GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup recently asked Americans "What is your favorite way to spend an evening?" and the answers decisively indicate that we are a nation of homebodies. According to the Dec. 6-9 survey, seven in 10 Americans prefer to spend an evening engaged in home-based activities, such as watching television, spending time with family, and reading. Only 10% expressly say they like to go out, such as to a restaurant or the movies. This is not a post Sept. 11 phenomenon. In all the years Gallup has asked this question, dating back to 1960, Americans have always chosen the hearth over going out.
Despite Americans' laid-back preferences for how to spend an evening, many appear to take an active interest in hobbies. Overall, four in five Americans tell Gallup they have some sort of hobby that they particularly enjoy. In this context, one third mention a sport or other athletic activity. About half that number mentions a type of handiwork or craft, such as sewing or woodworking.
Many more adults report having hobbies today than when Gallup last asked the question in 1948, perhaps an indication of increased available leisure time. In 1948, just over half of Americans said they had a hobby, while 42% said they did not.
TV Leads List of Favorite Evening Activities
Among the variety of home-based activities Americans cite as their favorite way to spend an evening, watching television and staying home with family are the most popular. One quarter of all Americans mention each. Reading and resting tie for a distant third, each mentioned by 9%. Listening to music, sewing or needlepoint, and using a home computer are all named by smaller numbers.
| Top Five Ways Americans Prefer to Spend an Evening |
 |
| Dec 6-9, 2001 |
A handful of activities outside the home appear on the list, but none in great numbers. Although four in five Americans tell Gallup they eat out at least once a week, only 5% say that dining out is their favorite way to spend an evening. The same number says that going out to the movies or theatre is their preferred evening pastime. One percent mention going to church or other church activities.
Small numbers also mention sports activities (3%), cards and games (1%), and dancing (1%). However, given the social nature of these activities, it is not clear whether they take place at home or away.
Gallup's long-term trend on this question indicates that television has been a popular pastime for Americans since at least 1960 (by that year, nearly nine in 10 households owned a TV set). The highest level of interest in television, according to Gallup's measure, was between 1966 and 1974 when close to half of Americans named TV as their preferred evening activity. Since then it has tapered off to about one quarter.
Preferences Shift with Age
Lifestyle preferences strongly differ for people of different ages, with those under 30 years expressing more interest in social activities than older adults. The top choice for those 18-29 is visiting with friends (19%). This shifts to staying home with family for those in the parenting years of 30-49 (27%). Television is the preferred pastime for those 50 and older.
|
Top Choices for Way to Spend an Evening by Age |
||||
|
18-29 |
30-49 |
50-64 |
65+ |
|
|
Visiting with friends |
19% |
7 |
4 |
4 |
|
Staying home with family |
13% |
27 |
9 |
9 |
|
Watching TV/DVD/VHS |
16% |
23 |
33 |
38 |
Overall, young adults are somewhat less likely than those over 30 years of age to indicate they most enjoy staying home in the evening, but even a majority (58%) of this group names home-based activities as their favorite.
| Favorite Evening is Spent at Home: By Age Groups |
 |
| Dec 6-9, 2001 |
And What Do You Do?
First Lady Laura Bush tells the story of her first meeting with the matriarch of the Bush family (George W. Bush's grandmother) who asked, "And what do you do?" (implying what sport). To this the then-Laura Welch replied, "I read."
Both reading and athletics rank among the top three hobbies enjoyed by Americans, but by a more than two-to-one margin, athletics is the more popular. One third of American adults (33%) say they enjoy golf, skiing, hunting, fishing, or some other sport or physical activity. A variety of handiwork, such as knitting, sewing, woodwork, quilting and model building, ranks second, mentioned by 17%. Reading ranks third, mentioned by 12%.
Interestingly, mentions of sports as a hobby are up substantially from 1948's 10%. This may reflect an increase in time available to Americans to participate in sports, or a major change in the way Americans look at physical activity -- shifting from labor to leisure.
