For the first time more Americans identify as “socially liberal” than conservative, revealing a huge double-digit swing over the past two decades.
Gallup reveals 34% of Americans now say they are socially liberal, 30% conservative, and 35% identify as moderate.
But as the pollster notes, starting in 2001 “social conservatives had a clear advantage over social liberals — by 12 points, on average.” That started to change in 2013, and now socially liberal has pulled ahead, representing a huge 16 point swing from 2001 to 2021.
Americans’ “self-described economic views,” Gallup finds, “have remained predominantly conservative over the past two decades.”
In a separate report this month Gallup looked at views on sex and marriage, finding Americans increasingly “tolerant.”
“Views that gay and lesbian relations are morally acceptable have increased from 40% to 69%, having a baby outside of marriage from 45% to 67%, sex between an unmarried man and woman from 53% to 73%, divorce from 59% to 79%, polygamy from 7% to 20%, and sex between teenagers from 32% to 43%. (All but one of these issues were first rated between 2001-2003; the baseline for sex between teenagers is 2013).”
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