Pakistanis prefer “Hosh” over “Josh” – survey concludes

Karachi: Senior university students from various reputable institutes of Lahore recently conducted a personality trait poll to gauge the personality preference of Pakistanis as a nation. The survey was geared towards gauging whether Pakistanis prefer using JOSH (the force of Passion) or HOSH (the force of reason) in most spheres of their life. A total of over 3,700 respondents participated in the survey which was conducted on-ground, over the internet and via SMS.

On-ground and Online Survey Results

69% of the respondents who participated in the on-ground and online survey were males while 31% were females (as shown in Fig. 1).  Of the total males approximately 68% believed that Pakistan needs more HOSH to be a positive society while 32% believed that the nation lacked JOSH. The female respondents shared similar sentiments and majority of them were in favor of HOSH (85%), while a meager 15% were in favor of JOSH.

Figure 1 Respondent's Profile

When asked what is the single most important attribute for success, almost 40% of all respondents were in favor of Intelligence, which was closely followed by Luck (39%). 13% respondents voted for HOSH and a meager 8% were in favor of JOSH.

Amongst the different age groups, respondents under the age of 18 mostly favored intelligence (46%) which was closely followed by JOSH (40%). A sentiment not quite shared by the rest of the age groups, implying that the youth favors JOSH over luck and HOSH (as shown in Fig. 2). Another interesting find was that for respondents between the ages of 31 and above the most favored attribute for success was Luck with over 50% votes, implying that most of these respondents believed that success only comes through luck and does not depend upon one’s drive for JOSH or HOSH.

Figure 2 Single Most Important Attribute for Success - Age-wise Bifurcation

When asked about the future of Pakistan, respondents between the ages of 31-45 were most optimistic with over 46% of them believing that the future was bright. Respondents between the ages of 18-30 however did not share the same level of optimism, while 30% of them believed the future to be bright, 39% of them were still uncertain.

On the whole, majority of the respondents were uncertain about the future (as shown in Fig. 2), however at the same time 33% of them believed that it was bright, and only a meager 14% considered the future to be negative.

Figure 3 Future of Pakistan

When asked as to what describes them better, 71% of all respondents voted for HOSH, while 21% were in favor of JOSH. Apparently JOSH turned out to be the favorable response for the unemployed where 50% of them voted for it. Apart from the unemployed JOSH found some popularity amongst professionals (39%) and students (32%) as shown in Fig. 3.

Figure 4 What Describes You Better - Occupation-wise Bifurcation

When asked as to what does cricket in Pakistan needs more, almost 53% of respondents voted for HOSH while the remaining 47% voted for JOSH.

SMS Survey Results

An SMS based survey was also conducted whose results were  somewhat different responses than the on-ground and online survey. Out of the 2,600 respondents, 61% voted HOSH as the most important attribute for success followed by JOSH (16%), Luck (13%) and Intelligence (10%). HOSH also emerged as the obvious choice for making Pakistan a more positive society with 85% votes as opposed to JOSH with only 15%. When asked as to what describes them best, 62% respondents voted for HOSH while the remaining 38% opted for JOSH. Contrary to the on-ground and online survey, almost 68% SMS respondents felt that Pakistani cricket needs more JOSH as opposed to HOSH (32%).

Judging from the survey results it is quite apparent that majority of the respondents favor using HOSH over JOSH. While whether this choice is reflected in our nation’s practical behavior is still debatable, yet from the survey it can easily be established that our nation in principle agrees that the force of reason ‘HOSH’ is more important and pertinent for our nation’s progress than the force of passion ‘JOSH’.