Monday, March 31, 2008

Exhuming Old Polls

From 1976 to 1988, the share of high school seniors believing that "most people can be trusted" declined from 32 to 23 percent. In a nationwide 1985 survey, the share agreeing that "most people try to be fair" ranged from a low of 47 percent for 18-to-24-year-olds to a high of 71 percent for people over age 65.

Sources: "Monitoring the Future: Questionnaire Responses from the Nation's High School Seniors" (University of Michigan, 1975-1988); Kantor and Mirvis, The Cynical Americans (book)

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