Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll. May 24-25, 2000. N=900 registered voters nationwide. MoE +/- 3.
.
"Of all occupations or careers, which one do you think is most respected?"
%
Clergy / 28
Doctor / 24
Judge / 10
Teacher / 10
Scientist / 5
Police officer / 3
Farmer / 2
Military officer / 2
Pro athlete / 2
Other / 9
Don't know / 5
The Harris Poll. Latest: Aug. 10-14, 2000. N=1,010 adults nationwide. MoE +/- 3.
.
"I am going to read off a number of different occupations. For each, would you tell me if you feel it is an occupation of very great prestige, considerable prestige, some prestige, or hardly any prestige at all?"
Very Great Prestige
2000 / 1998 / 1997 / 1992 / 1982
% / % / % / % / %
Doctor / 61 / 61 / 52 / 50 / 55
Scientist / 56 / 55 / 51 / 57 / 59
Teacher / 53 / 53 / 49 / 41 / 28
Minister/Clergyman / 45 / 46 / 45 / 38 / 42
Military officer / 42 / 34 / 29 / 32 / 22
Policeman / 38 / 41 / 36 / 34 / *
Member of Congress / 33 / 25 / 23 / 24 / *
Engineer / 32 / 34 / 32 / 37 / 30
Architect / 26 / 26 / * / * / *
Lawyer / 21 / 23 / 19 / 25 / 30
Athlete / 21 / 20 / 21 / 18 / 20
Entertainer / 21 / 19 / 18 / 17 / 16
Journalist / 16 / 15 / 15 / 15 / 16
Union leader / 16 / 16 / 14 / 12 / *
Businessman / 15 / 18 / 16 / 19 / 16
Banker / 15 / 18 / 15 / 17 / 17
Accountant / 14 / 17 / 18 / 14 / 13
.
* Not asked
The Harris Poll. July 17-21, 1998. N=1,011 adults nationwide.
.
"Would you like to be famous, that is, popular, well-known, or widely recognized for your accomplishments, activities, abilities, expertise, or opinions?"
%
Yes / 30
No / 69
Don't know / 1
.
Among those who would like to be famous (N=306): "If you had the talent to be the best at any one thing, what would you most like to be famous for?"
%
Doing good/Being good/Humanitarian / 12
Musician/Singer/Performer / 8
Athlete / 8
Artist / 8
Parent/Grandparent / 6
Teacher / 5
Author / 5
Scientist / 4
Business executive / 2
Religious leader / 2
Doctor / 2
Lawyer / 1
Politician / 1
Journalist / 1
Other / 22
Don't know / 11
Among those who would like to be famous (N=306): "Given the talents you actually have, what would you most like to be famous for?"
%
Musician/Singer/Performer / 12
Athlete / 8
Artist / 7
Doing good/Being good/Humanitarian / 6
Business executive / 6
Teacher / 6
Author / 5
Parent/Grandparent / 3
Doctor / 2
Scientist / 2
Politician / 1
Religious leader / 1
Banker / 1
Lawyer / 1
Journalist / 1
Other / 26
Don't know / 14
Gallup/CNN/USA Today Poll. Dec. 9-12, 1999. N=1,037 adults nationwide. MoE +/- 3.
.
MOST ADMIRED MAN
"What man that you have heard or read about, living today in any part of the world, do you admire most? And who is your second choice?"
Combined First and Second Choices
Ranked according to number of responses in 1999. / 1999 / 1998 / 1997 / 1996
% / % / % / %
1. Bill Clinton / 10 / 18 / 14 / 18
2. Billy Graham / 7 / 5 / 6 / 6
3. Pope John Paul II / 6 / 7 / 5 / 8
4. Ronald Reagan / 4 / 3 / 3 / 4
5. Nelson Mandela / 4 / 2 / 3 / 3
6. Bill Gates / 3 / 2 / 2 / -
7. Jimmy Carter / 3 / 2 / 3 / 4
8. George Bush (former president) / 2 / 3 / 3 / 3
9. Colin Powell / 2 / 3 / 4 / 6
10. John McCain / 1 / 1 / - / -
Jesse Jackson / 1 / 1 / 2 / 2
George W. Bush (Texas governor) / 1 / - / - / -
Michael Jordan / 1 / 4 / 2 / 3
Gordon Hinkley / 1 / - / - / -
Dalai Lama / 1 / - / - / -
Bill Bradley / 1 / - / - / -
Christopher Reeves / 1 / - / - / -
Donald Trump / 1 / - / - / -
Tom Hanks / 1 / - / - / -
Rush Limbaugh / 1 / - / - / -
Ross Perot / 1 / - / 1 / 1
Hugh Hefner / 1 / - / - / -
Friend/Relative (vol.) / 10 / 12 / 10 / 11
Other (vol.) / 25 / 34 / 31 / 33
None/Don't know / 25 / 29 / 34 / 27
.
MOST ADMIRED WOMAN
"What woman that you have heard or read about, living today in any part of the world, do you admire most? And who is your second choice?"
