Life

Women in the 21st century could be forgiven for sometimes thinking they’ve been given a pretty rough deal. Balancing work pressures and family pressures is hard enough for anyone, but the ongoing debate about whether or not women can – or should – be expected to succeed at both reminds women that there are still some choices to be made, that – biologically, of course – men don’t have to make. In this week’s Economist/YouGov poll, 73% nationally think it’s possible for women in America to have a full-time job and do a good job of raising a family, rising ... read more

 “Greed is good. Greed works.” Gordon Gekko, hero of the 1987 movie Wall Street, was the unabashed proponent of wealth and capitalism.  For Gekko greed was good and lunch was for wimps. Fast forward twenty-five years, through one of the world’s worst financial crises, and greed is looking considerably less attractive. 62% of our responders thought that of all the seven deadly sins, greed was the biggest problem for our country, and 52% thought that it was the most evil of the sins.  Political affiliation and household income impacted responses.  68% of Democrats cited greed as the country’s biggest problem ... read more

It’s been a while since that New Year’s ball dropped in Times Square – and we’ve had just enough time to look back on, and feel nostalgic about, the music and artists that made 2011 for us all. We recently invited you to nominate just one single from 2011 that defined those twelve months in your eyes. It might have been a track from an artist who dominates the musical mainstream, with little chance of letting up, or on the flip-side, a newcomer who came out of nowhere to outshine all competition. As hard-worn music lovers, you’ll know that trying ... read more

While the results of a new YouGov survey indicate that Americans seem to have rather mixed opinions about 3D films overall, one thing is clear from the results: film-goers would be more likely to watch 3D movies if they didn’t have to wear those 3D glasses. For most of the questions in the survey, roughly equal numbers of respondents agreed or disagreed, though typically with slightly more on the negative side. When asked whether 3D films were the future of cinema, 30% of respondents thought it was, while 33% thought it was not. Likewise, when respondents were asked whether 3D ... read more

How many people actually like the color of the house or apartment building they call home?  A new YouGov tries to answer just that. When asked whether they like the color of their house or apartment building, 63% of respondents said they did, 15% said they did not and 22% had no opinion. Answers to this question varied most prominently across different age groups. Respondents above 55 or older were the most likely to say the liked the color of their house, with 80% saying so. Respectively 54% and 58% of the other age groups—those between 18 and 35 and ... read more

According to a new YouGov survey on texting, about half of Americans stick closely to the rules of standard English when writing text messages, while the rest use language that falls somewhere on spectrum between mildly abbreviated and what some might call completely atrocious. For the survey, we asked respondents two questions. For the first, we gave them a series of statements—the same statement written in varying degrees of correctness—and asked them to pick which would most closely resemble a text they might send. The choices along with the percentage of respondents who choose it, are as follows: “By the ... read more

According to a new YouGov survey, “sagging”—that is, wearing the pants below the waist—might be the most maligned trend in modern American fashion. For the survey, respondents were given a list of modern fashion trends and asked “Which of the following fashion trends do you feel are inappropriate in most circumstances?” 80% of respondents selected “sagging” pants as inappropriate, the most of any of the options. The other choices, along with the percentage of respondents who thought they were inappropriate, were: Shirts or tops which show the midriff or belly: 51% Ripped or torn jeans or pants: 42% Extra-large or ... read more

A new YouGov survey reveals a lack of sympathy among Americans for the plight of professional athletes today. Majorities say athletes are paid too much, shouldn't be allowed to strike for higher salaries and are not good role models for kids. When asked how they felt about the salaries of professional athletes, 66% of respondents said “they are too paid too much”. 27% were more understanding and said that athletes “should be paid whatever they can command on the open market”. A majority of respondents across all demographic groups agreed that the salaries of professional athletes were too high, but ... read more

A new YouGov survey on two of America’s favorite foods, hot-dogs and hamburgers, reveals that mustard is American’s preferred condiment for hot-dogs, but ketchup—also Americans’ choice for Hamburgers—is gaining popularity among younger Americans and might in the future unseat mustard’s place in the top-spot. For the survey, we first asked respondents if they ate either hot-dogs or hamburgers. 77% of respondents said they ate hot-dogs and 86% said they ate hamburgers. Only 10% said they ate neither of the two. There was little variation across region or age groups, though younger respondents were slightly more inclined to not eat either ... read more

According to a new YouGov Survey on conspiracy theories, 18% of respondents believe that airplane vapor trails contain mind altering chemicals, the same percentage who says that Lee Harvey Oswald did not kill President John F. Kennedy. Of the conspiracy theories we asked about, the one that garnered the most support was whether the United States government had advanced knowledge of the September 11th attacks. 16% said the government “definitely” had advanced knowledge of the attacks, while 24% said the government “probably” did. Some of the respondents might have interpreted this question as a little less than a conspiracy theory, ... read more