Most Pessimistic About U.S. Morality, Poll Finds
More than three-fourths of Americans have a pessimistic view of the current state of ethics and morality, and even fewer see it getting better, according to a new Gallup Poll.
Seventy-seven percent of Americans rated current ethics and morality as “fair” or “poor,” while 22% rated them “good” or “excellent.”
Two-thirds of Americans said the moral and ethical climate is getting worse; 24% said it was getting better.
Despite those findings, the percentage who rated current ethics and morality as fair or poor is nearly identical to the comparable figure in a May 2002 poll.
George H. Gallup Jr., the firm’s chairman, said women, older people and churchgoers are the most critical of the country’s ethical climate. Gallup said there was little difference among conservatives, moderates and liberals.
The poll of 1,005 adults was conducted May 5-7 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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