Impressive WSJ Poll: The Most Important Thing For Americans Is Money
According to the results of the survey carried out by the Wall Street Journal and the research organization NORC in the US, priorities such as patriotism, religious beliefs and having children decreased in importance for Americans, while the importance of money increased.
While the Wall Street Journal asked stock questions in 1998, 2019 and 2023, 43 percent of Americans in 2023 said they “spend money.” This rate was measured as 41 percent in 2019 and 31 percent in 1998.
The margin of error in the survey conducted between March 1 and 13 of 1,019 people, mostly online, was claimed to be plus-minus 4.1 percentage points.
THE COUNTRY HAS BEEN STRONGLY DIVIDED
The poll, conducted by the University of Chicago-based independent research organization NORC (National Center for the Study of Opinion), also revealed that the United States is divided on identities.
Respondents differed sharply on issues such as promoting racial diversity in companies and using gender-neutral pronouns.
About 38 percent of those surveyed said patriotism is very important to them, and 39 percent said religion is very important. In 1998, when this survey was first conducted, 70 percent of respondents said patriotism was very important and 62 percent said religion was very important.
TOLERANCE LOST IMPORTANCE, MONEY INCREASED
The proportion of Americans who said that having children, integrating and working hard were important values also fell. Also, four years ago, 80 percent of Americans described tolerance as a “very important value,” while in this year’s survey, that rate dropped to 58 percent.
In the survey, the only priority that Americans ranked as very important and rising from previous years was money. In 1998, 31 percent of Americans said that money is very important, but now this rate has risen to 43 percent.
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AFFECTED RESULTS
When asked what values unite the nation, Elana Reiser, a 43-year-old New Yorker, pointed to economic opportunity. “Whatever her starting point is, she can always succeed,” said Ella Reiser.
Jennifer Benz, NORC’s vice president of public relations and media research, said in her assessment of the survey that opinions in the survey may have been driven by the downbeat economic outlook.