often of Australians as having an easy manner than do immigrants in provincial towns. The obtained x2 equals 0.93. It is not significant (p > 0.05). The immigrants in the three samples do not differ significantly in the way they perceive Australians as being easy in manner.

A respondent in one of the provincial towns is particularly attracted to the uncon- ventional way of Australian behaviour. He states: ‘I like best their unforced directness with which they win people over’. Others in the same sample explain: ‘The Australians are open in approach’. ‘I like their lack of formality’. Others remark: ‘There is no artifi- ciality as amongst our own people’, ‘I like their ease and simplicity in making friends’.

Similar points of view were expressed by immigrants in the metropolitan sample: ‘The Australians are easy going people. They are open minded. If they quarrel there is no malice. They talk to each other after an hour. That is, good-Australians are open minded‘.

Hypothese (e ) University graduates and immigrants in the metropolitan sample think more often that Australians ‘never worry about to-morrow’ than do immigrants in the country towns sample. The obtained ~2 equals 0.04 with one degree of freedom. It is not significant. Immigrants in the first two samples do therefore not differ significantly from immigrants in the country towns in the frequency with which they think that Australians never worry about to-morrow.

Hypothesis (f) University graduates and immigrants in the metropolitan sample appre- ciate the democratic attitude in Australians more often than do immigrants in the country towns sample. The calculated ~2 equals 0.32 with one degree of freedom. It is not signi- ficant (p > 0.05). Immigrants in the first two samples do not differ significantly in the frequency with which they perceive Australians as having a democratic attitude from immigrants in the country towns sample.

A verbatim answer clearly demonstrates the meaning of the mentioned trait: ‘There is no difference amongst people as there is in Poland. Here a doctor and a labourer - it is all the same’. Another immigrant explains: ‘They take you here the same as every- body else’.

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Hypothesis (g) University graduates and metropolitan immigrants think more often of Australians as being sociable than do immigrants in the country towns. The x2 equals 1.52. It is not significant (p > 0.05). There is no difference in the way the immigrants in the mentioned samples perceive Australians as being sociable.

Some traits could not be statistically compared within the three samples, since they were mentioned by immigrants in one sample only and not in the others. The traits are, however, listed here to illustrate all possible characteristics in Australians as they occurred to the interviewed immigrants.

University graduates find the Australians to be sincere. Some of them describe the trait as follows: ‘The Australians say what they think, more so than the English’. Others stated: ‘The Australians are sincere, what they say they mean’.

Two special traits were mentioned by immigrants in the metropolitan sample. One of the traits is referred to as mateship. It is supposed to be, according to respondents, inseparable from the Australian character. The other trait is best described in the words of the interviewee: ‘They are not interested in other peoples’ affairs. The Australians mind their own business’.

One original trait was mentioned by an immigrant in the country towns. It is recorded here because it sheds some light on the general problems of national character. The immigrant stated: ‘There is greater honesty amongst people here than in Europe’.

Hypotheses Class Two

Having previously suggested that immigrants in the country towns sample have on the whole negative opinions about the Australian people, the hypotheses in this class are formulated within this specific point of view.

Hypothesis (a) Immigrants in the country towns sample think more frequently that Australians drink and bet on horses too much, than do University graduates and immi- grants in the metropolitan sample. The obtained x* equals 4.24 with one degree of free- dom. It is significant (p < 0.05). Immigrants in the country towns sample think signifi- cantly more often of Australians as drinking and betting excessively than do University graduates and immigrants in the metropolitan sample.

Apparent annoyance is visible in the expression of one country immigrant whose comment on the trait reads: ‘Even a hobby has its limits, but this goes beyond limits’. An immigrant in the metropolitan sample expresses regret and adds: ‘The waste of hard earned money being spent in the bar and on horses’.

Hypothesis (b) Immigrants in the country towns sample think more often that Australians have a negative attitude towards foreigners than do University graduates and metropolitan immigrants. The ~2 equals 0.10 with one degree of freedom. It is not significant (p > 0.05). Immigrants in the three samples do not differ significantly in their opinion about Austra- lians being negatively disposed towards foreigners.

An immigrant with high education describes the Australian attitude towards new- comers : ‘They are making it obvious that we are different from them - something lower’. A country towns immigrant states : ‘They consider New-Australians as second class people.

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The Australians are in this respect worse than the Germans. They would be even worse if they were not afraid of the Government and the Police’.

Hypothesis (c ) Immigrants in the country towns sample think more often of Australians as being rude, uncouth and vulgar than do University graduates and immigrants in the metropolitan sample. The calculated x2 equals 12.58 with one degree of freedom. It is significant (p < 0.05).

‘They can’t behave like decent people, not like New-Australians’ was a comment offered by one immigrant in the country sample to summarise the three negative mentioned traits.

