people perceive corruption as a part of their everyday life, but also as a potential profitable practice, and the fact that there are no differences in the perception of corruption even among young people who have estimated their own financial situation as a good or excellent one reveals the seriousness of the situation, in relation to(provisionally saying– however, an individual perception is in question) the poorer social layers 27 . Corruption is perceived as a barrier to economic development even among those whose situation is good or excellent, which clearly shows that corruption is one of the carcinogenic facets of the Macedonian economy. Perceptions of the Rights of Specific Social Groups The level of awareness with regard to human rights and the rights of marginal groups among the young generation was part of the focus of the Youth Aspiration Survey. Consequently, the research has shown great variation in young people's perceptions regarding the rights of the five groups of citizens(the range of the same) which were investigated. In order to precisely determine the attitude of the young people towards the rights of women, ethnic communities, homosexuals, handicapped people, and the poor, answers were offered that explicitly measure the social activity(or passivity) of the young people in relation to the rights of the aforementioned groups of citizens in the Republic of Macedonia. In a table 8, the scores are shown. From the review in the table regarding the attitudes of the young people in Macedonia in relation to the rights of certain social groups, the difference in the perceptions of different social strata is evident. On one hand, this determines the focus and breadth of the public debate in the Republic of Macedonia, which is obviously selectively conducted in relation to different social segments(debate about the rights of minorities and women is far more present within the last 16 years, than, for example – the rights of LGBT population), and on the other hand, points out the huge volume of prejudices in relation to certain issues. Clearly the social dimension of human rights is a very sensitive theme among young people in the Republic of Macedonia. In this sense, the rights of poor and handicapped people are unconditionally supported by a consensus of the young people, regardless of their demographic characteristics. That 90% and 89.2% of young people support increasing the rights of handicapped and poor people demonstrates a high level of social solidarity, but, especially if the issue of poverty is considered, also that many young people identify with these groups(this may be seen also from all the economic indicators in this survey which are perceived negatively by the young people). In this sense, the level of solidarity and social awareness is not lacking among this population, which reflects a transfer to the younger generation of the long tradition of a social state. This primarily positive impression is, however, in question with regard to the rights of the female population, where the level of support rapidly decreases. Support for increasing the rights of women has been expressed by half of the respondents, while 40.6% think that women have enough rights. If 6.1% of young people who consider that these rights should be reduced are added to this, 46.7% of young people who would not support an affirmative action with regard to the rights of the women is observed. This reveals a powerful conservative capacity in relation to this subject, and also the existence of a passive resistance towards the promotion of the role of women among many young people. The research data indicates another irrefutable factor, and that is the strong gender polarization with regard to attitudes towards the rights of women. Different perceptions regarding to the rights of women are a demonstrable fact in relation to the respondents' sex, bearing in mind that one of the sides is directly concerned. As such, only 33.1% of the young men think that the rights of the women should be promoted, while this percentage among young women is 73.4%. A high 53.7% of the male respondents think that women have enough rights, while the percentage among female respondents is only 22.4%. The conclusion is more than obvious. The tendency towards conservative matrices of conduct regarding this issue is far more expressed among the young male population, which indicates strongly defined gender roles within the family and society, as well as a dose of inherited prejudices. However, far more expressed tendencies of prejudice exist with regard to the issue of the rights of the homosexual population in Macedonia. If there might be said to be passive resistance towards the rights of women among a certain population, with regard to the rights of homosexuals there is an active resistance among the young respondents researched. It is evident that we can not advance discussion for supporting the rights of homosexuals in this case(only 12.6% declared support for an increase of the rights of the homosexual population), as the resistance is more than evident(22%- have enough rights). The active resistance against the promotion of homosexuals' rights is demonstrated among the 49% of the respondents who preferred a reduction of the rights of the homosexual population. Although the female respondents are slightly more liberal than the male respondents, even among the female population the resistance for the increase of the rights of homosexuals is evident and highly present. Rights of the women Rights of minorities Rights should be improved 50% 21,5% Have enough rights 40,6% 47,4% Rights should be reduced 6,1% 25,6% Don’t know/ No answer 5,3% 5,6% Rights of the homosexual population 12,6% 22% 49% 16,5% Rights of the handicapped 90% 7,4% 0,9% 1,7% Rights of the poor 89,2% 6,3% 1,4% 3% Table 8. Attitudes of the young people towards certain social groups _____________________________________________________________ 27 Only 2.2% out of those respondents, who declared that their financial situation is excellent, declared that the corruption is not so important for the weak economic development, but no one of them declared that it is not important. The adequate percentage at those who declared that their financial situation is good is 2.9'% and 1.1%. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung 21