WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' views of the moral acceptability of five of the 20 behaviors 优蜜传媒tracks annually have fallen significantly since last year, with each dropping between six and nine percentage points.
Those behaviors include using birth control (83%), having a baby outside of marriage (58%), gambling (57%), sex between teenagers (35%) and cloning animals (27%). Birth control, gambling and cloning animals have all hit record lows this year after holding relatively steady throughout most of the trend.
These findings are from Gallup’s May 1-17 Values and Beliefs poll, which has asked Americans annually since 2001 whether they consider a range of behaviors and practices to be morally acceptable or morally wrong.
Birth Control, Divorce Most Morally Acceptable; Affairs, Cloning Humans Least
Along with birth control, having a baby outside of marriage and gambling, majorities of Americans view six other behaviors as morally acceptable. These include divorce (74%), sex between unmarried people (65%), gay or lesbian relations (62%), medical research using stem cells from human embryos (59%), buying clothing made of animal fur (57%), and the death penalty (52%).
At the same time, in addition to sex between teenagers, majorities of 57% to 89% say seven behaviors are morally wrong: extramarital affairs, cloning humans, polygamy, suicide, cloning animals, pornography and changing one’s gender.
Americans’ views are more divided on abortion, doctor-assisted suicide and medical testing on animals. While a 49% plurality of U.S. adults say abortion is morally acceptable — down from the high of 54% in 2024 — 41% think it is morally wrong. Views on doctor-assisted suicide and medical testing on animals are nearly evenly split.
In addition to birth control, gambling and cloning animals, three other behaviors — the death penalty, medical testing on animals and changing one’s gender — are at record-low points in moral acceptability.
优蜜传媒has measured opinions on 16 of these 20 issues since the early 2000s. Since birth control was added in 2012, it has topped the list as most morally acceptable. Meanwhile, extramarital affairs and cloning humans have typically been the least morally acceptable behaviors throughout the trend.
Largest Partisan Gaps on Moral Acceptability of Abortion, Changing Gender
For 14 of the 20 behaviors measured, significantly more Democrats than Republicans say each is morally acceptable, though the gaps vary widely. Democrats are 55 percentage points more likely than Republicans to find abortion and changing one's gender morally acceptable. The partisan gap on gay or lesbian relations is not far behind, at 46 points. Differences of 24 to 38 points are seen in views on doctor-assisted suicide, teenage sex, premarital sex, having a baby outside of marriage, pornography, embryonic stem cell research and suicide.
In contrast, Republicans are considerably more likely than Democrats to find three behaviors acceptable. These include the death penalty (with a 43-point partisan gap), buying and wearing clothing made of animal fur (23 points), and medical testing on animals (eight points).
Independents’ views are most distinctive on the issue of polygamy, with 27% of this group versus 17% of Democrats and 7% of Republicans calling it morally acceptable.
While Democrats are the most likely to find birth control, divorce and gambling morally acceptable, majorities of all three party groups agree. At the other end of the spectrum, extramarital affairs, cloning humans and cloning animals draw similarly low acceptability across party lines.
Independents’ views of the moral acceptability of six behaviors have declined meaningfully over the past year. Their acceptance of divorce is down by 14 points, having a baby outside of marriage and gambling by 13 points each, birth control and pornography by 11 points each, and embryonic stem cell research by nine points.
Over the same period, Democrats have become significantly less likely to say three behaviors are acceptable: cloning animals (down 13 points), changing one’s gender (down 11 points) and polygamy (down 10 points). Among Republicans, views of the acceptability of teenage sex have dropped by 15 points, while divorce has risen 12 points.
Bottom Line
Over the past two decades, Americans have grown generally more accepting of most of the behaviors measured by Gallup, which include those associated with sex, marriage, and certain medical and end-of-life issues. However, this trend toward more permissive attitudes has largely plateaued or pulled back in recent years, though acceptance levels on most behaviors remain higher than they were 25 years ago.
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