Adults who view transgenderism, the death penalty and animal medical testing as “morally acceptable” fell to record lows in the latest Gallup polling released this week.
The research firm found that just 38% of surveyed adults approved the morality of changing genders, 45% favored animal testing and 52% endorsed capital punishment — all low points in annual polls conducted since 2001.
Gallup noted the moral standing of an additional five out of the 20 behaviors measured in the questionnaire “fell significantly” in the past year: 83% of adults professed belief in the ethics of birth control, 58% in having a baby outside of marriage, 57% in gambling, 35% in sex between teenagers and 27% in cloning animals.
“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,” Megan Brenan, Gallup’s senior editor, wrote in a summary of the findings.
“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,” she added.
Majorities of 57% to 89% described eight behaviors as “morally wrong” in the survey: suicide, polygamy, pornography, extramarital affairs, cloning humans, cloning animals, sex between teens and changing one’s gender.
Views on abortion, animal testing and physician-assisted suicide were more split. The survey found that 49% of participating adults viewed abortion as morally acceptable, down from a high of 54% in 2024, and 41% viewed it as morally wrong. The remaining 10% said they didn’t know or it “depends on the situation.”
Self-identified Democrats were significantly likelier than Republicans to find abortion, pornography, teenage sex, assisted suicide, premarital sex, gender transitions, LGBTQ relationships, embryonic stem cell research and having a baby out of wedlock morally acceptable.
Republicans were likelier than Democrats to view the death penalty, animal medical testing and buying or wearing clothing made of animal fur as morally acceptable.
Independents were likelier than Democrats and Republicans to view polygamy as morally acceptable, although majorities of all three groups frowned on it.
Overall, the share of adults deeming pornography, birth control and LGBTQ relationships to be morally acceptable fell by 9 percentage points from 2022.
Gallup did not explain the trends.
Michael New, a professor of social research at the District’s Catholic University of America, said the findings show that “social conservatives have gained in the court of public opinion” in recent years.
“It is difficult to say what is causing this shift in attitudes,” said Mr. New, who was not involved in the survey. “Possibilities include the growing salience of transgender issues and rising church attendance among young adults.”
Gallup conducted a randomized national telephone survey of 1,001 adults on May 1-17. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