Some other activities mentioned as hobbies by at least 3% of Americans are art or music (9%), computers (4%), and collecting things, such as books, stamps and coins (3%).
Survey Methods
These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,002 adults, 18 years and older, conducted Dec. 6-9, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
What is your favorite way of spending an evening?
|
2001 Dec |
'90 Aug |
'87 Dec |
'86 Apr |
'78 Feb |
'77 Mar |
'74 Feb |
'66 May |
'66 Mar |
'60 Dec |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
Watching television, VHS, DVD |
26 |
24 |
28 |
34 |
37 |
30 |
46 |
46 |
48 |
27 |
|
Staying home with the family |
25 |
14 |
36 |
13 |
15 |
16 |
10 |
5 |
8 |
-- |
|
Reading |
9 |
15 |
10 |
14 |
17 |
15 |
14 |
15 |
14 |
10 |
|
Resting/relaxing |
9 |
9 |
9 |
14 |
9 |
9 |
8 |
11 |
7 |
16 |
|
Entertaining/visiting friends |
8 |
4 |
13 |
8 |
9 |
13 |
8 |
8 |
7 |
9 |
|
Dining out |
5 |
3 |
10 |
11 |
9 |
8 |
12 |
5 |
5 |
-- |
|
Going to movies/theatre |
5 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
9 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
|
Sports activities/exercise |
3 |
-- |
6 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
* |
|
Listening to music |
2 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
|
Cards/games |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
7 |
5 |
4 |
6 |
|
Dancing |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
Sewing/needlepoint |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Church/church activities |
1 |
-- |
-- |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
Working on home computer |
1 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
House/yard work/home repair |
* |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
-- |
|
Shopping |
* |
-- |
-- |
-- |
1 |
1 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
|
Driving in car |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
* |
* |
1 |
1 |
* |
* |
|
Gardening |
-- |
-- |
-- |
1 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
* |
|
Walking |
-- |
-- |
-- |
1 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
Bars/drinking/going out (unspecific) |
-- |
-- |
-- |
2 |
4 |
5 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
* |
|
Playing a musical instrument |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
* |
1 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
|
Special event |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
* |
* |
|
Going out of town |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
3 |
|
Study |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
1 |
|
Missing |
-- |
14 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
3 |
|
Other |
3 |
6 |
8 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
|
No answer |
* |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
|
Polls conducted from Dec 1966-Dec 1987 add to more than 100% due to multiple responses |
||||||||||
Do you have any hobby that you are particularly interested in? What?
|
2001 Dec 6-9 |
1948 Feb 20-25 |
|
|
None |
19 |
42 |
|
Athletics and sports -- bowling, fishing, hunting, riding horses |
33 |
10 |
|
Handiwork -- knitting, sewing, woodwork, model aviation, restoring antiques, autos |
17 |
15 |
|
Reading |
12 |
1 |
|
Art and music -- play, listen, see, produce, paint |
9 |
3 |
|
Rural arts and domestic arts -- farming, planting, gardening, canning, cooking |
8 |
2 |
|
Computers-- programming, Internet, games |
4 |
-- |
|
Collections -- antiques, stamps, buttons, old coins, records, etc. |
3 |
5 |
|
Movies, radio, going out to dinner, plays, bingo, games |
3 |
2 |
|
Amateur craftsmen -- photography, ham radio, television, carpentry, activities that have a professional counterpart, not otherwise specified |
3 |
6 |
|
Family activities |
3 |
-- |
|
Social endeavor -- Red Cross, teaching, politics, church work |
2 |
2 |
|
Crosswords, puzzles |
2 |
-- |
|
Traveling |
1 |
-- |
|
Writing |
1 |
-- |
|
Shopping |
1 |
-- |
|
Miscellaneous |
5 |
2 |
|
No answer |
1 |
3 |
* -- Less than 0.5%
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