|
The Harris Poll®
#53, May 7, 2008
For Mother’s Day: June Cleaver is the Television Mom
Americans Would Have Liked to Have Growing Up
Claire Huxtable and Carol Brady Come in at Number 2 and 3,
Respectively
Growing up, who didn’t, at one point or another, look at
their television and think to themselves, "wow, I wish my mom was that
cool"? The top mom that Americans would like to have had when they were
growing up harkens back to the "simpler" days of the 1950s. The Beaver’s
mom, June Cleaver of Leave it to Beaver tops the list. Coming in at
number two is Claire Huxtable, from The Cosby Show. In at number three is
the lovely lady who was bringing up three very lovely girls, Carol Brady of The
Brady Bunch. Rounding out the top five television moms are Fonzie’s
favorite, Marion "Mrs. C" Cunningham of Happy Days and Donna
Stone of The Donna Reed Show.
These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,529
U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive® between April 7
and 15, 2008.
Another fifties icon, Harriet Nelson of The Adventures of
Ozzie and Harriet comes in at number six while the mom who always had some
explaining to do to Ricky, Lucy Ricardo of I Love Lucy, is number seven.
Tied for number 8 are three more modern moms – the blue-collar Roseanne Connor
of Roseanne; the mom as best friend, or Lorelei Gilmore of Gilmore
Girls; and the ever-suffering Bart’s mom, Marge Simpson of The Simpsons.
Favorites Among Different Groups
Different groups all have their favorite moms. First, men
prefer the fifties mom of June Cleaver, while women go more for the take charge
lawyer of Claire Huxtable. Looking at this by race and ethnicity, Whites prefer
June Cleaver while both African Americans and Hispanics have Claire Huxtable as
their top mom. There are also differences by generation. Both Baby Boomers
(those aged 44-62) and Matures (those aged 63+) have June Cleaver as number one.
Gen Xers (those aged 32-43) go for 1970’s icon Carol Brady while the Echo
Boomers (those aged 18-31) say Lorelei Gilmore is the television mom they wished
they had.
While the Obama/Clinton/McCain fight continues, maybe
television moms can broker some bipartisanship? Unfortunately, the answer is no.
Republicans claim Carol Brady as their favorite while Democrats cite Claire
Huxtable and Independents say June Cleaver is the mom they would have wanted
growing up.
How Americans will Celebrate Mother’s Day
When it comes to their own moms, just under half (48%) of
those whose mothers are alive will send cards for Mother’s Day while 47
percent will buy their moms a present and the same number will call their moms.
Three in ten (29%) will take their moms to lunch of dinner while one-quarter
(26%) will buy or send their moms flowers. Further down the list, one in ten
(10%) will cook for their moms while 2 percent will take them to a museum, show
or event and 5 percent say they will do nothing for their moms.
Men and women do different things for their mothers. Over
half of women (53%) will buy their moms a present compared to two in five men
(41%) who will do so. Half of men (49%) will call their moms as will 45 percent
of women.
TABLE 1
FAVORITE TV MOM
"Thinking of television mothers, who would you most like
to have had as a mom when you were growing up?"
Unprompted responses
Base: All adults
| |
2008 |
|
June Cleaver, Leave it to Beaver |
1 |
|
Claire Huxtable, The Cosby Show |
2 |
|
Carol Brady, The Brady Bunch |
3 |
|
Marion Cunningham, Happy Days |
4 |
|
Donna Stone, The Donna Reed Show |
5 |
|
Harriet Nelson, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet |
6 |
|
Lucy Ricardo, I Love Lucy |
7 |
|
Roseanne Connor, Roseanne |
=8 |
|
Lorelei Gilmore, The Gilmore Girls |
=8 |
|
Marge Simpson, The Simpsons |
=8 |
"=" prior to a number indicates a tie
TABLE 2
FAVORITE MOM AMONG DIFFERENT GROUPS
|
Group |
Favorite TV Mom |
|
Men |
June Cleaver |
|
Women |
Claire Huxtable |
| |
|
|
White |
June Cleaver |
|
African American |
Claire Huxtable |
|
Hispanic |
Clair Huxtable |
| |
|
|
Echo Boomers (18-31) |
Lorelei Gilmore |
|
Gen X (32-43) |
Carol Brady |
|
Baby Boomers (44-62) |
June Cleaver |
|
Matures (63+) |
June Cleaver |
| |
|
|
Republicans |
Carol Brady |
|
Democrats |
Claire Huxtable |
|
Independents |
June Cleaver |
TABLE 3
WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR MOM?
"What will you do for your mom on Mother’s Day?"
Base: Mothers are alive
| |
Total |
Gender |
|
Men |
Women |
| |
% |
% |
% |
|
Send her a card |
48 |
46 |
50 |
|
Buy her a present |
47 |
41 |
53 |
|
Call her |
47 |
49 |
45 |
|
Take her to lunch or dinner |
29 |
26 |
31 |
|
Buy/Send her flowers |
26 |
29 |
24 |
|
Cook for her |
10 |
8 |
12 |
|
Take her to a museum, show or event |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Nothing |
5 |
6 |
5 |
|
Other |
9 |
8 |
10 |
|
Not sure |
8 |
7 |
9 |
Note: Multiple responses allowed
Methodology
This Harris Poll® was conducted online within the
United States April 7 and 15, 2008, among 2,529 adults (aged 18 and over).
Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income
were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual
proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to
adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use
probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most
often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage
error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording
and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore,
Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are
misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors
with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100%
response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close
to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those
who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been
weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample
is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no
estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of
the National Council on Public Polls.
J33558
Q904, 915
|