People today are more accepting of things like same-sex couples and sex between an unmarried man and woman than they were 15 years ago, according to a new Gallup poll.
The biggest shift happened on “gay and lesbian relations,” which is now seen as morally acceptable by 63 percent of people in 2015, compared to just 40 percent of Americans in 2001.
Sixty-eight percent of those polled see sex between unmarried people as morally acceptable, up from 53 percent in 2001. Divorce is now seen as acceptable by 71 percent, up from 59 percent.
Having a baby outside of marriage is also accepted by most. Today, 61 percent of people polled are fine with this, compared to 45 percent in 2001.
All of the changes in all other moral issues have been toward a moral liberal direction. The only behaviors in the poll that have become less morally acceptable over the last 15 years were the death penalty and medical testing on animals.
“This liberalization of attitudes toward moral issues is part of a complex set of factors affecting the social and cultural fabric of the U.S.,” Gallup said. “Regardless of the factors causing the shifts, the trend toward a more liberal view on moral behaviors will certainly have implications for such fundamental social institutions as marriage, the environment in which children are raised and the economy.”
“The shifts could also have a significant effect on politics, with candidates whose positioning is based on holding firm views on certain issues having to grapple with a voting population that, as a whole, is significantly less likely to agree with conservative positions than it might have been in the past.”
The poll of roughly 1,000 U.S. adults was conducted May 6-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
