12/27: Making a Change in 2013?
December 27, 2012 by Marist Poll
Filed under Celebrations, Celebrations Polls, Featured, Living
Four in ten Americans — 40% — plan to ring in the New Year with promises to make 2013 better than 2012. Who are among those most likely to make a resolution? Americans who are younger than 45 years old — 51% — are more likely to promise to change than older residents — 34%.
Click Here for Complete December 27, 2012 USA Marist Poll Release and Tables
60% of Americans are not likely to make a New Year’s resolution for 2013. Last year 62% said they did not plan to alter their lifestyle in any way, and 38% resolved to make a change. Fewer younger Americans plan to make a resolution compared with last year. At that time, 59% of those under 45 thought they would pledge to improve their lives and 28% of those 45 and older professed to do the same.
There is no difference between men and women on this question. 40% of men and the same proportion of women — 40% — report it is likely they will make a resolution for 2013.
Table: Likelihood of Making Resolution
Table: Likelihood of Making Resolution (Over Time)
Weight Loss Tips the Scales as Top New Year’s Resolution
Among Americans who plan to make a New Year’s resolution for 2013, 17% promise to lose weight. 13% say they will stop smoking while 10% would like to be a better person. Nine percent intend to spend less and save more money while 8% think they will exercise more.
Weight loss remains the number one New Year’s resolution. At that time, 18% said they would battle the bulge in 2012. 11% thought they would exercise more while 9% planned to save more and spend less. An additional 9% said they would stop smoking, and the same proportion — 9% — hoped to be a better person.
Table: Complete List of New Year’s Resolutions
Table: Top New Year’s Resolutions
About Six in Ten Kept Their Word
Among adults nationally who made a New Year’s resolution for 2012, 59% kept their vow for at least part of the year. 41% did not. However, the proportion of Americans who kept their resolution has declined. 67% of those who made a resolution for 2011 stuck to it while 33% did not.
Table: Kept Resolution? (Over Time)
5/21: The Weight Factor? More than Seven in Ten New Yorkers Tie Happiness and Success to Weight
May 21, 2012 by Marist Poll
Filed under Featured, Living, Odds and Ends, Odds and Ends Polls
They say money can’t buy happiness, but can being thin? According to this NY1/YNN-Marist Poll, 72% of New York State adults think someone who is thin is happier than someone who is overweight. 13% disagree and report that a person who is overweight is happier, and 15% are unsure.
Click Here for Complete May 21, 2012 NYS NY1/YNN-Marist Poll Release and Tables
When it comes to success, the same proportion of New York State adults — 72% — report someone who is thin is more successful while 8% say those who are overweight are. One in five — 20% — is unsure.
Income makes a difference. Nearly eight in ten New Yorkers who earn $100,000 or more a year — 79% — say thin people are more successful. This compares with 72% of those who make between $50,000 and just under $100,000 annually and 69% who make less than $50,000 a year.
There is no age difference on this question. Regardless of age, more than seven in ten think someone who is thin is more successful than someone who is overweight.
How do New Yorkers perceive their own weight? 68% describe themselves as about the right weight for their size and age. 29% say they are overweight while only 4% think they are underweight.
Table: Level of Happiness Related to Weight
Table: Level of Success Related to Weight
Fast Food Fanatics? Six in Ten New Yorkers Pass
60% of adults in New York say they have not eaten in a fast food restaurant during the past week. One in four — 25% — visited a fast food joint at least one day last week, 7% have eaten a meal in such an establishment two days while 4% have dined at a fast food establishment three days. Four is the number of days reported by 2% of New Yorkers while just 1% has eaten at a restaurant similar to McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s five days during the last week. Two percent report eating at a fast food restaurant all seven days.
New Yorkers who report eating at a fast food restaurant in the past week did so on average of close to two days — 1.8 days.
Younger New Yorkers are more likely to have visited a fast food restaurant than older New Yorkers. 63% of New Yorkers under 30, 44% of those 30 to 44, 38% of residents 45 to 59, and 23% of those 60 and older have dined at this type of restaurant at least once in the past week.
Table: Number of Days Eaten a Meal in a Fast Food Restaurant
Table: Number of Days Eaten a Meal in a Fast Food Restaurant (Average)
National Poll: Americans Resolve to Change … Themselves
December 12, 2007 by Marist Poll
Filed under Living, Polls for Fun
This New Year Americans resolve to begin anew. Many Americans intend to turn over a new leaf this January. This New Year’s goals include losing weight, kicking the cigarette habit, being a better person, or spending less money in 2008. One in five women would like to lose weight and 18% of men want to quit smoking.
Out with the Old … Habits, That Is
December 30, 2004 by Marist Poll
Filed under Living, Polls for Fun
Improving habits and health are goals for people resolving to make a fresh start in the New Year. Many Americans hope to kick the smoking habit, spend less money, lose weight, exercise more, and look for that better job in 2005.
Resolving to Make 2004 a Better Year
December 30, 2003 by Marist Poll
Filed under Living, Polls for Fun
Finding a better job and just trying to be a better person top the list for people who intend to make a New Year’s resolution this year. Other major goals for 2004 are to lose weight, to stop smoking, and to spend less money.
