A majority of people all over the world reported that people today are less moral than they used to be; they reported that people in general have declined but that their friends and family have actually improved morally

The Illusion of Moral Decline. Adam Mastroianni. Society for Personality and Social Psychology, conference 2021, Feb 9, 2021. https://whova.com/embedded/subsession/cecli_202103/1447166/1447171

Description: People think that morality has declined, and they appear to be wrong. In nearly 400 public opinion surveys, a majority of people all over the world reported that people today are less moral than they used to be. We confirmed this finding in our own nationally representative survey and found that Americans think decline has been happening at least since their birth. In fact, they believe the decline is so rapid that people today are worse than people were even four years ago. Contrary to expectations, younger participants perceived just as much decline as older participants. In a follow up study, participants reported that people in general have declined but that their friends and family have actually improved morally. These effects were robust across a variety of moral attitudes and behaviors. Finally, a meta-analysis of another 127 nationally representative surveys strongly suggests that the perception of moral decline is an illusion: indicators of morality show essentially zero change over time.