HIGH POINT, N.C., Feb. 11, 2014 – With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, the HPU Poll asked married residents of North Carolina how satisfied they are with their marriage. A 68 percent majority reported they are “very much satisfied.” Responses were collected from a total of 287 participants who are either married or who had been married in the past (including those widowed, divorced and separated).
“Our findings are in line with the generally positive sentiment we have found in previous years from North Carolinians when asking about their views towards romantic relationships,” says Dr. Sadie Leder Elder, assistant professor of psychology and associate director of the HPU Poll.
A previous HPU Poll conducted in February 2012 asked respondents if they believed in true love. An overwhelming majority (91 percent) of those surveyed said that they did.
“In our polls, even the respondents who are not currently in romantic relationships have reported a rosy view of love and marriage,” says Elder. “This suggests that Valentine’s Day will be a time for North Carolina residents to celebrate romance.”
In previous years the HPU Poll found that a majority of NC residents polled felt that the gift-giving aspect of Valentine’s Day was a positive part of the holiday (60 percent) and the most popular gifts given by North Carolinians for Valentine’s Day include chocolate and candy, flowers, and cards.
To see more from Dr. Leder on the subject of Valentine’s Day and research on romantic relationships, click here: https://www.highpoint.edu/2014/02/researching-romance/
All adults who have been married – Satisfaction of Marriage
On a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 means not at all and 7 means very much, how satisfied are you (or were you) with your marriage?
1 – 4 percent
2 – 2 percent
3 – 2 percent
4 – 2 percent
5 – 9 percent
6 – 11 percent
7 – 68 percent
Don’t know/refused – 2 percent
(All adult who have been married (North Carolina resident) sample surveyed Jan. 26 – 30, 2014, n = 287 and margin of sampling error approximately = +/- 6 percent)
All adults, Feb. 2012 – True Love
Do you believe in “true love?”
Yes – 91 percent
No – 6 percent
Don’t know/refused – 3 percent
(All adult (North Carolina resident) sample surveyed Jan. 30 – Feb. 2, 2012 and Feb. 4 – 9, 2012, n =660 and margin of sampling error approximately = +/- 4 percent)
All adults, Feb. 2012 – Gift Giving
Generally speaking, do you feel that the gift-giving aspect of Valentine’s Day is a positive part of the holiday or not?
Positive – 60 percent
Negative – 27 percent
Neither – 5 percent
Equally positive and negative – 5 percent
Don’t know/refused – 3 percent
(All adult (North Carolina resident) sample surveyed Jan. 30 – Feb. 2, 2012 and Feb. 4 – 9, 2012, n = 660 and margin of sampling error approximately = +/- 4 percent)
All adults, Jan. 2013 – Popular Gifts
What types of gifts do you typically give for Valentine’s Day?
Chocolates/Candy – 33 percent
Flowers – 33 percent
Cards – 27 percent
Jewelry – 10 percent
Trips – 9 percent
Dinner – 9 percent
Stuffed Animals – 6 percent
Perfume/Cologne – 3 percent
Others – 24 percent
Don’t Know/Refuse – 10 percent
*Totals do not sum to 100, because respondents were asked to select all that applied and multiple responses were possible.
(All adult (North Carolina resident) sample surveyed Jan. 27 – Jan. 31, 2013, n = 668 and margin of sampling error approximately = +/- 3.8 percent)
The most recent survey was fielded by live interviewers at the High Point University Survey Research Center calling on Jan. 26 – 30, 2014. The responses from a sample of all North Carolina counties came from 421 adults with landline or cellular telephones. This release is based on data from 287 self-identified individuals who had previously been married within that larger set of responses. All participants were asked, “How would you best describe your current relationship status?” Participants that were married, widowed, divorced, or separated were included in this subset. The Survey Research Center contracted with Survey Sampling International to acquire this sample. The survey has an estimated margin of sampling error of approximately 4.8 percentage points for these respondents. The data are weighted toward population estimates for cellular and landline telephone use, age, gender and race. In addition to sampling error, factors such as question wording and other methodological choices in conducting survey research can introduce additional error into the findings of opinion polls.
Further results and methodological details from the most recent survey and past studies can be found at the Survey Research Center website at http://www.highpoint.edu/src/. The materials on-line include past press releases as well as memos summarizing the findings (including approval ratings) for each poll since 2010.
You can follow the HPU Poll on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SurveyResearchCenter and Twitter at http://twitter.com/HPUSurveyCenter.
Dr. Martin Kifer, assistant professor of political science, serves as the director of the HPU Poll, and Dr. Sadie Leder Elder, assistant professor of psychology, serves as the associate director of the HPU Poll.