Civey survey: AfD supporters are very angry – and hardly confident

The current emotional state of AfD supporters is characterized by anger and powerlessness, while very few feel confidence and joy. This is the result of a representative survey by the opinion research institute Civey for the star.

They were then asked which terms would apply to their current emotional state* (Multiple answers possible), supporters of the right-wing populist party most often answered with “anger” (67 percent) and “loss of control / powerlessness” (37 percent). “Confidence” (7 percent), “joy” (5 percent) and “security” (2 percent) were mentioned the least.

The feeling of “anger” is significantly less pronounced among supporters of the other parties represented in the Bundestag. Broken down according to the respondents’ voting intentions, the feeling of “anger” is similarly represented among supporters of the FDP (38 percent) and CDU/CSU (37 percent), and among the Left Party (25 percent), SPD (15 percent) and Greens ( 12 percent) significantly less. The leaders for the feeling of “joy” are supporters of the SPD and the Greens (21 percent each), and for “confidence” (44 percent) are the Social Democrats.

Aside from voting intentions, a relative majority of Germans also cite “anger” (37 percent) as the most appropriate term to describe their current emotional state, followed by “uncertainty” (31 percent), “loss of control/powerlessness” (26 percent) and “confidence ” (25 percent).

For the representative survey, the opinion research institute Civey continuously surveyed 10,000 citizens aged 18 and over from May 19, 2020 to September 8, 2023. The latest results refer to the survey period from August 9, 2023 to September 8, 2023. More about methodology** read at the end of this text.

The feeling of “anger” is sometimes significantly different in East and West Germany, depending on age, gender or query. The most “anger” is in the age group of 40-49 (39 percent), and the least among those over 65 (34 percent). According to the survey, more women (39 percent) than men (33 percent) experience a feeling of “anger.” “Anger” occurs more frequently in East Germany (43 percent) than in West Germany (35 percent).

If you put the nationwide development of “anger” and “confidence” in relation to each other, a trend reversal can be observed in the emotional world of Germans. While in May 2020 40 percent said they felt “confidence” (and only 16 percent “anger”), in September 2023 it is exactly the opposite: 44 percent feel “anger” – and only 24 percent “confidence”.

*On the question:

When asked “Which of these terms apply to your current emotional state?” could be answered with several terms: “Uncertainty”, “Confidence”, “Hopelessness / Fear”, “Joy”, “Loss of Control / Powerlessness”, “Gratitude”, “Anger”, “Security”, “None of the above / Not specified “. Multiple answers possible.

**For collection:

Civey continuously surveyed 10,000 German citizens aged 18 and over online from May 19, 2020 to September 8, 2023. The most recent results refer to the survey period from August 9, 2023 – September 8, 2023. The results are representative due to quotas and weighting, taking into account the statistical error of 2.5 percentage points (overall result) or in the evaluations taking into account the statistical error of 2.8-3.5 percentage points (evaluation based on anger and confidence over time) , 5.8 percentage points (evaluation according to age), 3.1 percentage points (evaluation according to East/West), 2.7 percentage points (evaluation according to gender), 5.7 percentage points (evaluation according to voting intention). Further information on the methodology can be found.