The poll, conducted for newspaper Aftenposten last week, showed that fully 73 percent of those questioned retain full confidence in their banks. Nearly 60 percent indicated that they don't think their jobs are in danger.
Only 5 percent were considering converting their mortgages to fixed-rate loans, suggesting that they predict interest rates will decline instead of rise.
Less than half think they will make significant cuts in their own consumption, and eight out of 10 questioned think their own personal financial situation will be at least as good or better 12 months from now.
The Norwegians, it seems, aren't letting the international financial crisis scare them. Even though several companies (including local media firms, real estate brokerages and industrial concerns) are already cutting back, a majority of those questioned don't fear rising unemployment.
"I of course am thinking about what's happening, that things can go wrong," Kari Lovise Flood told newspaper Aftenposten. "But you have to stay positive." She just opened her own, new flower shop in Oslo and has no regrets.
Flood, age 27, even thinks the current financial drama is "healthy" for the Norwegian society. "We have had such an incredibly strong period lately," she said. "People have been buying new furniture and throwing it out again after just a year. It's good if people think twice before spending so much."
Even 55-year-old John Ek, who sells equipment for construction workers, is remaining optimistic. With construction projects already grinding to a halt, or being taken off the drawing board, doesn't he worry about demand for his goods? "Not really," he told Aftenposten. "We're pretty strong, and we're used to the cycles in this branch."
Public sector workers also feel secure. "Both my wife and I work for the state, and that gives a degree of security," said Rune Bergsvendsen, age 49. "But we are postponing some things we had thought about doing, like some home remodelling. We'll wait and see what happens with interest rates."
Only 1 percent of those questioned by research firm Respons for Aftenposten said they were seriously worried about their jobs, while 58 percent said they weren't worried at all. The survey was conducted October 13-15, when stock markets briefly rallied but economists came with predictions of lower growth and higher unemployment in Norway next year.
