Attitudinal and Behavioral Profile of People Who Are In Excellent Health

Do you start every conversation with litany of what ails you? A behavioral and attitudinal comparison of people who say they are NOT in excellent health vs. those who say they are.

When the going gets tough at work or at home, when there's nothing left for friends to say to make you feel better, the old stand-by phrase comes out: "At least you have your health." But only about half of Americans would concede this point, no matter their age. Fifty-eight percent of adults ages 30 to 55 report they are, in fact, NOT in excellent health. Interestingly, though you'd expect to see more baby boomers responding in the negative when asked about their health—physical health tends to decline with age, or so conventional wisdom holds—the average age among those who say they are not in excellent health and those that say they are differs by less than half a year.

So what does your attitude about your health say about you and your outlook on other aspects of your life? We decided to take a closer look.

Those less buoyant about their physical condition watch nearly double the amount of TV as their more optimistic counterparts (4.1 hours per day vs. 2.3). Their total family income is also somewhat lower and they have fewer years of formal education on average. Not surprisingly, the folks who say they are in a bad way report less marital and job satisfaction and fewer agree they are generally happy with life: 70% of married respondents say they have a happy marriage compared to 86% of married people in the excellent health group; 64% report satisfaction with their jobs vs. 79% of the other folks; and just over half—52%—say they are generally happy with life in contrast to 68% of the other group. Interestingly, those with a more negative attitude about their health are more open to assisted suicide if a person has no hope of recovery (21% vs. 9 %) and hold a more traditional view of women's role in the family—53% agree that it's better for everyone if the wife does not work outside the home vs. 32% for the excellent health group.

Meanwhile, nearly half of the people who say they are in excellent health read the newspaper everyday (47%) compared to less than a third of people who say that are NOT in excellent health (28%). Perhaps there's something to the power of prayer after all—38% of those with a positive view of their health report praying at least once a day contrasted with 22% of people in the less-high-on-their-health group. A lower percentage of folks with a positive outlook on their well-being seem to have an altruistic streak—just 59% agree well-off people should help the less fortunate compared to 72% of their more pessimistic counterparts.

Here are some of the other discriminating characteristics that we found:

Key Discriminating Traits	People who say they are NOT in excellent health	People who say they are in excellent health
Total family income	$51,000	$61,000
Years of formal education	13.2	15.1
# hours of TV watched per day	4.1	2.3
% who agree that well off people should help the less fortunate	72%	59%
% of married respondents who say they have a happy marriage	70%	86%
% who are satisfied with job	64%	79%
% respondents who believe most people will take advantage of others when given the chance	53%	32%
% respondents who say they are generally happy with life	52%	68%
% respondents who say that it's better for everyone if the wife does not work outside the home	37%	21%
% who read the newspaper everyday	28%	47%
% respondents who pray at least once a day	22%	38%
% who say that patient suicide is okay if the person has no hope of recovery	21%	9%
% who agree that the world is basically good vs. evil	14%	35%

*Analysis for this profile was conducted by Alex Gamse

-October 2007

This content was provided by Copernicus Marketing Consulting and Research. Visit their website at www.copernicusmarketing.com.