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Beliefs

What percentage of American adults think luck matters more than hard work for getting ahead?

11.5% of American adults think luck matters more than hard work for getting ahead - about 12 in every 100, or 1 in 10. That is the figure published by the General Social Survey for 2024.

Where this number comes from

Survey

General Social Survey

What it measured

GSS 2024 item GETAHEAD (“Opinion of how people get ahead”), counting responses 3=luck most important. Computed from NORC's public-use microdata with the survey weight WTSSNRPS and a Taylor-linearised standard error over the published design variables VSTRAT and VPSU; unweighted n = 989.

Population

U.S. adults aged 18 and over

Year

2024

95% confidence interval

8.48% to 14.52% (derived from the published standard error)

NORC at the University of Chicago; public-use microdata, free for research and educational use. Percentages computed here, with attribution.. See the source data

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