## 3 Data Collection and Respondents
### Respondent Demographics  
Data was collected to classify respondents based on several different demographic characteristics. Gender, age, educational attainment level, income and political party affiliation were traits that participants were recruited for, to be population-proportionate. For this study, all responses where the relevant demographic characteristic question and question being assessed were completed were utilized, including responses that were not part of the population-proportionate set. Because of the population proportionate recruiting, the participants are well distributed with regard to each characteristic. In terms of gender, just under half of respondents (49%) were male and just over half (51%) were female. Respondents were also given the option to indicate a non-binary gender; however, less than 1% of respondents indicated a non-binary gender preventing further analysis, due to the small sample size. Responses were received from respondents with ages across the spectrum. The distribution of respondents' ages is presented in Table 2. The 18-24, 25-29 and 30-34 age groups each contained about 11% of respondents. Ten percent of respondents were aged between 35-39 and 9% of respondents were aged between 40-44. The 45-49 age group contained approximately 7% of respondents and the 50-54 age group contained approximately 6% of respondents. Fourteen percent of respondents were 55 between 59 years old. Finally, 12% of respondents were between 60 and 64 years old and 11% of respondents indicated being 65 and older. Respondents were also well distributed in terms of their educational attainment, as it was a demographic characteristic for which population-proportionality was targeted. The educational levels which were reported by participants are presented in Table 3. Of those responding, approximately 25% (each) have completed high school or completed some college but not completed a degree program. Just under a quarter (22%) have completed a bachelor's degree. A smaller number (12%) of respondents have completed an associate's degree. The number of respondents who have completed graduate degrees is much lower that other categories, with only 3% holding a Ph.D. and 12% holding a masters' degree. A relatively small number of respondents (5%) indicated that they had not completed high school. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline
**Self** & **Other** & **Ideal** & **Meaning** \\ \hline \(\bullet\) & \(\bullet\) & \(\bullet\) & \(\bullet\) & Everyone does this, and we should. \\ \(\bullet\) & & \(\bullet\) & \(\bullet\) & I do this, and everyone else should. \\  & \(\bullet\) & \(\bullet\) & Everyone else does this, and I should. \\  & & \(\bullet\) & \(\bullet\) & No one does this, but we all should. \\ \(\bullet\) & \(\bullet\) & & & Everyone does this, but we should not. \\ \(\bullet\) & & & & Only I do this, and I should not. \\  & \(\bullet\) & & & Everyone else does this, but they should not. \\  & & & & No one does this, and no one should. \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Interpretations of indications of self, others and ideal combinations [19]. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline
**18–24** & **25–29** & **30–34** & **35–39** & **40–44** & **45–49** & **50–54** & **55–59** & **60–64** & **65 and Older** \\ \hline
10.57\% & 10.93\% & 11.29\% & 10.04\% & 8.96\% & 6.63\% & 6.09\% & 12.54\% & 12.19\% & 10.75\% \\
59 & 61 & 63 & 56 & 50 & 37 & 34 & 70 & 68 & 60 \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Respondents’ age distribution [20]. Respondents' income distribution is presented in Table 4. Just under a quarter of respondents earned less than $24,999, while just over a quarter of respondents earned between $50,000 and $74,999. This was the largest of the income groups. Just under 20% earned between $25,000 and $49,999 and just over 15% earned between $75,000 and $99,999. The highest earners, the $125,000 or more group, made up just under 10% of respondents.