SGI-USA Membership Survey, 1997

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CYNICISM Some people say there's too much cynicism in America, that people should be actively involved in making things better. What do you think (mark one)?   1) Agree strongly   2) Agree somewhat   3) Not sure. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree.   4) Disagree. There's good reason to be cynical.

Pie Chart Bar Chart Cumulative Bar Chart

Category	Frequency	Percentage	Cumulative Percentage	Z-Score
Agree strongly	241	62%	62%	-.7
Agree somewhat	94	24.2%	86.1%	.61
Not sure. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree.	49	12.6%	98.7%	1.93
Disagree. There's good reason to be cynical.	5	1.3%	100%	3.24

Variable Comparisons

Age Education Marital status Race Sex Household income

Age (I-AGE)

	Less than 25	25-39	40-49	50-64	65 +	TOTAL
Agree strongly	62.5% 5	62.4% 68	68.0% 87	58.9% 53	42.9% 15	61.6% 228
Agree somewhat	37.5% 3	26.6% 29	20.3% 26	21.1% 19	37.1% 13	24.3% 90
Not sure. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree.	0.0% 0	11.0% 12	10.2% 13	17.8% 16	20.0% 7	13.0% 48
Disagree. There's good reason to be cynical.	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	1.6% 2	2.2% 2	0.0% 0	1.1% 4
TOTAL	100.0% 8	100.0% 109	100.0% 128	100.0% 90	100.0% 35	370

Education (I-EDUC)

	High school or less	Some college	Trade school, or junior college	Bachelor's degree	Graduate or professional degree	TOTAL
Agree strongly	47.2% 25	65.3% 64	63.2% 48	66.7% 60	62.7% 42	62.2% 239
Agree somewhat	24.5% 13	22.4% 22	25.0% 19	22.2% 20	28.4% 19	24.2% 93
Not sure. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree.	28.3% 15	11.2% 11	10.5% 8	10.0% 9	7.5% 5	12.5% 48
Disagree. There's good reason to be cynical.	0.0% 0	1.0% 1	1.3% 1	1.1% 1	1.5% 1	1.0% 4
TOTAL	100.0% 53	100.0% 98	100.0% 76	100.0% 90	100.0% 67	384

Marital status (I-MARITAL)

	Married	Living with a partner	Divorced/Separated	Widowed	Single	Other (please specify)	TOTAL
Agree strongly	56.1% 88	67.7% 21	83.1% 59	52.6% 10	56.6% 56	71.4% 5	62.2% 239
Agree somewhat	26.1% 41	25.8% 8	12.7% 9	21.1% 4	28.3% 28	28.6% 2	24.0% 92
Not sure. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree.	16.6% 26	6.5% 2	4.2% 3	26.3% 5	12.1% 12	0.0% 0	12.5% 48
Disagree. There's good reason to be cynical.	1.3% 2	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	3.0% 3	0.0% 0	1.3% 5
TOTAL	100.0% 157	100.0% 31	100.0% 71	100.0% 19	100.0% 99	100.0% 7	384

Race (I-RACE)

	White	Black	Asian/Pacific Islander	Latino/Hispanic	Other (please specify)	TOTAL
Agree strongly	66.5% 105	71.4% 40	46.4% 39	68.2% 15	60.0% 33	61.9% 232
Agree somewhat	23.4% 37	19.6% 11	32.1% 27	13.6% 3	25.5% 14	24.5% 92
Not sure. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree.	8.2% 13	8.9% 5	21.4% 18	18.2% 4	10.9% 6	12.3% 46
Disagree. There's good reason to be cynical.	1.9% 3	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	3.6% 2	1.3% 5
TOTAL	100.0% 158	100.0% 56	100.0% 84	100.0% 22	100.0% 55	375

Sex (I-SEX)

	Male	Female	TOTAL
Agree strongly	55.3% 68	64.2% 163	61.3% 231
Agree somewhat	29.3% 36	22.4% 57	24.7% 93
Not sure. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree.	12.2% 15	13.0% 33	12.7% 48
Disagree. There's good reason to be cynical.	3.3% 4	0.4% 1	1.3% 5
TOTAL	100.0% 123	100.0% 254	377

Household income (I-INCOME)

	< $20,000	$20,000 - $30,000	$30,000 - $40,000	$40,000 - $50,000	$50,000 - $60,000	$60,000+	TOTAL
Agree strongly	57.0% 65	64.4% 56	65.1% 41	66.7% 24	84.2% 16	61.8% 21	63.2% 223
Agree somewhat	26.3% 30	29.9% 26	22.2% 14	13.9% 5	0.0% 0	26.5% 9	23.8% 84
Not sure. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I disagree.	16.7% 19	5.7% 5	9.5% 6	16.7% 6	15.8% 3	8.8% 3	11.9% 42
Disagree. There's good reason to be cynical.	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	3.2% 2	2.8% 1	0.0% 0	2.9% 1	1.1% 4
TOTAL	100.0% 114	100.0% 87	100.0% 63	100.0% 36	100.0% 19	100.0% 34	353