Americans' view of the 'state of moral values' hits all time low: Gallup

A Gallup poll released Friday found a majority of Americans rate “the overall state of moral values in this country today” as poor for the first time in the 22 years Gallup has been polling the question.

The 54 percent of respondents answering “poor” includes 74 percent of Republicans, 51 percent of independents and 38 percent of Democrats.

The biggest shift over last year came from independents, 44 percent of whom said the state of moral values was poor in 2022.

The share of Republican respondents with a negative view of the country’s moral values has fluctuated notably since 2019, when 54 percent answered “poor.” In 2020, only 39 percent of Republicans answered that way. The percentage rose sharply to 66 percent in 2021 and reached 74 percent this year.

The new poll found 33 percent of adults rate the state of moral values as “only fair,” 10 percent as “good” and 1 percent as “excellent.”

“Since 2002, an average of 43% of U.S. adults have said the state of moral values is poor, while 38% have rated it as only fair and 18% as excellent or good,” Gallup research consultant Megan Brenan wrote.

The poll was conducted May 1-24 among 1,011 adults, and the margin of error for results based on the full sample is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Last year, Gallup asked respondents “what is the most important problem with the state of moral values in the country today?” A plurality of 18 percent mentioned consideration of others.

“Partisans' views of the top moral problem differ, as 23% of Democrats, 13% of Republicans and 17% of independents cite a lack of consideration,” Brenan and Gallup managing consultant Nicole Willcoxon wrote last June. “However, among Republicans, nearly as many (11%) name a lack of faith or religion as the most important moral problem. Democrats (10%) and independents (8%) are at least twice as likely as Republicans (4%) to mention racism as a top moral problem.”