Report · Culture

Personal effort often shapes assumptions about others

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In a Verasight survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted May 11, 2026, 80% of Americans said that when they are putting a lot of effort into something, they at least occasionally assume people around them are doing the same. This includes 2% who said almost always, 7% who said very often, 18% who said often, 32% who said sometimes, and 21% who said occasionally.

About one in five said they rarely or never make this assumption (20%), with 15% who said rarely and 5% who said never.

Topline

single choice

Topline distribution

80% of Americans at least occasionally assume others are putting in similar effort.

When you are putting a lot of effort into something, how often do you find yourself assuming that others around you are also putting in a lot of effort?

  • Sometimes 32.0%
  • Occasionally 20.5%
  • Often 18.3%
  • Rarely 14.9%
  • Very often 6.8%
  • Never 5.1%
  • Almost always 2.3%

2026 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.3%

identity

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Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2026-05-11 → 2026-05-11
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.3%
Module
identity

Source

Citation

Verasight SPSP Omnibus Survey #2026-045, fielded May 11-11, 2026, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.3%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/spsp26

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.