Poll: 9 Out of 10 Would Remarry Spouse
In the "Where America Stands" series, CBS News and our print partner, USA Today, are looking at a broad spectrum of issues facing this country in the new decade.
Married Americans expressed few regrets about their choice of spouse and overwhelmingly said they would do it all again, according to a new CBS News poll.
Nine out of ten (90%) married Americans would marry their spouse again, a percentage which has barely changed since 1995 (when it was 93%).
However, men were more likely to say they would marry their spouse again than their wives: 95% of men would marry their wives again, compared to 85% of women who said they would re-marry their husbands.
The total percentage of those who would marry their spouse again was also influenced by income: 95% of those earning more than $50,000 a year vs. 83% of those making less.
When asked to pick what is most important in a successful relationship, about half picked "Respect" (49%), followed by "Trust" (37%), and a "Sense of humor" (10%). "Sex" was picked by 2%. "Money" recorded 0%.
Despite what Hollywood rom-coms may have us believe, Americans are split as to whether love at first sight exists.
Forty-six percent said they believe in love at first sight, while 50% say they do not.
And despite what marketers of movie romances may think about their audiences, men are slightly more likely than women to believe (47% vs. 44%).
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 868 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone January 29-31, 2010. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.
This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.