Although the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center appears to have dropped consumer confidence to recessionary levels, it also has fired Americans’ faith in their country, themselves, and the economy, according to study released today by RoperASW.

Only 22% of Americans surveyed feel it is a “good time to buy” the things they want and need. The response puts consumer confidence below the 25% level that has been the benchmark for recessions historically.

Consumer confidence has been wavering just above recession levels for much of this year, and is down substantially from 1999 and 2000. “The results support the conclusion that consumers have slipped into a recession mindset in the wake of September 11,” notes the study.

There is little uncertainty about Americans’ faith in the nation. When asked how they feel generally about the future of their country, a solid 59% of Americans say they are “optimistic.” Only 5% are pessimistic, while 34% are uncertain.

An even larger majority, 70%, are optimistic about the future of their own personal situation. Only 3% are pessimistic about their personal future, while 24% are uncertain. Regarding the economy, 50% say they are generally optimistic, versus only 9% who are generally pessimistic, with 40% uncertain.

The study observes, “If anything, optimism has taken a slight upturn. The current level of optimism about the country is 5 points higher than measured in July. The level of optimism about the economy is higher than in recent readings. In April of this year, only 44% were optimistic about the future of the economy.”

The survey was conducted among 1,000 adults aged 18 and older on Sept. 18-19 via telephone. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.3% at the 95% confidence level. The survey employed sample balancing to census data on age, sex, region, education and race.