--- title: How Americans Really Feel About Self-Improvement description: A new poll from 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair show Americans believe the best way to do good in the world is through self improvement. canonical: https://time.com/3612360/americans-self-improvement-survey/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-01T20:51:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:23.516Z og:title: How Americans Really Feel About Self-Improvement og:description: A new poll from 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair show Americans believe the best way to do good in the world is through self improvement. og:url: https://time.com/3612360/americans-self-improvement-survey/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Americans Really Feel About Self-Improvement twitter:description: A new poll from 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair show Americans believe the best way to do good in the world is through self improvement. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Study Reveals Americans' Contradictory Thoughts on Self-Improvement by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Dec 1, 2014 8:51 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Dec 1, 2014 8:51 PM UTC New data shows that Americans believe the best way to do good in the world is through self-improvement–though the exact manner in which U.S. citizens believe one should go about that may not be as clear. Sixty-six percent of American women say that improving oneself is the best way to accomplish good in the world, compared to 54% of men–though 46% of men and 31% of women think more can be accomplished by improving someone else, according to a [new poll](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-vanity-fair-poll-self-improvement/) from 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair. When it comes to where to do for a little self-rejuvenation, 35% of pollsters said they turn to a house of worship, and 34% said they go to the gym. A full 70% of Americans say they think cosmetic surgery is fine, though there is a bit of a double standard for celebrities: 77% of those polled also said that successful actors should age naturally. Americans making over $100,000 per year were the most likely to argue in favor of cosmetic surgery, but 67% of people earning under $50,000 also agreed. Still, Americans’ aren’t shallow. The poll also reports that 72% of Americans disagree with the phrase: “You can never be too rich or too thin.” You can see the full poll, [here](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-vanity-fair-poll-self-improvement/). How Americans Really Feel About Self-Improvement ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3612360/americans-self-improvement-survey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3612360/americans-self-improvement-survey/"},"headline":"Study Reveals Americans' Contradictory Thoughts on Self-Improvement","datePublished":"2014-12-01T20:51:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:23.516Z","description":"Most Americans think cosmetic surgery is fine, but also expect celebrities to age naturally","url":"https://time.com/3612360/americans-self-improvement-survey/","keywords":["Living","beauty","Happiness","Self-Improvement"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3612360/americans-self-improvement-survey/","name":"Study Reveals Americans' Contradictory Thoughts on Self-Improvement"}}]}] ```