The former is the highest rating Gallup has ever recorded on the measure dating back to when it was first taken more than 13 years ago. The latter is the highest since the coronavirus pandemic began early last year.
What’s the point: The last year has been tough for a lot of Americans. Among other issues, the coronavirus dominated our lives, and there was a very contentious presidential election. But with the election in the rearview mirror and more people returning to their pre-pandemic routines, Americans are feeling a lot more optimistic.
A number of different measures show Americans are feeling better about themselves and the state of the country than they have in a while.
The Gallup measures I mentioned shouldn’t be too surprising given what we’ve been seeing from Axios/Ipsos polling. More Americans have been saying that their emotional well being has improved in the last week than gotten worse in every survey since May. From when the question was first asked in March 2020 through April of this year, more Americans had said it had gotten worse than better in every survey.
