A majority are happy that 2017 is ending and three-quarters have high expectations for 2018
Could it be that we are just entertainment for aliens? Does that explain some of the past few years? Well, almost two-thirds of Americans (63%) say sometimes, they wonder if we are part of a reality show for another planet. And, since almost everything is partisan these days, interestingly this isn’t as three in five Republicans (61%) and almost two-thirds of Democrats (65%) and Independents (63%) all agree with this sentiment. This is from a survey we conducted of 1,025 U.S. adults, 18 and older between December 15 and 16, 2017.
Taking a step back and looking at the year that is coming to a close, over half of Americans (54%) say they are happy about 2017 ending while almost two in five (38%) are neither happy nor sad and less than one in ten (8%) are sad. 2017 is also the year of very mixed emotions. Over half of Americans (57%) say looking back, 2017 wasn’t as bad as they thought it was but that differs by party with over three in five Republicans saying this versus half of Democrats (62% vs. 51%). Yet, on the other hand, almost half of Americans (48%) say they expected 2017 to be bad and it over-achieved. Again, there is a political party difference with over half of Democrats saying this compared to two in five Republicans (56% vs. 42%).
Besides looking at what was, the turning of the calendar also means a chance to look ahead. Three-quarters of Americans (74%) have high expectations for 2018, including over four in five Republicans (83%) and over seven in ten Democrats (72%). Three in five U.S. adults (61%) say they expect 2018 to be better than 2017. This is also seen in how they feel about the coming year. Half (50%) say they feel hopeful and over two in five (42%) say positive with three in ten (29%) feeling encouraged. Negative feelings are much smaller – one-quarter feel anxious (24%), over one in ten feel wary (14%) and/or pessimistic (12%) while one in ten (11%) feel scared.
But, however one might feel, make sure to always remember, they may be watching and we don’t know what sweeps months are on other planets!
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