But They Worry about Their Health, Finances and State of the World
By Hank Russell
New Yorkers describe themselves more as optimistic than as pessimistic, according to a new survey of New York residents released on July 29 from the Siena College Research Institute (SCRI). According to the poll, 78% of Empire State residents consider themselves to be optimistic, and 21% say they are pessimistic.
Asked whether there is more or less opportunity today than 50 years ago for people like them across a series of life attributes, 58% say there is more opportunity to “be who you are,” compared to 19% who said there is less opportunity, 52% say they are more able to live a healthy life (28% said the opposite). But 57% say there is less opportunity to live in a peaceful world, and 50% say there is less opportunity to achieve financial security.
Thirty-six percent say that, on most days, they spend more time being happy or content while nearly as many (28%) say that they spend more time worrying. More than one-third (36%) say that they spend about equal amounts of time both being happy and worrying. Asked whether each of seven things that many think about leads them to worry or to feel happy or content, 87% say that politics and the state of the world make them worry and 74% say money and the cost of living. By 53-47%, New Yorkers are more inclined to worry rather than to feel happy when thinking about their health or the health of those they love.
“Despite politics, world affairs and pocketbook issues keeping large majorities of New Yorkers up at night, an overwhelming percentage of citizens call themselves optimists rather than pessimists,” said SCRI Director Don Levy. “As a prying pollster, we asked people to describe the tone of their inner dialogue – left alone with their thoughts are they worrying, being happy or jumping back and forth? While more than a quarter admit to being worriers, over a third spend more time being happy and more than a third swing from worrying to smiling.”
Large majorities are more likely to feel happy, not worried, when thinking about their interactions with others (80%), things they may have said or done (72%) and things on their to-do list (61%). “A plurality of New Yorkers say that technology including their phone, access to information and social media, improves rather than lessens their quality of life,” Levy said.