2006-03-27-皮尤-A_Barometer_of_Modern_Morals_17页_116kb

Summary of Modern American Morals Survey (Pew Research, 2006)

Key Findings

• Highest Moral Disapproval: Tax cheating (88% wrong) and infidelity (88% wrong) drew the most widespread condemnation. Among other behaviors tested, the two behaviors most often judged as "morally wrong" were income tax underreporting (79%) and illicit sex between spouses (88%).
• Highest Disapproval Compared to Tax Cheating: Infidelity drew slightly more condemnation than tax evasion.
• Lowest Moral Disapproval: Overeating drew the least overall moral disapproval (32% considered wrong), followed by sex between unmarried adults (35%), gambling (35%), and smoking marijuana (50%).
• Modern Moral Compass: Contemporary American morality, as gauged by this survey, often appears divided between two broad groups: socially conservative ones (older, religious, higher income earners) who view a wider range of behaviors as morally wrong, and liberal/progressive ones (unmarried, young, college educated, less religious) who apply fewer moral restraints.
• Partisan Divide: Republicans showed the highest level of moral condemnation (70-80% judged 7+ behaviors wrong), viewing behaviors concerning the family and sex as central to morality. Democrats and Independents showed much lower moral condemnation overall, with Independents being the least inclined to view the surveyed behaviors negatively.

Behavior Comparisons

• Illicit Sex vs Tax Fraud: Cheating on taxes received an almost identical judgment (~79%) to having an illicit affair, whereas gay sex received half the judgment (51%).
• Group Comparisons:
  • Only infidelity received a worse moral seal than tax fraud.
  • Reporting a lie to spare feelings (largely rejected by the public) was less morally condemned than gambling, similar to marijuana use, and far more condemned than overeating.

Influencing Factors

• Religion: Frequent churchgoers, white evangelicals, and those with higher incomes showed stronger conservative moral frameworks, condemning more behaviors. Less religious, college-educated, and wealthier individuals (especially $75k+) generally condemned fewer behaviors.
• Age: Older adults were significantly more disapproving of the 10 morally unacceptable behaviors than younger adults.
• Income: Higher income individuals (>$75k) were among the least inclined to condemn behaviors. Higher income correlated with more tolerance or fewer labels for "wrong."
• Region: Southerners were most likely to judge all behaviors as morally wrong compared to residents of other regions.
• "Not a Moral Issue": More people (especially among less traditionalist groups) felt many behaviors were "not a moral issue" rather than morally acceptable, particularly for overeating, gambling, and sex between unmarried adults.

Notable Comparisons

• Tax vs Drugs: Cheating taxes is considered (79%) nearly as bad as having an affair, much worse than smoking (50%) or telling a lie (43%) to spare feelings, but less than sometimes labeled (though still a majority, 61%) for chronic alcohol abuse. Conservatives found excess drinking much more objectionable.

Core Question

The study assessed how broadly public opinion could be measured on a diverse set of issues by examining moral judgments across a wide spectrum of behaviors defined as deviant.