YouGov revealed a new survey that identified areas in which Americans felt they were above or below average and what they expect of themselves. 60 areas were asked about, more than half of Americans rate themselves above average in 17, with trustworthiness and loyalty being the highest. In 51, Americans were more likely to rate themselves above average versus below average. Most say they have high expectations for themselves.
41% of those polled say they were far above average in trustworthiness. 40% say that of loyalty, 36% about honesty and 32% about their ethics.
Coming at the bottom in the “far below average” categories are running (33%), musical ability (26%), and singing ability (29%). Most Americans think they are above average in trustworthiness, loyalty, and honesty
Men were more likely than women to say they are above average in most categories. Though the differences were generally small. 2 percentage points on average more men than women would rate themselves above average.
36% of men and 17% of women say their mechanical ability is “far above or somewhat above average”. 30% of men 14% of women say that their athletic ability is above average. 57% of men and 42% of women say their driving ability is above average. Other areas where men were more likely to give themselves above average ratings are mathematical abilities (40% vs 25%), self-discipline (52% vs 37%), and intelligence (63% vs 49%).
There were categories were women rather than men would rate themselves higher though, nurturing (54% of women say were above average vs. 36% of men), cooking (49% vs 34%), empathy (69% vs. 56%), reading ability (67% vs 58%), and time management (41% vs. 32%).
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Note: Responses of “about average,” “somewhat below average,” “far below average,” and “not sure” are not shown. Areas with a gender gap of less than 5 percentage points are not shown. Respondents were asked about a random sample of 30 of the 60 abilities.
As the age of the respondents increased, so did the gender gap. Among those aged 45 or older, Men are on average 5 percentage points more likely than women to say they are above average in the 60 areas polled about. Among younger adults, the gender gap was reversed, men were 1 percentage point less likely than women to say were above average.
And how much exactly do Americans give to Lady Luck? Very few (2%) say that all of their successes in life can be attributed to luck. 17% say that most is because of luck, 53% say few of their successes can be given to luck, and 15% say none of their wins are due to luck. Those under the age of 30 are more likely than older Americans to say all or most of their success is due to luck (27% vs. 17%).
59% of Americans say they criticize themselves more than others criticize them. 26% say others criticize them the same amount they criticize themselves and 10% say other criticize them more than they do themselves.
74% say they have high expectations of themselves, including 26% who say their expectations for themselves are very high.16% say they have somewhat low expectations and 4% say they’re very low.
Adults under 45 (32%) are more likely than older Americans (21% to say they have very high expectations of themselves.
The respondents were more likely to downplay their accomplishments when speaking to others (40%) than to exaggerate them (8%). 48% say they do neither of these things. Adults under 45 were more likely to say they exaggerate their achievements than older Americans (12% vs 5%). Respondents were evenly split when it cam to how easy or difficult they find it to accept a compliment. 49% say it was very or somewhat difficult. 46% say it is very or somewhat easy. Women were more likely than men to say it is difficult to accept a compliment (54% vs 45%).
16% say they were prayed often by their parents growing up, 33% were praised somewhat often, 30% were not praised very often, and 13% say there not parsed often at all. Those under 45 were more likely than those over 45 to say they were praised very or somewhat often as children (55% vs 42%). Americans who say their parents praised them often are more likely to say they find it easy to accept a compliment (29%). Among people whose parents praised them somewhat, not very or not at all only 9% find it very easy to accept compliments.
People who were partied very or somewhat often are more likely than those who received infrequent praise to say their abilities were above average in many categories. 46% who reviewed praise say that their memory is above average, compared to 30% of people who say they received praise not very or not at all. Other topics with a similar gaps in praise vs little praise, include attractiveness (36% vs 20%), public speaking (38% vs 24%), charisma (40% vs 27%), and organization (52% vs 39%).