New poll finds Americans likely to see each other as ‘morally bad’ — but expert says strong families can help
American adults are more likely than others to view their fellow citizens as morally bad, with more than half agreeing to the sentiment in a new Pew Research Center survey of 25 countries.
The survey, which was released earlier this month, was the first to feature this question, meaning Pew did not have data to publish showing whether this was a long-held belief or a recent trend.
"What we're seeing is really an increase in a lack of social trust, right? That more frequently, Americans are living in communities where there's high levels of Americans [who] say that they don't trust those around them," J.P. De Gance, the founder and president of Communio, told Fox News Digital.
Communio is a nonprofit that works with churches to strengthen families and communities by promoting healthy marriages and relationships.
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De Gance pointed to the rise in single parent-led households as a primary reason for the decline in social trust.
"I think this is the result of a long-term flight from that institution that best forms morals, which is marriage and the family," De Gance said. "In the 1960s, you had a decoupling of sex from marriage, marriage from parenting. And the United States leads the developed world in single-headed, single-parent-headed households. And it's the home, typically the complementarity between mom and dad, that helps form young men and women in their moral outlook."
The countries surveyed included the U.S., Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Pew found that 53% of U.S. adults saw their fellow citizens as morally bad. The U.S. was followed by Turkey at 49% and Brazil at 48%. Meanwhile, Canadians were the most likely to view their fellow citizens as morally good, with 92% saying so.
Pew also asked respondents from the 25 countries about the morality of nine behaviors: extramarital affairs, using marijuana, viewing pornography, gambling, having an abortion, homosexuality, drinking alcohol, getting a divorce and using contraceptives. The survey showed that 90% of Americans viewed extramarital affairs as morally wrong, far higher than other behaviors such as viewing pornography (52%), getting an abortion (47%) and homosexuality (39%). Smaller shares said the same about gambling (29%), using marijuana and getting a divorce (23% each), drinking alcohol (16%) and using contraceptives (8%).
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When broken down by political party, Pew found that 60% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning adults said their fellow Americans are morally and ethically bad, compared to 46% of Republicans and Republican-leaning adults. Pew noted that a previous survey from August 2022 found rising partisan hostility, with 72% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats saying members of the opposing party are more immoral than other Americans.
De Gance lamented the number of Democrats and Republicans who see their fellow Americans as morally and ethically bad, saying the percentages were "way too high." He told Fox News Digital that the sharp political divide was the result of the deterioration of "institutions that give rise to social trust," such as strong homes.
"If you can't trust the person who helped bring you into the world, that has spillover effects, right?" De Gance said.
De Gance believes the answer to healing Americans' lack of trust is strengthening families.
"Families are a place where we can learn to trust and to love," De Gance said. "I think being able to have a dinner with some regular frequency as a family is an important part of it. Having conversations with our loved ones about the world around us, about what they may be dealing with on a daily basis and then helping them think through that morally is a big part of the equation."
The Communio president also underscored the important role that fathers play in forming social trust, saying that when fathers are frequently absent, a "big part of the puzzle is missing."
However, he says this starts long before children enter the picture. De Gance argued that young people looking for a spouse should think of themselves as students studying the other person's behavior for indications of what the future could hold.
"Being an observer there will help you in terms of entering a relationship well, forming a healthy marriage where we can raise our kids in a married home," De Gance said. He also encouraged those already in a situation where they are an unmarried parent to find ways to build healthy co-parenting relationships when possible.
"All those good private decisions have great public consequences," De Gance said.