Hypothesis (d) Immigrants in the country towns sample think more often of Australians as being selfish than do University graduates and immigrants in the metropolitan sample. The obtained x2 equals 0.08. It is not significant (p > 0.05). The immigrants in the three samples do not differ significantly in the frequency with which they mention the trait - selfishness - as attributed to Australians.

Hypothesis (e) Immigrants in the country towns think more often of Australians as having a poor family life than do University graduates and immigrants in the metro- politan sample. The x2 is again not significant (p > 0.05). There is no difference amongst the immigrants in the way they perceive the home-life of Australians.

Such expressions as the following describe the trait: ‘They are not family men. They spend too much time in the pub’. ‘They live away from home’, ‘Wives and husbands never spend their time together’.

Hypothesis (f) Immigrants in the country towns think more often of Australians as having little knowledge about other people and countries than do immigrants with University degrees and metropolitan immigrants. The obtained x2 with one degree of freedom equals 0.10. It is not significant (p > 0.05). No significant difference is present amongst the immigrants in the three samples regarding their opinions about Australians as lacking knowledge of other people and countries. One immigrant explains: ‘The Australians have little knowledge about other countries like ours. If they knew more they would be more understanding and have more sympathy for us’.

Hypothesis (g) Immigrants in the country towns think more often of Australians as non-church going people than do University graduates and immigrants in the metro- politan sample. The x2 with one degree of freedom is not significant (p > 0.05). Immi- grants in the three samples do not differ significantly in their opinions about Australians as not church going people.

A clear picture of the Australian attitude to church is presented by one immigrant in the country towns who says: ‘There is a lack of faith. If he is a Catholic he seldom goes to Church. My neighbour cuts the grass when mass is on at church. They do not preserve church holidays, do not preserve Sundays, do not go to church‘.

There were negative traits, as there were positive ones, which were enumerated by immigrants in individual samples only. These traits could not be included on a compara-

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tive basis. Immigrants in the country thought that Australians are generally deceitful. One respondent explains: ‘You can’t trust them’. Immigrants in the metropolitan sample complained about the general way of life which one immigrant describes as follows: ‘Life for us here is rather dull’.

Severe criticism has been voiced by practically all immigrants regarding general dissi- pation prevailing in the Australian community. Women were blamed for the lack of supervision of their children and for excessive indulgence in sport and drink. A high divorce rate and little interest in local affairs were also mentioned.

Lastly are cited a few comments of University graduates who have thrown additional light on the Australian character. They are listed in rank order of frequency. None of them is in translation. 1. ‘Lack of cultural interests and more interest in material things’. 2. ‘Their lack of interest in social problems. No wide point of view on progress. The satisfying of needs on a lower level, their general primitivism’. 3. ‘A lot of political indifference that one finds in Australia and going with it - the lack of knowledge’. 4. ‘I don’t like their mediocre standards expressed in the saying ‘near enough - good enough’. Shortsightedness in many issues, a lack of precision, slapdash, provincialism of ideas. They don’t accept anything from other countries’. 5. ‘A certain lack of empathy for other people, particularly so when they are in a group together. They seem to make more of a distance from a foreigner than when they are with him alone. The Slavonic people show a complete contrast in behaviour. We always try to help strangers and feel with them. The Slavs seem to have a subtlety in feeling with other people which Australians don’t possess. As for their other traits I feel that Australians show a lack of patriotism, narrowmindedness and a little bit of pronounced chauvinism’.

CONCLUSIONS

Three samples of Polish immigrants in Western Australia have been asked what they liked and did not like about the Australian people. It was predicted that immigrants living in country towns, owing to special circumstances, are more likely to attribute a greater number of negative traits to Australians than do immigrants in the metropolitan sample or University graduates. With this point of view special hypotheses were set up, all of which were divided into two classes. Class one deals with positive traits in the Australian character, class two with negative traits.

It was found that University graduates and metropolitan immigrants think significantly more often of Australians as care-free and happy than do country immigrants. From all the postulated hypotheses regarding positive traits only this one is tenable.

Metropolitan immigrants and University graduates see the following negative traits in Australians less often than do immigrants in the country towns sample: drinking, betting on horses, rudeness, uncouthness, and vulgarity.

No significant difference exists between the immigrants in the three samples regarding

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these traits : helpfulness, easy goingness, absence of worry about tomorrow, democratic mindedness, and sociability. These are positive traits. For the following negative traits the difference is also not significant : hostile attitude towards foreigners, selfishness, poor family life, possession of little knowledge about other people and other countries, and infrequent church attendance.

Not all immigrants interviewed were included in calculations since some of them did not know Australians well enough to be able to pass an opinion on the subject. Others were omitted because their description of Australians was more connected with the actual sample to which they belonged and was not corroborated by respondents of the remaining samples.

