Valentine’s Day: Love is in the Air for Most New Jerseyans
More excitement than dread about the big day of romance, Rutgers-Eagleton ‘Cupids’ find
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Despite the snowy forecast, love is in the air in the Garden State as 70 percent of residents will “be mine” with a special someone this Valentine’s Day, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. Cupid’s arrow is apparently consistent; the share of residents with a valentine has changed little since Eagleton last explored feelings about the holiday more than a decade ago. Among those with a valentine, seven in 10 plan to celebrate this year.
Traditional tokens of affection are the top choices when it comes to the wide range of gifts valentines would like to receive. Chocolate, candy, and other food items are the top choice (at 11 percent), followed by jewelry (8 percent). Receiving a card, spending time together, flowers, affection, and dinner are also up on the list (each at 7 percent).
Forty-four percent of New Jerseyans – regardless of whether they have a valentine – are excited for the romantic holiday, while just 16 percent say Valentine’s Day makes them feel more dread than excitement; four in 10 don’t have a feeling either way.
“When it comes to Valentine’s Day, New Jerseyans mostly resemble the rest of the country, but with a few key differences,” said Ashley Koning, manager of the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. “Compared to recent national polls, the hopeless romantics here are more likely to plan special celebrations. Yet as a whole, Garden Staters are more neutral about the holiday – feeling neither any significant excitement nor dread about a day typically associated with both romance and pressure and expense.”
Results are from a statewide poll of 813 residents contacted by live callers on both landlines and cell phones from Feb. 3-10, 2015, with a margin of error of +/-4.1 percentage points. Interviews were done in both English and, when requested, Spanish. To read the entire poll, click here.
EDITOR’S NOTE: ATTENTION ASSIGNMENT, FEATURE EDITORS, Director David Redlawsk may be contacted at 319-400-1134 (cell), 848-932-8504 (office), or redlawsk@rutgers.edu. Poll manager Ashley Koning may be contacted at 908-872-1186 or akoning@rutgers.edu. Questions and tables are available at: http://eagletonpoll.rutgers.edu/rep-valentine-2015. Visit our blog at http://eagletonpollblog.wordpress.com for additional commentary. Follow the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RutgersEagletonPoll and Twitter @EagletonPoll.