Men are more likely than women to say they could survive in the wilderness, escape from a sinking car, and navigate using the stars

A new YouGov survey explores Americans’ confidence in their capability to undertake tasks such as passing the U.S. citizenship test, performing CPR, and surviving a week in the wilderness. In many cases, more men than women say they could do difficult tasks, often with their hypothetical lives on the line.

Majorities of Americans say they think they could pass the U.S. citizenship test (70%), perform the Heimlich maneuver successfully on a choking person (55%), perform CPR on an adult whose heart has stopped (53%), and do just about anything they had to in order to get out of a life-threatening situation (53%). Many believe they could do a random stranger’s job for a day (38%), survive a week alone in the wilderness (33%), deliver a baby in an emergency (31%), and escape from a sinking car underwater (29%).

More men than women say they think they could survive a week alone in the wilderness (46% vs. 21%), escape from a sinking car underwater (41% vs. 19%), pass the U.S. citizenship test (78% vs. 63%), and survive being lost at sea on a life raft for a week (23% vs. 8%). Men also are more likely than women to say they could safely land a passenger airplane in an emergency situation, relying only on the assistance of air traffic control (23% vs. 13%), do a random stranger’s job for a day (43% vs. 33%), and beat a chimpanzee in a fight if they were unarmed (12% vs. 4%).

Women are more likely than men to say they think they could deliver a baby in an emergency (35% vs. 27%).

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say they think they could survive a week alone in the wilderness (39% vs. 27%), to escape from a sinking car underwater (35% vs. 24%), and to deliver a baby in an emergency (38% vs. 28%).

People who are parents or guardians of children under 18 are more likely than people who are not to say they think they could deliver a baby in an emergency situation (45% vs. 28%). Parents of children under 18 are also more likely than people who are not to say they could do a random stranger’s job for a day (47% vs. 36%), beat a chimpanzee in a fight unarmed (17% vs. 5%), and win a point off Serena Williams in a best-of-three-set match (17% vs. 6%).

Americans 45 and older are more likely than younger adults to say they think they could perform the Heimlich maneuver successfully on a choking person (64% vs. 44%), perform CPR on an adult whose heart has stopped (59% vs. 46%), and deliver a baby in an emergency (37% vs. 25%).

Americans are more likely to say they find it very or somewhat difficult to accept compliments than to say they find it easy (53% vs. 41%). Women are more likely than men to say they find it difficult to accept compliments (56% vs. 47%).

— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article

Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted on June 18 - 22, 2026 among 1,109 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 33% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4 percentage points.

Image: Getty (rbkomar)

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