A Pew Research Center study surveyed adults across 25 countries regarding their views on the morality of various behaviors among their fellow citizens. U.S. adults were among the most likely globally to condemn extramarital affairs as immoral. Only 47% of U.S. adults reported that Americans have "very good" or "somewhat good" morals and ethics, the lowest percentage among all surveyed countries. Across the 25 nations surveyed, getting a divorce and using contraception were the most widely accepted behaviors. The study examined moral views on nine specific behaviors, including drinking alcohol, gambling, extramarital affairs, and homosexuality.
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A Pew Research Center report, released in March 2026, surveys adults in 25 countries on perceptions of their fellow citizens' morals and views on nine behaviors: drinking alcohol, gambling, extramarital affairs, marijuana use, pornography, abortion, homosexuality, divorce, and contraception.1 2 3
Data comes from 28,333 adults outside the U.S. (Jan-Apr 2025) and 3,605 U.S. adults via Pew's American Trends Panel (Mar 2025), plus a follow-up U.S. survey of 8,937 adults.1 2 3
Only 47% of U.S. adults rate Americans' morals as "very good" or "somewhat good," the lowest among surveyed nations.1 2 3
Canada and Indonesia top the list at 92% positive views of their own citizens.1 2 3
Extramarital affairs face the widest disapproval, with a 77% median across countries deeming them morally unacceptable; at least half in every nation agree.1 2 3
U.S. adults (90%) match high disapproval rates in Indonesia and Turkey (92%), contrasting Europe's lower rates like Germany (55%) and France (53%).1 2 3
Divorce (12% global view as wrong) and contraception (8%) are most accepted overall.1 2 3
India (65%) and Nigeria (55%) are outliers opposing divorce.1 2 3
No international consensus exists on most behaviors.1 2 3
Abortion is unacceptable to 50%+ in Latin America/Africa, but accepted or neutral in Europe; U.S. splits at 47% unacceptable.1 2 3
Homosexuality draws 39% U.S. disapproval (vs. 5% in Germany/Sweden), but 93-96% in Indonesia/Nigeria.1 2 3
Americans are most accepting of marijuana (23% unacceptable) and gambling (29%), below 40% disapproval unlike many nations.1 2 3
Alcohol draws minimal U.S. concern (16%), versus 83% in Indonesia; Australia/Sweden at 7%.1 2 3
Democrats (60%) are more likely than Republicans (46%) to see U.S. morals negatively.1 2 3
Religious importance correlates with stricter views; Protestants exceed Catholics on homosexuality disapproval (U.S.: 59% vs. 34%).1 2 3
Christians vary regionally: majorities in Africa/Latin America/U.S. oppose abortion, but Europe ranges 7-40%.1 2 3
Women more often deem pornography wrong across countries; men lead on homosexuality concerns.1 2 3
Older adults (40+) consistently view behaviors like marijuana as more unacceptable than youth, e.g., twice as likely in Germany.1 2 3
Evaluate Catholic moral teachings on divorce and contraception
Catholic teaching unequivocally affirms the indissolubility of sacramental marriage, rooted in natural law and divine institution, as a lifelong covenant mirroring Christ's unbreakable union with the Church. Divorce constitutes a grave offense against the natural law, attempting to sever the contract to which spouses consented until death, thereby injuring the salvific covenant signified by marriage. Civil divorce does not dissolve the sacramental bond; it may provide legal protection or separation in grave circumstances but leaves the spouses unbound to remarry, as remarriage places one in public and permanent adultery.
Divorce granted by courts of justice or by any human power does not break the bond of marriage, and one who makes use of such a divorce to marry again while the former husband or wife lives commits a sacrilege and lives in the sin of adultery.
The Church permits legal separation for serious reasons, such as protecting a spouse or children, without stigma, but emphasizes support for the divorced while upholding the bond's permanence. This aligns with Gospel radicalism: "A wife must not separate from her husband... Similarly, a husband must not divorce his wife" (1 Cor 7:10-11), rendering new civil unions illegitimate. Historical sources like the Baltimore Catechism highlight divorce's evils, including disregard for the sacrament, harm to children's spiritual welfare, erosion of family, and moral decay.
St. Thomas Aquinas, in scholarly analysis, contextualizes divorce historically under Mosaic law as a concession to hardness of heart to prevent greater evils like murder, not as ideal but permitted to mitigate sin's guilt temporarily. Under the New Law, even fornication (adultery) justifies separation but not dissolution, with spouses judged equally regarding fidelity though unequally regarding offspring's good. This underscores equality in obligation while noting adultery's gravity against marriage's goods of fidelity and procreation.
Contraception is intrinsically evil and irreformable doctrine, gravely opposing marital chastity by intentionally rendering the marital act unfruitful, contradicting its procreative good and spouses' total self-giving (unitive aspect). It deforms the sexual act's natural meaning, fostering irresponsible cohabitation and self-gratification over self-sacrificing love.
The Church has always taught the intrinsic evil of contraception, that is, of every marital act intentionally rendered unfruitful. This teaching is to be held as definitive and irreformable.
Church documents affirm this via natural law: contraception separates what God united in the conjugal act, manipulating human sexuality and falsifying total reciprocal self-gift. Natural Family Planning (NFP) is licit, respecting bodily cycles without altering them, fostering attentiveness and openness to life. Societal impacts are profound: contraception correlates with premarital sex, adultery, divorce, STDs, cohabitation, out-of-wedlock births, and abortion, as the "contraceptive mentality" treats life as an obstacle.
The negative values inherent in the "contraceptive mentality"... are such that they in fact strengthen this temptation [to abortion] when an unwanted life is conceived.
Distinctions clarify: contraception prevents conception (different from abortion, which kills), yet they are "fruits of the same tree," with some methods (e.g., certain pills) potentially abortifacient. Historical consensus across Christian denominations until 1930 reinforces this, rejecting majority opinion as normative for morality.
Scholarly works link contraception to sacramental grace: it undermines marriage's totality of self-gift, as spouses become "arbiters" of God's plan.
These doctrines cohere seamlessly within Catholic moral theology, grounded in Scripture (e.g., Mt 19:6; 1 Cor 7), Tradition, and natural law, prioritizing marriage's goods: unity, fidelity, offspring, and sacramental grace. Strengths include anthropological depth—affirming human dignity, responsible parenthood, and openness to God's sovereignty—and prophetic foresight on societal harms like family breakdown. Controversies, such as Humanae Vitae's reception or divorce/remarriage pastoral care, arise from cultural pressures, not doctrinal ambiguity; higher magisterial sources (CCC, papal encyclicals) prevail over scholarly nuances.
Nuances exist: separation aids the vulnerable without dissolving bonds; NFP distinguishes moral regulation from contraception. No black-and-white absolutism denies mercy—confessors guide with truth and compassion—but indissolubility and contraception's evil remain non-negotiable. Recency favors post-Vatican II affirmations (e.g., 1992 CCC, 1995 EV), consistent with Aquinas's principles.
In sum, these teachings robustly defend marriage as a path to holiness, challenging hedonism while offering grace-filled alternatives.