On April Fool's Day, It's No Joke: A New Survey Reveals that Americans are 12% More Foolish than Last Year

New study sees a spike in foolishness among 34-to-45-year-olds, the affluent, and suburbanites. Is America suffering from an outbreak of 'Desperate Housewives Syndrome?'

New York (PRWEB) April 1, 2005 -- Feeling a bit foolish today? That's no surprise.

A new survey released in advance of the April Fool's Day holiday says that Americans are 12% more foolish than they were just one year ago.

The results come as part of the Sixth Annual April Fool's Day Survey commissioned each year by New York-based public relations consultant Jeff Barge. The telephone survey of 1030 U.S. households is conducted with the assistance of Opinion Research Corp. of Princeton, New Jersey, and has a margin of error of 3%.

According to the survey, 57% of Americans polled last year for the survey said they had "done something foolish" in the past year. This year, that foolishness quotient jumped to 64% -- an increase of 12% in a single year.

"Nothing like this has ever happened in the six year history of this survey," said Mr. Barge, whose clients include authors, appraisers, pen companies, dieticians, and even a Buddhist lama. "It is a totally surprising result. According to the survey, what this means is that the average American now considers himself or herself more foolish than either Paris Hilton or Martha Stewart. And that's just plain alarming."

Specifically, the survey shows spikes in foolishness in several separate groups.

Among those are:

1. Americans making over $75,000 a year: This is the highest income group in the study, and 70% of this group said they had "done something foolish" this year.

2. Americans Aged 34-44: According to the survey results, 72% of people in this age group admitted to having done something foolish this past year. "And this is a group that is still sexually active," notes Mr. Barge.

3. Non-metro/suburban people: 69% of suburban and rural residents admit to having done something foolish in the past year.

"It would appear to be wealthy, middle-aged suburbanites that are causing this dramatic spike in the nation's level of foolishness," says Mr. Barge. "Faith Popcorn would call this 'cocooning.' But I call it 'monkey business.'"

Recent advances in technology have also facilitated an increase in foolish activity, notes Mr. Barge.

Additionally, the study notes that while 66% of white Americans had done something foolish in the past year, only 56% of Black Americans had, and only 50% of Hispanics. "This will come as no surprise to most black and Hispanic people in America," notes Mr. Barge.

Spike Has Experts Puzzled: Is Reality TV to Blame?

Experts are puzzled by the sudden spike in American foolishness, lead as it is by the 34-45 year old wealthy suburbanites.

"On the face of it, this is the 'Desperate Housewives' demographic who are suddenly becoming more foolish," says Mr. Barge, who has a degree in history from a prestigious Midwest university. "This is a group with a number of defining features: they are still sexually active, and at the same time, they watch approximately 43 hours of television a week, which is equivalent to a full-time job."

Sexuality has fed foolishness throughout the ages, Mr. Barge notes, and the advent of modern technology such as the hand-held video camera has only increased that trend.

But a number of recent studies indicated that television watching may also be a contributing factor to foolishness. In the case of an increase in foolishness, one only need look at the high percentage of reality television shows that are sending lifestyle ideas to today's Americans, says Mr. Barge.

"The FCC has been closely monitoring the amount of sex on television, yet there is no indication that Americans are becoming sexier," says Mr. Barge. "There is now, however, evidence that we are becoming more foolish, and at the same time that our nation's television programming is promoting foolishness."

It may be time for the FCC to shift its emphasis, says Mr. Barge.

Past Studies Show Cause for Alarm

Can television viewing change a whole society? A number of newspapers reported in 2002 that people who watched the television show Oprah were reporting extremely high levels of stress, even as Oprah's programming focused on shows such as "Why Men Kill Their Wives," with graphic personal accounts of crimes that would understandably make Oprah's mostly-female viewing feel stressed.

Additionally, a recent study on British celebrity cooking shows such as "Nigella Lawson" and "The Naked Chef" (Jamie Oliver) found that -- far from promoting fine cuisine -- fewer people were throwing dinner parties due to the overwhelmingly high standards set by the shows. David Warburton, professor of psychology at the University of Reading, sent questionnaires to more than 1,000 people asking them about their attitudes to entertaining at home. More than half of those asked (54%) felt pressure to serve dishes as divine as those created by celebrity chefs. As a result 68% admitted they held fewer dinner parties than before.

Professor Warburton concluded that some people suffered from a disorder similar to social anxiety or social phobia. The British press dubbed the affliction "Kitchen Performance Anxiety."

Similarly, when MTV imported the British stunt show "Jackass" to the U.S., teenage viewers in the U.S. famously responded not just by laughing at the dangerous stunts -- but by mimicking them, often with disastrous results.

Australian researchers have noted that by the time the average child finishes primary school, he or she will have watched 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence on television, and that overexposure to television violence causes children to display symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress syndrome and could be a factor in the development of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. A 1994 article in the British Medical Journal reported that post-traumatic stress disorder was diagnosed in two children after they watched a television program on Halloween 1992 entitled "Ghostwatch." Symptoms included psychic numbing and intrusive flashbacks.

According to University of Wisconsin psychologist Joanne Cantor, who has been studying the effects of media on children for 15 years, scares caused by television or movies can leave scars that last for years. Research produced by Cantor and others showed 26 percent of college students surveyed said they were still bothered by something they saw as children. Television and film are the single biggest preventable cause of nightmares and anxiety in children, according to this study.

"Research clearly shows that prolonged exposure to television can cause viewers to incorporate themes of the programming being shown," notes Mr. Barge. "We should be fearful that the same is happening with the outpouring of foolishness on TV."

Barge: Jury is Still Out

Still, Mr. Barge notes, the jury is still out. In the end, a spiking rate of foolishness may just be something that every society may experience from time to time.

As the renowned Taoist philosopher Lao-Tsu wrote in approximately 400 B.C.

"When rich speculators prosper

while farmers lose their land;

When government officials spend money

On weapons instead of cures;

When the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible

While the poor have nowhere to turn --

All is robbery and chaos.

It is not in keeping with the Tao."

Results of the study can be obtained by e-mailing to Jeff Barge at BargeJ@aol.com. To verify the survey, the survey company, Opinion Research Corp., may be contacted directly at 609 452-5464.

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