Mindset Differences Across Different Income Levels

I recently partnered with Aimpoint Research to investigate how mindsets might differ across different demographic profiles, including political affiliation, income level, gender, education level, generation, geographic region (in the United States).

I am finding the results quite interesting. I am in the middle of several articles, I will be sharing related to this research. Here are the other articles that I have compiled so far:

• Mindsets and Political Affiliation
• Mindset Differences across U.S. Geographic Regions
• Mindset Differences across Generations
• Mindset Differences across Ethnicities
• Mindset Differences across Marital Status

This week, I’m covering how mindsets differ by income level in the United States. Some of the nuances in the data are really interesting. See below.

Research Information

Our sample was designed to be a decently close representation of the United States population at large. We ended with a sample of 587.

What I am presenting to you is the average mindset scores across different income levels. To me, the differences are meaningful, but they ARE NOT technically statistically significant.

What this means is that we can infer that while one group (e.g., <$25k) may have a more negative mindset than another group (e.g., >$150k), we will surely find some people who have an income below $25k that have more positive mindsets than other people who have an income level above $150k.

Regardless, it is interesting to see the differences.

Mindset Differences by Income Level

Here are the results:

Big Picture Findings:

• Growth Mindset. There seems to be a relationship between income level and growth mindset. The most growth-minded people are at the highest income levels. And, the most fixed-minded people are those who are at the lowest income level.
• Open Mindset. People at the highest income levels are among the least open-minded.
• Promotion Mindset. I find it really interesting that the most prevention-minded group is those that make between $100k-$149k. The most promotion-minded group (by a slim margin) are those in the highest income bracket (maybe for a reason).
• Outward Mindset. I find it interesting that the most outward-minded group are those that make between $100k-$149k. I expected those in the top income bracket to be the most outward. The most inward-minded are those in the lowest income bracket (probably because they are in self-protection mode).

What might these results suggest about you at your income level? What mindset shifts might you need to make given your income level?

While these are very interesting findings, they are also generalities. These results DO NOT suggest, for example, that all people who make less than $25k are inward-minded and that all people who make more than $150k are all growth-minded.

If you want to take the mindset assessment for yourself, you can take it here: FREE Personal Mindset Assessment