Most Americans Think The State Of The Nation Is Worse Than It Is, According To A New Study
A recently published study conducted by researchers from the University of Virginia has found that most Americans– regardless of political ideology– believe that the state of the nation is worse than it is.
The team recruited a nationwide participant pool that is representative of the United States population to conduct a survey.
And when asked trend questions about various topics, including the life expectancy of an African American child, the answers were more pessimistic than fact.
The survey sample pool was diversified to represent the U.S. population, containing a mix of genders, races, political ideologies, and news consumption practices.
In terms of politics, about half of the survey takers– 50.1%– reported agreeing more often with Democratic Party positions. Thereafter, about 44.9% of survey participants reportedly agreed with Republican Party positions more frequently.
Finally, the remaining 5% of survey takers reported that they did not have a consistent party preference.
The participants were each asked 24 survey questions about the state of America. And for 22 of those questions, most respondents believed things had gotten worse.
One question, for instance, asked about the life expectancy of an American child between 2005 and 2017. The responses were very pessimistic, and survey takers believed the life expectancy had decreased by either one or two years.
However, according to the study’s co-author Greg Mitchell, these responses did not align with fact.
deberarr – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual people
“The racial gap in age differences in life expectancy has just shrunk remarkably. The life expectancy of an African American child increased two years, and for a white child one year,” Mitchell said.
“So, in just that 12-year run, we increase the life expectancy of African American children by two years and female children by two years. That’s a tremendous gain.”
The survey also contained other questions regarding trends over a span of approximately thirty years. The participants were asked to estimate the percentage of women who hold a college degree, the percentage of people living in poverty, and average worker wages.
“We found something on which all Americans seem to agree: things are getting worse than they really are,” the researchers concluded.
“I think our view is that one driver of conflict and unhappiness across groups or between groups may well be misunderstandings about the current state of things and how much progress has been made– even within the last few decades on very important matters like health, education, and welfare.”
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in Sage Journals, visit the link here.
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