Poll finds French not so chauvinistic after all

WASHINGTON (AFP) - France's reputation for chauvinism took a hit on Thursday from an opinion poll that revealed that only 27 per cent of its people think French culture is better than all others.

In fact, 73 per cent of French respondents to the ongoing Pew Research Center survey of US and European attitudes disagreed that 'our culture is superior to others', the polling institute reported.

Forty-nine per cent of Americans believed US culture was the best, even if 'our people are not perfect', followed by Germans at 47 percent, Spaniards at 44 per cent and Britons at 32 per cent.

But, when set against past surveys, it appears 'Americans are now far less likely to say that their culture is better than others; six-in-10 Americans held this belief in 2002 and 55 percent did so in 2007', the pollsters said.