Reimagining the American Dream
Project Overview
Think tank Populace's initiative, in partnership with Gradient, was designed to redefine the American Dream by quantifying how individuals define success, and how that definition diverges from traditional societal narratives. It was driven by a set of clear objectives:
1. Quantitative measurement of success: To develop a consistent, reproducible method for quantifying how Americans personally define success.
2. Exploring individual vs. societal views: To uncover the gap between personal aspirations and the societal portrayal of success; to understand how these differing perceptions influence individual choices.
3. Fostering personal ambition: The study aimed to reveal that individual definitions of success are diverse and unique, encouraging people to pursue their genuine ambitions without the weight of external societal pressures.
- Understanding success
- Personal success is diverse
- Do Americans achieve success?
Americans’ perceived definition of how others in society define success centers on status, but it is the least important domain when it comes to their personal definitions of success.
Americans’ personal definitions of success are diverse,while their perceived societal definitions concentrate ona few key attributes.
Of the 76 attributes Populace measured, five key attributes comprise 50% of what
Americans believe others in society use to define success — when it comes to Americans’ personal definitions of success, however, 21 attributes make up 50%.
Average personal success score is significantly higher than the average perceived societal success score.
Populace calculated personal and perceived societal success scores to capture how much success an individual has achieved according to their own definitions of success. The perceived societal success score measures how much success an individual has achieved according to how they believe others in society define success. For both success scores, the scale ranges from zero (no achieved success) to 100 (perfect achieved success).
Research Approach
Choice-Based Conjoint Survey Design
Gradient's CBC approach was used to assess personal and societal success attributes through 12 choice tasks, involving 76 attributes in a survey of 5,242 U.S. adults.
Survey Administration and Demographics
Conducted July 8-15, 2019, with a 44.7% response rate among Gallup Panel members. Data were weighted to match U.S. demographics, with a ±1.9% margin of error.
Demographic Analysis
Assessed success attribute distribution across gender, age, race, and education, providing insights into varied perceptions of success.
Achieved Success Score Calculations
Calculated success scores by multiplying attribute share of preference with achievement measures, summing scores to reflect individual and societal success definitions.
Success Attribute Analysis
Analyzed CBC task choices to estimate utilities for success attributes. These were converted into a share-of-preference metric for direct comparison.