Harris Interactive: Most Americans Are Still Upbeat and Optimistic But Less So than in the Recent Past

A new Harris Poll finds that the great majority of the public is satisfied with their lives, and that most people believe that their personal situation will improve over the next five years.

According to Harris Interactive, the numbers who feel this way are lower than they were in the last few years, but most Americans are still upbeat and optimistic in spite of the economic tough times and the increase in unemployment. Furthermore, a majority of Echo Boomers (aged 18-30), and pluralities of Gen X (aged 31-42) and Baby Boomers feel their present situation is better than it was five years ago. Only among Matures (aged 62+) is there a plurality who feels that their situation has become worse.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 1,019 adults surveyed by telephone between October 13 and 18, by Harris Interactive.

Highlights of the report include:

- 88 percent of all adults are satisfied with their lives, and 54 percent are very satisfied. However, these numbers are lower than in any of the four other Harris Polls that asked these questions since 2003.

- More people (40 percent) feel that their situation has improved over the last five years than feel it has got worse (27 percent). However, among Matures (aged 62+), more people feel their situation has become worse (30 percent) than better (20 percent). The 40 percent who feel their situation has improved is lower than it was in any of the four previous surveys. In 2005, a 56 percent majority felt this way.

- Republicans are more likely than Democrats to be very satisfied with their lives (63 percent vs. 49 percent) but are less likely to believe that their personal situation will improve in the next five years (52 percent vs. 63 percent).

- People with higher incomes are a little more satisfied with their lives, and are much more likely to feel their personal situation has improved in the last five years (52 percent among people with household incomes of $75,000 or more, compared to 32 percent of people with incomes of less than $35,000). However, they are not significantly more optimistic about the next five years than are people with incomes below $50,000 or below $35,000.

This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States October 13 and 18, among 1,019 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

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