Survey: Americans’ “Weekend State of Mind”

Written by Raouf

The results of an online survey of 1,000 US adults, commissioned by Hampton Hotels, uncovered that one in three Americans (33 percent) claims they are a “completely different person” on the weekends than they are during the week. The survey, which delves into consumers’ weekend mindset, shows that more positive, outgoing and friendly personality traits emerge for most Americans during the weekend.

Respondents report that they tend to be more impulsive (53 percent), more imaginative (46 percent), more agreeable (45 percent) and more creative (44 percent) on Saturdays and Sundays. They are also likely to be less organized (34 percent), less neurotic (34 percent) and less competitive (23 percent) than their weekday personas.

Hampton partnered with Dr. Christine Carter, a sociologist, happiness expert at UC Berkeley and author of Raising Happiness, to gain a greater understanding of the factors that make Americans feel happier on the weekend. Dr. Carter identified three key reasons why most people’s happiness peaks on the weekend, all of which are consistent with the findings in the study:

1. Resting and recharging:
Being able to step away from work allows consumers to de-stress, recharge and rejuvenate. The survey showed that stress levels steadily decline as the work week progresses, with only eight percent of respondents saying they are stressed on Saturday and most saying they are stressed on Monday (32 percent).

2. Exploring passions and new experiences:
Having free time allows people to pursue their interests and do something they are passionate about on their own schedule, such as traveling, trying new restaurants or gardening. Moreover, Americans are more able to “live in the moment” over the weekend, a mindset which research shows fosters feelings of contentment and happiness. Approximately three out of four respondents (74 percent) said they are more likely to do something spontaneous on the weekend than during the week.

3. Emphasis on friends and family:
Being able to choose who you spend your time with has a positive impact. It’s no surprise the majority of respondents (85 percent) prefer to spend their weekends with some combination of their closest friends and family. According to Dr. Carter, this is likely the reason that people’s happiness and life satisfaction peaks during the weekend — research consistently shows that the world’s happiest people tend to spend more time with their friends and family.

Additional findings from the survey include:

Traveling trends:
More than half (55 percent) of respondents said they are most likely to travel on the weekends, followed closely by activities such as eating out every single meal (29 percent) and going dancing (16 percent).
Parenting takes a toll:
Americans with children are more likely to feel exhausted during their weekend, with 15 percent of parents saying they are exhausted during the weekend compared to only 11 percent of those without children. Additionally, parents are more likely to feel anxious at the beginning of their weekend than those without children (25 percent versus 18 percent).
Geography factors into perception of weekend:
People located in the Midwest and South are more likely to describe their weekends as “exciting” (27 percent and 26 percent, respectively) than those in the Northeast and West (14 percent and 13 percent, respectively).
Young adults think they’re more fun:
The younger you are, the more fun you think you are during the weekend. Seventy-one percent of 25-34 year olds say that they are more fun to be around on the weekend, compared with 60 percent of 35-44 year olds, 57 percent of 45-54 year olds, 46 percent of 55-64 year olds and only 26 percent of 65+.
Weekend guilty pleasures:
Twice as many women as men said their favorite guilty pleasure was not getting out of their pajamas (15 percent versus seven percent). Men, on the other hand, said staying out late topped their weekend guilty pleasures (21 percent versus nine percent).

You can read more about the survey’s results here.

StrategyOne fielded a ten-minute online survey between August 13 – 17, 2012 among a total sample of 1,000 U.S. adults that was regionally and demographically representative of the latest U.S. Census data.