NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After a season in which avoiding sickness was on most everyone’s mind, many Americans say their New Year’s resolutions address their health.

More Americans say their past resolutions have focused on their health, their relationship with God, their finances and their relationship with a family member than other possibilities, according to a new survey of 1,005 Americans from Lifeway Research.

“New Year’s resolutions reflect the changes people aspire to make,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “The COVID-19 pandemic may have forced or encouraged more people to make changes outside of the annual reminder a new year brings. But a New Year’s resolution is still something most Americans have made at some point in their lives.”

As people contemplate their 2022 resolutions, more than 2 in 5 Americans (44 percent) say previous New Year’s resolutions have focused on their health. More than 1 in 4 say they’ve made resolutions on their relationship with God (29 percent), their finances (29 percent) or their relationship with a family member (26 percent).

Fewer say their resolutions have dealt with their use of time (22 percent), their work (18 percent) or their relationship with a friend (15 percent).

More than a quarter of Americans (28 percent) say they haven’t made resolutions about any of these, while 4 percent aren’t sure.

This year’s New Year’s resolutions rankings remained similar to a 2015 Lifeway Research phone survey of 1,000 Americans. Compared to the previous study, finances moved from the fifth most common resolution to third on the list this year. The percentage who selected each of the resolution topics, however, dropped from six years ago.

Resolution makers

Young adults (those age 18 to 34) are among the most likely to say they’ve made New Year’s resolutions in the past about each of the topics: health (52 percent), finances (40 percent), relationship with God (35 percent), relationship with a family member (36 percent), use of time (34 percent), work (29 percent) and relationship with a friend (25 percent). Meanwhile, those 65 and older (54 percent) are most likely to say they have not made a resolution about any of the topics listed.

Church attendance also seems to have an impact on those wanting to make changes in the new year. Among self-identified Christians, those who attend at least monthly are more likely than Christians who attend less frequently to say they’ve made resolutions in each of the options. Those who attend less than monthly (44 percent) are most likely to say they haven’t made a New Year’s resolution in any of the areas.

“Making a New Year’s resolution doesn’t reveal who or what a person is relying on to make that change in their life, nor how successful such resolutions are,” McConnell said. “But higher numbers seen among younger adults, those who attended at least some college, and church-going Christians indicate they have higher motivation to make such changes at least in the form of New Year’s resolutions.”

Resolutions concerning a relationship with God are more popular among churchgoers, African Americans, young adults and those with evangelical beliefs.

Those aged 18 to 34 (35 percent) and 35 to 49 (35 percent) are more likely than those aged 50 to 64 (25 percent) and those 65 and older (17 percent) to say they have made a previous New Year’s resolution about their relationship with God.

African Americans (41 percent) are more likely than whites (27 percent) to make such commitments at the start of a new year.

Christians who attend a worship service four times a month or more (48 percent) or one to three times a month (39 percent) are more likely than those who attend less frequently (20 percent) to mark New Year’s with a resolution about their relationship with God.

Americans with evangelical beliefs (48 percent) are more likely than those without such beliefs (23 percent) to say they’ve addressed their relationship with God in a New Year’s resolution in the past.

Though less than any other religious group, 14 percent of the religiously unaffiliated say a resolution about their relationship with God has been part of their end-of-the-year reflections.

The unaffiliated are among the most likely to have made resolutions addressing their finances (36 percent), their use of time (29 percent) and their work (22 percent).

 

Photo by Isaac Smith on Unsplash