Americans Think Their Neighbors Are Bad People
12 hours ago
- #affective-polarization
- #moral-contempt
- #trust-crisis
- Americans are the only surveyed nationality where a majority (53%) believe their fellow citizens have bad morals and ethics, unlike other countries where majorities see their compatriots as morally good.
- This moral contempt is worse than mere distrust; it reflects a deeper civilizational judgment where citizens see each other as morally deficient rather than just politically opposed.
- Affective polarization in the U.S. has led partisans to dehumanize and morally condemn members of opposing parties, with this contempt now generalized to the broader population.
- Americans are not unusually judgmental about specific behaviors (e.g., marijuana, gambling) but are unusually harsh in judging people, suggesting moral evaluations are more about identity than ethics.
- Younger Americans (18-39) are more likely to view their fellow citizens as morally bad (57%) and are less trusting, with generational trends showing declining trust and increasing moral contempt over time.
- Moral contempt undermines social and institutional trust, making reform difficult as citizens dismiss the possibility of good faith cooperation from 'bad' people.
- The combination of political sorting, fragmented media, and motivated reasoning has created a default setting of moral contempt, making collective action and policy debates harder.
- The U.S. is unique among surveyed democracies in having a majority of its population hold a pessimistic view of their fellow citizens' morality.