L E C A R A C T E R E A U S T R A L I E N VU P A R L E S I M M I G R A N T S P O L O N A I S

E N A U S T R A L I E O C C I D E N T A L E

0 a demande a des immigrants polonais d’Australie occidentale, groupks en trois Cchan- tillons, ce qu’ils aimaient et ce qu’ils n’aimaient pas chez les Australiens. On supposait qu’en raison de circonstances speciales les immigrants vivant dans de petites villes rurales seraient probablement plus enclins 8 attribuer un plus grand nombre de caractkres nkgatifs aux Australiens que les immigrants faisant partie de l’kchantillon metropolitain ou que les dipl6mCs d’universitb En partant de ce point de vue on a formule des hypothkses speciales en considerant dans chaque cas, d’une part les aspects positifs du caractkre australien, et d’autre part ses aspects nkgatifs.

On a constate que les dipl6mCs d’universite et les immigrants rksidant dans des zones metropolitaines sont plus port& que les immigrants des regions rurales $I considtrer que les Australiens sont des gens heureux et sans coucis, la difference entre les deux groupes etant statistiquement significative. De toutes les hypothtses formulees au sujet des aspects positifs, sede celle-ci est soutenable.

Les immigrants des zones metropolitaines et les dipl6mCs d‘universite ont moins tendance que les immigrants des regions rurales a attribuer aux Australiens les caractkres negatifs suivants: propension 8 boire et B parier dans les courses de chevaux, grossi&retC, lourdeur et vulgaritk.

I1 n’y a pas de difference statistiquement significative dans les opinions des immigrants des trois echantillons en ce qui concerne les aspects suivants : serviabilid, insouciance, absence d‘inquiktude concernant l’avenir, esprit democratique et sociabilite. Ce sont 18 les aspects positifs. En ce qui concerne les aspects nCgatifs suivants, il n’y a pas non plus de diffkrence significative : attitude hostile envers les &rangers, Cgoi‘sme, vie de famille peu dkveloppke, ignorance relative en ce qui concerne d‘autres peuples et d’autres pays, faible frequentation des lieux de culte.

Les reponses des immigrants n’ont pas toutes 6t6 prises en consideration lors des calculs parce que certaines des personnes interrogkes ne connaissaient pas les Australiens

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assez bien pour pouvoir emettre un avis a Ieur sujet. D’autres ont CtC Ccartees parce que la description des Australiens faite par les individus interrogis se rapportait davantage a l’echantillon auquel ces individus appartenaient et n’itait pas corroborCe par les reponses des membres des autres Cchantillons.

EL C A R A C T E R A U S T R A L I A N 0 VISTO P O R LOS I N M I G R A N T E S POLACOS

E N A U S T R A L I A O C C I D E N T A L

Se ha preguntado a tres muestras de inmigrantes polacos en Australia occidental quC es lo que les gusta y lo que no les gusta de 10s australianos. Se suponia que 10s inmigrantes que viven en las zonas rurales atribuirian, debido a sus circumstancias especiales, un mayor numero de caracteres negativos a 10s australianos que 10s inmigrantes de las zonas metropolitanas o 10s graduados de universidad. Con este criterio se formularon hip6tesis especiales, considerando en cada caso, por una parte 10s aspectos positivos del caracter australiani, y por otra parte sus aspectos negativos.

En la encuesta se comprob6 - y el resultado es estadisticamente significativo - que 10s graduados universitarios y en general 10s inmigrantes de las zonas metropolitanas con- sideran, con mis frecuencia que 10s inmigrantes de las zonas rurales, a 10s australianos como personas despreocupadas y felices. De todas las hipdtesis formuladas en relacion con 10s aspectos positivos, Csta es la unica que puede mantenerse.

Los inmigrantes de las zonas metropolitanas y 10s graduados universitarios tienen menos tendencia que 10s inmigrantes de las regiones rurales a atribuir a 10s australianos 10s siguientes caracteres negativos: afici6n a la bebida, afici6n a apostar en las carreras de caballos, rudeza, tosquedad y vulgaridad.

No existe diferencia estadisticamente significativa entre las opiniones de 10s inmigrantes de las tres muestras en lo que se refiere a 10s aspectos siguientes: serviciabilidad, des- preocupacion, falta de inquietud por el porvenir, espiritu democratic0 y sociabilidad. Estos son 10s caracteres positivos. Tampoco tiene gran importancia la diferencia en lo que se refiere a 10s siguientes caracteres negativos : hostilidad hacia 10s extranjeros, egoismo, pobreza de la vida de familia, escaso conocimiento de otros pueblos y de otros paises y poca prhctica religiosa.

No todas las respuestas de 10s inmigrantes fueron tomadas en consideraci6n para 10s chlculos porque algunas de las personas interrogadas no conocian suficientemente a 10s australianos para poder opinar sobre ellos. Otros fueron excluidos porque su descripcion de 10s australianos era mas bien funcion de la muestra a la que ellos mismos pertenecian y no estaba corroborada por las respuestas de 10s miembros de las otras muestras.

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