Editor's note: This article appeared in the October 11, 2010, edition of Quirk's e-newsletter.
If you could be granted one wish to change something about yourself, what would you choose? When American adults were asked if they would most want to be richer, thinner, smarter or younger, a large plurality (43 percent) professed that they would want to be richer, according to data from Rochester, N.Y., research company Harris Interactive.
One in five said they would like to be thinner, 14 percent said smarter and 12 percent said younger. One in 10 said they would not want to choose any of the given options. While all of the options are generally considered positive changes that one could make, different groups of Americans chose different traits.
It appears men and women view these traits slightly differently. Although just 14 percent of both men and women said they would choose to be smarter, that's the only characteristic they agreed on. More men said that they would choose to be richer (46 percent, compared to 41 percent of women), while 29 percent of women said that they would most want to be thinner, compared to 14 percent of men. And while women may have the stereotype of lying about their age, 16 percent of men said they would most want to be younger, compared to just 8 percent of women.
Not surprisingly, American adults' desires change depending on age and life circumstances. Predictably, older Americans were more likely to want to be younger - 19 percent of those aged 55+ said this, compared to 14 percent of those aged 45-54, 12 percent of those 35-44 and just 4 percent of those 18-34 years old. It is also not surprising that young adults who may be early in their careers or starting families are more focused on their finances than adults in later life stages. Half of Americans aged 18-34 and 35-44 said they would most want to be richer, compared to 41 percent of those aged 45-54 and just one-third of adults aged 55+. Similarly, adults with children in the household also think of their purse strings, as almost half of adults with children in the home said they would want to be richer, compared to 41 percent of adults who do not have children at home.