Only 0.4% of Swiss residents describe themselves as non-binary

For 55% of the population, gender is important or rather important for their own identity, according to the study. Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

According to a survey, 99.6% of people in Switzerland see themselves clearly as a man or a woman. 

The survey published on Tuesday by the Sotomo research institute on behalf of the “Gender Fairer” initiative polled nearly 2,700 Swiss residents. 

Despite an overwhelming self-professed binary gender identity, the picture is more complex with shades of grey. Only 14% of men consider themselves exclusively male and only 6% of women exclusively female. And 12% cent of men and women perceive themselves as equally feminine and masculine.

Identity politics

For 55% of the population, gender is important or rather important for their own identity, according to the study. It is more important to women with 60% admitting that gender shapes who they are, compared to only 49% of men.

However, an ideological divide emerges among men. According to the study, being a man is important for 62% of those who lean to the right from a political standpoint. For two-thirds of them it is even very important. In contrast, only 12% of men on the left identify very strongly with their gender, the study says.

A majority of respondents assume that there are both biological and societal reasons for the differences between the sexes. Only 17% think that differences in behaviour are innate. Likewise, only 17% believe they are solely the result of social conventions. Only 18% opined that there are only two genders. 

For the study, 2,690 people were surveyed online between September 29 and November 1. The participants were recruited by invitation and the data was then weighted so that the results are representative for the entire population.