Pew: Americans ‘more likely’ to disapprove of own nation’s morals

A new survey by the Pew Research Center shows Americans are “more likely” than those in other nations to raise an eyebrow at the morality of those in their own country.

In contrast, an overwhelming majority of Canadians say the morality and ethics of those in that nation are either “very” or “somewhat good.”

And among a number of nations, extramarital affairs are roundly regarded as immoral.

Pew shared its findings March 5, with data drawn from several nationally representative surveys in the 25 nations, with polling taking place during 2025 and respondents numbering more than 30,000.

Along with the U.S., Canada and Mexico, Pew included in its survey various European, Asian and South American nations, as well as Australia.

The survey examined moral responses to nine different behaviors: extramarital affairs, abortion, contraception, marijuana use, pornography, homosexuality, divorce, gambling and alcohol consumption.

On most of those, “the U.S. is somewhere in the middle of the pack,” said Pew, with the nation ranking as “neither the country where the highest percentage of adults view each behavior as morally wrong,” nor “the country where the highest percentage say the same behavior is morally acceptable or not a moral issue.”

Pew said that “Christians are often among the most likely to consider each of the nine behaviors to be morally unacceptable,” where data on the views of multiple religious groups is available for analysis.

However, the research firm clarified, “there is enormous variation between Christians in different countries.”

While a majority of Christians in Africa, Latin America and the U.S. hold that abortion is morally wrong, only 40 percent of Christians in Spain and 7 percent in Sweden concur.

Among survey respondents, extramarital affairs “drew the strongest overall disapproval,” said Pew, with a median of 77 percent, and at least half of the adults, across the 25 nations viewing the behavior as morally unacceptable.

In the U.S., 9 out of 10 condemned marital infidelity as immoral, on par with those in Indonesia and Turkey (both 92 percent). Those in Germany (55 percent) and France (53 percent) were “among the least likely” to regard extramarital affairs as morally unacceptable.

Using contraception and getting a divorce, in contrast, “are the most widely accepted of the nine behaviors,” with two-thirds or more of the survey respondents in almost all 25 countries saying such actions were “either morally acceptable or not a moral issue,” Pew found.

The survey identified “extreme variation” among the 25 nations on homosexuality, with those in Nigeria (96 percent), Indonesia (93 percent), Turkey (80 percent) and Kenya (80 percent) overwhelmingly regarding it as morally unacceptable.

Sweden (94 percent), Germany (94 percent), Spain (93 percent) and the Netherlands (91 percent) broadly regarded homosexuality as either morally acceptable or not a moral issue.

In the U.S., 39 percent said homosexuality was morally unacceptable, while 60 percent indicated no moral disapproval.

Gambling also drew a varied response among the survey nations, with Indonesia (89 percent), India (83 percent) and Turkey (81 percent) labeling it morally unacceptable, and the U.S. (70 percent) and Canada (71 percent) having no moral issue with it.

Pew said in most of the nations polled, more people were inclined to have a fairly positive opinion of their fellow residents’ morals.

However, said Pew, “The United States is the only place we surveyed where more adults (ages 18 and older) describe the morality and ethics of others living in the country as bad (53 percent) than as good (47 percent).”

Canadians were far more upbeat about their populace, with 92 percent of respondents from that nation describing fellow residents’ morals as “very” or “somewhat good.”

Pew noted it had never previously posed the question, and couldn’t therefore speculate as to whether U.S. moral skepticism of fellow Americans is longstanding or new — or what lies behind it.

But, said Pew, “partisan politics appear to play a role.”

In separate research, the polling firm Gallup found in 2024 that only 15 percent of Americans rated the nation’s overall morality as “excellent” or “good,” while just under half (49 percent) described it as “poor” and 34 percent called it “only fair.”

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