YouGov Global Profiles data asks Americans and Britons if they consider themselves too sensitive or if they worry too much.
According to our data, more than half of US adults think they are too sensitive. In comparison, Britons are significantly more likely to say so (61%). But at least a quarter of the public in both markets don’t categorize themselves in this way.
Ask consumers if they worry a lot, and more than half of adults from the US and Great Britain agreed (58% vs 54%).
From a business perspective, we broke down the data of individuals who describe themselves as sensitive or worried to see where they’re most likely to work.
In the US, the construction sector has the highest proportion of “too sensitive” workers (62%) followed closely by finance (59%), education (57%), and media (57%). Comparatively, there are fewer over-sensitive individuals in the transportation sector (44%).
Our British data tells a different story: Three-quarters of health workers agree they are too sensitive (73%), next to seven in ten hospitality/ leisure (69%) and retail (66%) employees. Workers in IT (52%) are least likely to describe themselves as overly-sensitive.
Looking at those who self-identify as worried, in the US construction (59%), retail (59%), education (58%), and finance (57%) workers are most likely to describe themselves as worried.
In Great Britain, two-thirds of people who work in health (68%), media (67%) and hospitality/ leisure (64%) agree they worry a lot, with nearly as many saying the same in finance (63%) and retail (62%).
Transportation employees from both the US and Great Britain (41% and 48%) are less likely to describe themselves as worried.
So what does all this mean? Well, either certain professions attract certain kinds of people, or they help shape people in a certain kind of way. Either way, those working in those industries – or seeking to sell to people within them – should be mindful of the types of characteristics they are likely to run into, as well as how best to communicate to people who either worry more than would wish or who are likely to respond disproportionately to certain circumstances.
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Methodology
YouGov Global Profiles is a globally consistent audience dataset with 1000+ questions across 43 markets. The data is based on continuously collected data from adults aged 18+ in US and Great Britain markets. The sample sizes for YouGov Global Profiles will fluctuate over time, however the minimum sample size is always c.1000. Learn more about Global Profiles.
