Hate Thy Neighbor

Political Distrust Comparisons by Country

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Americans are more likely to think their political opponents—and fellow countrymen—are evil than are adults in other countries. This is the headline-worthy outcome of an international survey by Pew Research.

The usual caveats about opinion polling apply, of course. Nevertheless, Pew Research is largely accepted as measuring something, although what exactly that thing is and its importance can be discussed forever.

From the intro:

Americans are more likely than people in other countries surveyed in 2025 to question the morality of their fellow countrymen, according to Pew Research Center surveys in 25 countries.

We asked people around the world to rate the morality and ethics of others in their country.

In nearly all countries surveyed, more people say that others in their country have somewhat or very good morals than say their compatriots display somewhat or very bad levels of morality.

The United States is the only place we surveyed where more adults (ages 18 and older) describe the morality and ethics of others living in the country as bad (53%) than as good (47%).

The survey was conducted in 25 countries in the spring of last year, as part of Pew’s occasional Global Attitudes Survey.

As to these attitudes about one’s fellows’ morality, several other features are worth noting. If you supported the party in your country that was out of power, you were more likely to think the ruling party’s supporters were less moral. If your party was in power, you had a happier view of your opponents who were out of government, and weren’t as likely to think of them as morally lacking.

Read the whole thing.

In the full survey analysis and discussion, it went into much greater detail on attitudes regarding the morality or immorality of nine different behaviors. These included marital fidelity, homosexuality, abortion, divorce, gambling, marijuana use, alcohol consumption, viewing pornography, and contraception. Here, rather surprisingly, American attitudes were about the middle of the pack in the international comparisons. The comparisons broke down attitudes within each country not only by political affiliation, but also by sex (gender) and religion. “Exhaustive” seems appropriate as a description of the survey.

Informal surveys among CSLF commenters have frequently elicited yawns, eye rolling, and random requests for stiffer drinks.