Polls

Key Observations

Religion Matters

88% of our respondents agree with the statement “I agree with a Supreme Being.”
- 90% of women agreed with this statement, as did 84% of men
- Respondents ages 36 and above were more likely to agree with this statement (90%) than those between the ages of 18-35 (76%)
74% of those polled believe in absolute standards of right and wrong
- The majority of our participants (68%) say the Bible is their source for standards of right and wrong
- Those who had not attended college were more likely to agree with this statement (76%) than those who did (65%)
- 78% of participants whose annual household income was less than $50,000 agreed with this statement while only 57% of those with an annual household income of above $50,000 did.

Weekly Worship

Five years ago, 53% of our respondents attended church or a place of worship about once a week
- 57% of women agreed with this statement compared with 46% of men
- Participants ages 36 and above agree more with this statement (54%) than those between the ages of 18-35 (45%)
Currently, 53% of those polled attend church or a place of worship about once a week
- More women (57%) are likely to attend a weekly church or worship service than men (46%).
- Participants over the age of 35 agreed with this statement more (54%) than those under the age of 35 (45%).
However, 64% of participants are more interested in religious matters than they were five years ago.

Ethics, Morals and Our Country

71% of those polled believe the moral and ethical standards of our country are lower than five years ago
- Participants over the age of 36 agree more with this statement (76%) than those between the ages of 18-35 (52%)
64% of our respondents believe the moral and ethical standards of our leaders in this country are lower than five years ago

Gas Prices

Have gas prices affected your driving?

The statement “I have driven less since gas prices have risen” divided our participants as 45% agreed with the statement, 42% disagreed and 12% were neutral
- Women were more likely (47%) to agree with the statement than men (39%)
- 47% of respondents over the age of 35 agreed with the statement compared to 37% of those ages 18-35.
- Those with no college experience agreed more with the statement (54%) than those who had taken college coursework (42%)
- 55% of participants whose household income was below $50,000 annually agreed with the statement compared with 38% of those with an annual household income of over $50,000

Higher prices and alternative fuel sources

65% of our participants agreed “Higher gas prices will encourage development of alternative fuel sources”
- More men (73%) than women (61%) agree with this statement
However, almost an identical number (66%) of the participants disagreed “An additional gas tax should be imposed in order to encourage development of alternative fuel sources”

Pricing and Profits

Only 19% of respondents feel gas and oil prices are driven more by supply and demand than profit opportunity
- Men (29%) were more than twice as likely to agree with the above statement than women (13%)
83% of those polled agree with the statement “Oil companies should be investigated for illegal price gouging”
- Women (87%) were more likely to agree with the statement than men (76%)
- Participants with no college experience were more likely to agree with the statement (90%) than those with college experience (81%)
- 88% of respondents with an annual household income of less than $50,000 agreed with the statement compared with 81% of those with annual household income levels of $50,000.

Ethics and Business

Corporate Ethics

70% of participants agree with the statement “The behavior of corporations is less ethical than it once was”
80% of those polled agree “Large profit margins are more important to corporate stakeholders than ethical business practices”
Corporate leaders put the interests of shareholders above their own employees” was agreed upon by 76% of respondents

Ethics and regulation

Only 44% of our participants agree “Regulations are effective in curbing breaches of corporate ethics”
- 46% of respondents ages 36 and older agree with this statement compared with 34% of those ages 18-35
Ethics training is an effective way to improve ethical behavior in business
- 63% of respondents with no college experience agreed with this statement compared with 52% of those who had college experience
- Participants with an annual household income level of less than $50,000 agreed more (61%) with the statement that those with household income levels of over $50,000 annually (51%)

Ethics and Leadership

74% of poll respondents agree with the statement “Corporate leaders should be bound by a code of ethics from a standardized licensing board”
- Of those polled, 82% with no college experience agreed with this statement compared with 71% of those who had college experience
68% of participants agree “Breaches of corporate ethics are more often due to decisions by individuals than by the corporation as a whole”
- 75% of men agree with this statement compared with 65% of women
- Respondents with an annual household income level greater than $50,000 agree more (75%) with this statement than those whose annual household income is less than $50,000 (61%)