Combined First and Second Choices
Ranked according to number of responses in 1999. / 1999 / 1998 / 1997 / 1996
% / % / % / %
1. Hillary Clinton / 14 / 28 / 14 / 13
2. Oprah Winfrey / 6 / 8 / 5 / 5
3. Margaret Thatcher / 4 / 4 / 5 / 4
4. Elizabeth Dole / 4 / 6 / 2 / 5
5. Madeleine Albright / 3 / 3 / 4 / 2
6. Barbara Bush / 3 / 3 / 5 / 6
7. Queen Elizabeth / 2 / 1 / 1 / 1
9. Nancy Reagan (tie) / 1 / - / 1 / 2
9. Barbara Walters (tie) / 1 / - / - / -
10. Rosie O'Donnell / 1 / - / - / -
Maya Angelou / 1 / 2 / 2 / -
Betty Ford / 1 / - / - / -
Celine Dion / 1 / - / - / -
Madonna / 1 / - / - / -
Rosa Parks / 1 / - / - / -
Friend/Relative (vol.) / 12 / 13 / 13 / 16
Other (vol.) / 22 / 27 / 24 / 28
None/Don't know / 33 / 29 / 34 / 25
Values
All data are from nationwide
surveys of Americans 18 & older. / See also: Confidence/Trust in Institutions
Polls listed chronologically.
.
.
NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Robert Teeter (R). June 16-19, 1999. N=2,011 adults nationwide.
.
"Now I would like to turn to the issue of values and the American family for the rest of the survey. Which should be a more important goal for our society these days: promoting greater respect for traditional social and moral values, or encouraging greater tolerance of people with different lifestyles and backgrounds?"
%
Promoting greater respect for traditional values / 60
Encouraging greater tolerance / 29
Both equally (vol.) / 10
Not sure / 1
.
"Thinking back to when you were growing up, would you say that the social and moral values in the United States were the same as today, higher than today, or lower than today?"
%
Same as today / 9
Higher than today / 67
Lower than today / 22
Not sure / 2
.
"Do you think that society's standards for acceptable and unacceptable behavior have become higher in recent years, have become lower in recent years, or haven't changed either way?"
%
Higher / 24
Lower / 66
Haven't changed / 8
Not sure / 2
.
"Thinking about the changes that have taken place in society over the past fifteen to twenty years, which one of the following changes bothers you the most? . . ."
%
"The lack of respect for authority and elders" / 37
"The content of today's television and music programming" / 13
"The number of unwed teenage mothers" / 11
"The rate of divorce" / 7
"The acceptance and everyday usage of vulgar or profane language" / 7
"More mothers working outside the home" / 6
All of these (vol.) / 17
None of these (vol.) / 1
Not sure / 1
Shell Oil Company Shell Poll conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates (D). March 16-20, 1999. N=1,277 adults nationwide.
.
"On the whole, would you say that you are satisfied or dissatisfied with the honesty and standards of behavior of people in this country today?"
%
Satisfied / 21
Dissatisfied / 74
Not sure / 5
.
"Do you think that society's standards for acceptable and unacceptable behavior are getting better, getting worse, or are they staying about the same?"
%
Getting better / 6
Getting worse / 66
Staying about the same / 26
Not sure / 2
.
"On the whole, how do you think that America's moral standards today compare with those of other countries? Compared with the rest of the world, are America's moral standards among the highest, above average, average, below average, or among the lowest?"
%
Among the highest / 6
Above average / 14
Average / 47
Below average / 18
Among the lowest / 7
Not sure / 8
.
"In your view, which is the bigger problem today: society is too tolerant of behavior that is harmful, or society is too intolerant of behavior that is not really harmful?"
%
Too tolerant of harmful behavior / 67
Too intolerant of behavior that's not harmful / 24
Some of both (vol.) / 5
Not sure / 4
.
Asked of half the sample:
"I'm going to read you a list of values that some people may feel are important. For each one, please tell me whether you think that in the past ten years we have gotten much stronger as a nation, somewhat stronger as a nation, somewhat weaker as a nation, or much weaker as a nation in terms of this value. . . ."
Much
Stronger / Some-
what
Stronger / Some-
what
Weaker / Much
Weaker / About
the
Same
(vol.)
% / % / % / % / %
"Respect for authority" / 2 / 8 / 40 / 46 / 3
"Commitment to marriage" / 2 / 8 / 33 / 50 / 5
"Respect for the law" / 3 / 12 / 39 / 38 / 6
"Respect for other people" / 3 / 15 / 37 / 37 / 7
"Personal responsibility" / 5 / 18 / 35 / 34 / 6
"Good citizenship" / 5 / 23 / 40 / 19 / 11
"The work ethic" / 7 / 26 / 36 / 22 / 6
"Belief in God and religion" / 9 / 22 / 33 / 22 / 10
"Concern for the less fortunate" / 10 / 35 / 25 / 19 / 10
"Tolerance of people who are different" / 13 / 46 / 19 / 13 / 7
.
"Now I'm going to read you a few problems that people identify regarding society's moral standards, and I'd like to know which one or two of these, if any, concern you the most. A tendency to blame others instead of taking personal responsibility. A lack of respect for other people. Too much focus on money and materialism. Lower standards of honesty and integrity. More permissive sexual attitudes." (Up to two responses accepted.)
%
Blaming others / 39
Lack of respect / 30
Materialism / 28
Lower standards of honesty / 24
Permissive sexual attitudes / 15
None of these (vol.) / 1
All of these (vol.) / 14
Not sure / 1