POLL ANALYSES August 14, 2002
Five Different Reactions To Economy Among The Public Economic and political attitudes highly correlated
by David W. Moore
GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
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PRINCETON, NJ -- At the end of July, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll showed that Americans in general are giving the current economy low ratings, and a majority believes that the economy is getting worse, rather than better. Still, most Americans do not believe that the current economic situation constitutes a crisis, and most also express optimism about the longer-term prospects. Politically, Americans continue to give President George W. Bush high approval ratings, but are about evenly divided as to whether the country would be better off with the president's party or with its major opposition in control of Congress.
A special Gallup analysis of these survey results finds that Americans can be classified into five distinct groups on the basis of their assessment of the economy and the stock market, and that these five groups are highly associated with people's political as well as economic attitudes. The groups are derived statistically based on people's responses to three economic dimensions: 1) how worried they are about the effects of the worsened economy, 2) whether or not the recent fluctuations in the stock market impact their own financial situation, and 3) how optimistic or pessimistic they are about the future of the economy.
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