The Cultural Landscape: What’s Morally Acceptable?

Gallup News Service ^ | June 22, 2004

[RWR8189]

Divorce and premarital sex are OK, but polygamy and extramarital affairs still frowned on

PRINCETON, NJ -- A recent Gallup Poll measured Americans' reaction to the moral acceptability of 16 of the leading social issues facing the nation. The results tell much about the cultural climate of the country, with most Americans expressing traditional values about polygamy and extramarital affairs as well as toward suicide and human or animal cloning. Americans generally see all of these as morally wrong. On the other side, divorce, the death penalty, gambling, and sex between unmarried partners all pass the test of moral acceptability for a majority of Americans.

Four issues in the May 2-4 poll -- having a baby outside of marriage, abortion, homosexual behavior, and doctor-assisted suicide -- emerge as divisive, nearly splitting the American public in half. The gap between the percentage of Americans saying each of these issues is morally acceptable or morally wrong is no more than 12 percentage points, with having a child out of wedlock producing the smallest gap: 49% think it is morally acceptable; 45% say it is morally wrong.

 

Americans are also fairly closely split on the morality of medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos. Just over half (54%) think such stem cell research is acceptable, while 37% think it is wrong -- a 17 percentage-point gap in views.

By contrast, much larger gaps are seen in support or criticism of the other 11 issues tested. In fact there is nearly unanimous opposition to polygamy, extramarital affairs, and human cloning. Roughly 9 in 10 Americans say each of these is morally wrong. Most Americans also consider suicide and animal cloning to be wrong.

Most Widely Seen as "Morally Wrong"
	Morally Acceptable	Morally Wrong	Gap
	%	%
Married men and women having an affair	7	91	-84
Polygamy, when one husband has more than one wife at the same time	7	91	-84
Cloning humans	9	88	-79
Suicide	15	79	-64
Cloning animals	32	64	-32

[RWR8189]

Gallup Ping

FReepmail me if you want to be on or off the list.

[Servant of the 9]

Whatever I decide to do is acceptable.

Whatever you decide to do will need looking into.

So9

[DarkSavant]

So doctor assisted suicide is okay but killing yourself without help is morally wrong according to these people?

[madprof98]

Most Americans say suicide is wrong, but change that to "doctor-assisted" suicide, and they are generally in favor of it. The medical establishment continues to have a positive image, it seems, despite its support for various anti-life causes, especially abortion. No wonder the libs keep sticking in that line about "between a woman and her doctor" whenever they endorse abortion-on-request.

[Graybeard58]

Sounds like a new tag line to me.

[bird4four4]

I never understood how anyone can find homosexuality morally acceptable. Most of the world (95%) claim to follow a major religion, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hindu, etc. which all teach its immorrality. The remaining non religious folk must believe in some sort of secular humanism, pagan nature worship, evolution, survival of the fit, etc. of which all should fall on the side of homosexuality being unnatural, and outside the natural working of nature. How on earth do we get 50% of the people then thinking its OK? This 3% of the population has the most powerful propaganda machine pushing their view that I have ever seen.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Irrelevant since the Supreme Judicial Rulers have told us that the government cannot impose its morality on anyone.

Note: Having a baby without being married is not immoral. That's silly. It's the sex outside of marriage that's the sin. The baby is not the issue. NOT having the baby via abortion is the immoral act. That was a poorly framed question.

[ICX]

Your tagline is AWESOME. I'm a huge Sealab fan.

[TomEwall]

It's interesting that polygamy is as socially acceptable as having an affair. The cloning animals one surprised me too.

[DarkSavant]

Not a bad tagline yourself :-P

[stuartcr]

Just goes to show that it's pretty much relative.

[weegee]

Note: Having a baby without being married is not immoral. That's silly. It's the sex outside of marriage that's the sin. The baby is not the issue. NOT having the baby via abortion is the immoral act. That was a poorly framed question.

True, the question is poorly framed. It is just an outward sign of an already immoral act, unmarried sex, (and a sign of refusal to commit another immoral act, abortion).

Perhaps the resistance at finding a suitable husband, whether the man fathered the child or not, could be construed as an immoral act. "Murphy Brown" wanted a child but not a husband/father. That is a selfish act and actress Candice Bergen later agreed with that assessment.

[Little Bill]

Buying and wearing clothing made of animal fur 57, Medical testing on animals 54, The death penalty 47.

I approve of these things, I Do Not approve of the rest

I think that we should do medical testing on Liberals, they want to live for ever, rather than Gods allotted span.

[tom h]

"It's interesting that polygamy is as socially acceptable as having an affair. "

A better conclusion is that 7% of the populace are off the scale in their sexual mores.

[RatSlayer]

OK, here's what I don't understand:

Why is that those 42% of the people that don't have a problem with homosexuality, do have a problem with polygamy?

Why don't they just consider it a "multisexual" marriage?

BTW, this also confirms my believe that all the pro-homosexual tolerance types are actually huge hypocrites and very intolerant of other peoples choices when it doesn't agree with their own.

[Zack Nguyen]

This polling data is interesting but makes little sense in one section. "Suicide" is deemed morally wrong by an overwhelming majority; "doctor-assisted suicide" is morally correct. Is it because the latter has been politicized, and liberals have therefore taken a stand in favor of it.