Study shows Americans’ favor, bias toward other countries
Jan 2, 2014, 9:16 PM | Updated: 9:16 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — Of all countries in the world, Americans like Canada the most and dislike Saudi Arabia more than any other.
A Pew Research Center survey conducted last fall revealed Americans’ attitudes toward allies and competitors. Canada had the most positive review, with 81 percent of Americans feeling favorable toward their North American counterpart. Another ally, Great Britain, had a 79 percent impression of favorability.
Perhaps unsurprisingly after years of being at odds with the United States, Saudi Arabia was seen by 57 percent of survey participants unfavorably, making the bottom of the list.
Fifty-five percent and 54 percent of participants saw China and Russia, respectively, in an unfavorable way.
Mexico was the fourth least-favorably viewed country, with 52 percent of participants viewing the bordering country unfavorably.
“However strongly Americans may feel about other countries, either pro or con, their views can also change dramatically over time,” Pew wrote.
France, for example, has gained in popularity since 2003. At the “height of disagreement” between France and America over the Iraq war.
The views were “decidedly partisan” according to Pew. While republicans were more likely than democrats to view Israel favorably, while democrats were the more likely of the two to view China, Mexico and France favorably.
