A survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted in 25 countries and published on 5/3, revealed the US as the only nation where a majority of respondents held a more negative than positive view of societal moral standards. 53% of American adults surveyed described their compatriots' morals and standards as "fairly poor" or "very poor", while 47% offered positive feedback. In the other 24 countries, the prevailing trend was reversed, with most respondents rating their societies as "fairly good" or "very good".

Canada presented the most positive societal outlook. Only 7% of respondents there considered their citizens' morals and standards poor. This figure was 9% for India, 16% for Japan, 27% for Germany, 40% for Italy, and 43% for France. These results made the US a surprising outlier in the survey. Pew also found a partisan divide: 60% of Democratic supporters believed US citizens had poor morals, compared to 46% of Republican supporters.

"Studies have shown an increasing number of Republicans or Democrats who believe members of the opposing party are 'immoral'," Pew noted, highlighting the deepening partisan divide in American society.

Protesters confront security forces in Los Angeles, California on 9/6/2025. Photo: AP

Pew also surveyed people's attitudes in various countries toward certain behaviors, such as: gambling, homosexual relations, adultery, and marijuana use. Adultery emerged as the most widely disapproved behavior. The median across the 25 countries showed 77% of adults considered marital adultery morally unacceptable. In every surveyed region, at least one-half of respondents shared this view.

In the US, 90% of respondents considered adultery morally unacceptable, significantly higher than Germany (55%) and France (53%). This sentiment echoes findings from a 2003 Gallup survey. Gallup, a multinational analytics and advisory company based in Washington, polled Americans' opinions on the "overall state of moral values" in the country. Its results consistently showed a net negative outcome, meaning more people rated moral values as poor or average than those who rated them good or excellent.

Karen Swallow Prior, a Christian author specializing in ethics and morality, suggested that today's political leaders, alongside the influence of algorithms and countless chatbot tools on social media, are promoting the idea that "bad people are everywhere". Whether a cause or consequence of the deepening political polarization, these results indicate an increasingly bleak outlook for bipartisan cooperation in the US. Achieving compromise becomes more difficult when each side not only views their opponent as wrong but also as "lacking good faith".

Ha Linh (According to US News, Washington Post)