There is an apparent disconnect between the widespread public pessimism about the direction things are going in the country as a whole and the optimism that most people feel about the direction of their own lives. A new Harris Poll finds that:
- Eighteen percent of Americans believe things in the United States are going in the right direction while three-quarters (76%) think things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track;
- Two in five (41%) adults think things in their state are going in the right direction, while just over half (53%) believe they are going off on the wrong track;
- Three-quarters of Americans (76%) say things in their lives personally are going in the right direction while only one in five (20%) say they have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track.
These are just some of the results from the latest Harris Poll of 1,015 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone between August 6 and 10, 2008 by Harris Interactive®.
Over the past few months, things have held pretty steady. Since Spring, the pessimism of the country as a whole is clear, as at least three-quarters of Americans think things have gotten off on the wrong track in April (75%), June (80%) and August (76%). For their own states, in February, 44 percent believed things were going in the right direction while 49 percent said they were going on the wrong track. Looking at their personal lives, that is also holding steady as three-quarters of Americans (76%) believed things were going in the right direction in February and 17 percent said they were going off on the wrong track.
Other findings include:
- People in the West are more likely to believe the country is on the wrong track (79%), while those in the Midwest are more likely to believe their respective states are on the wrong track (59%). Those in the South are slightly more likely to believe both the country (20%) and their state (49%) is going in the right direction. More than four in five Westerners (83%) believe their personal lives are going in the right direction;
- Republicans are more likely to believe things in the country (37%), their states (49%) and their lives personally (84%) are going in the right direction than Democrats and Independents. Almost nine in ten (87%) Democrats believe things in the country have gotten off on the wrong track;
- At least seven in ten of all income categories believe the country has gotten off on the wrong track, but there are differences in how they feel about their states and personal lives. Three in five (61%) of those with a household income of between $35,000 and $49,999 believe things in their states have gotten off on the wrong track. When it comes to personal lives, one-third (32%) of those earning less than $35,000 believe they are on the wrong track compared to just one in ten (10%) of those earning $100,000 or more; and
- Men are more likely than women to think things in the country are going in the right direction (22% versus 14%). Women, however, are more likely to think things in their personal lives are going in the right direction (79% versus 73%).
So What?
Given the all bad news, particularly about the economy, it is not surprising that such a large majority of the public is pessimistic about the direction the country is moving. What might be surprising, though, is how long this pessimism has lasted. Since April of last year, only one-quarter – or less – of the American public has said things are going in the right direction in the U.S. And you have to go back to January of 2005 to find over 40 percent of Americans saying things are going in the right direction.
However, the closer to home one gets, the more likely he/she is to think things are going pretty well. While some states are having financial troubles, they are not impacting people’s perceptions of the state overall in the way the larger economic problems are causing such negativity about the nation as a whole. Also, the economic downturn does not seem to have affected most people personally, and of course some of the most important things in many people lives – family, friends, their own social lives – are not much affected by the economy. Whatever the reasons, it is nice to see that for all the gloom and doom on the evening news, people, when asked to take stock of their own personal lives, see things going well.
Methodology
The Harris Poll® was conducted by telephone within the United States between August 6 and 10, 2008 among a nationwide cross section of 1,015 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, number of adults in the household, size of place (urbanicity) and number of phone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
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About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
Harris Interactive Inc. 8/08
Contacts:
Tracey McNerney, 585-214-7756
press@harrisinteractive.net
