According to a Wall Street Journal-NORC poll published Monday, March 27, what many consider to be Americans’ core values appear to be changing. The poll found things like patriotism and religion have all become significantly less important to Americans in the last 25 years.
The survey polled more than 1,000 people in early March 2023. There was a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points. Here are some of the changes when it comes to what percentage of Americans said certain core values were “very important”:
- Patriotism: 70% in 1998, 61% in 2019, 38% in 2023.
- Religion: 62% in 1998, 48% in 2019, 39% in 2023.
- Having children: 59% in 1998, 43% in 2019, 30% in 2023.
- Community involvement: 47% in 1998, 62% in 2019, 27% in 2023.
“These differences are so dramatic, it paints a new and surprising portrait of a changing America,” pollster Bill McInturff said. “Perhaps the toll of our political division, COVID and the lowest economic confidence in decades is having a startling effect on our core values.’’
One value that saw an increase in Americans rating it as “very important” is money. 31% of Americans rated money as very important in 1998. 43% did the same in 2023.
Straight Arrow News aims to identify when stories are being underreported on either side of the political aisle and media landscape. This story is a Media Miss for left-leaning outlets, with most sources reporting it being right-leaning outlets, according to Ground.News.
