Issues a majority of Americans see as morally acceptable
Percent of U.S. adults, Gallup moral issues poll, 2021 (in percent)
Key finding
Highest: Birth control (90%). Lowest: Medical testing on animals (52%).
- Birth control: 90%
- Divorce: 79%
- Sex between an unmarried man and woman: 73%
Source: Lifeway Research, What’s Moral? Americans’ Views Keep Changing · Gallup's latest study on Americans' views of morally acceptable or wrong issues. Article published 2021-06-28.
See all 11 categories, the full chart and more
Free account: full chart, CSV and PNG downloads, ready-to-paste citation, branded share image, and a discussion question for your team.
Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Highest: Birth control (90%). Lowest: Medical testing on animals (52%). Birth control: 90%. Divorce: 79%. Sex between an unmarried man and woman: 73%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2021. Source: Lifeway Research, What’s Moral? Americans’ Views Keep Changing (https://research.lifeway.com/2021/06/28/whats-moral-americans-views-keep-changing/).
Where can I get the full data and a citation?
Create a free Leader Insights account to open the full chart, download CSV or PNG, copy a citation and save the statistic to your own library.
More Belief & Culture statistics
- Age at which people switched religious identification Lifeway Research, 2026
- Americans' views of Pope Leo XIV Public Religion Research Institute, 2026
- Americans who at least somewhat believe calling is a spiritual experience American Bible Society, 2026
- Adults who do not regularly visit a transcendent space Barna Group, 2022
- Americans' beliefs and spiritual practices Lifeway Research, 2022
- Americans who say prayer can play a role in which team wins a sporting event Lifeway Research, 2022
About this data
Leader Insights collects statistics about U.S. churches from published research by organizations such as Lifeway Research, Barna Group, Springtide, the American Bible Society and PRRI. Every number is checked against the wording of the original source before it is published, and each statistic links back to the study it came from. Figures are reproduced from the publishers named above; see the source for full methodology.