Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. Visit us at pewresearch.org
While bullying existed long before the internet, the rise of smartphones and social media has brought a new and more public arena into play for this aggressive behavior. 46% of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 report ever experiencing at least one of six cyberbullying behaviors we asked about in our survey conducted April 14 - May 4, 2022.
Of the six cyberbullying behaviors we asked about, the most commonly reported behavior teens say they’ve experienced is name-calling, with 32% saying they have been called an offensive name online or on their cellphone.
Periods of catastrophe and anxiety, such as the coronavirus pandemic, have historically led some people to anticipate that the destruction of the world as we know it – the “end times” – is near.
In the United States, 39% of adults say they believe “we are living in the end times,” while 58% say they do not believe we are living in the end times, according to our recent survey.
Christians are divided on this question, with 47% saying we are living in the end times while 49% say we are not. Among those who are religiously unaffiliated, 75% say we are not living in the end times, compared with 23% who say we are.
While most of the 19 countries surveyed believe social media has had a positive impact on democracy, there are substantial cross-national differences on this question and the United States is a clear outlier.
Just 34% of U.S. adults think social media has been good for democracy, while 64% say it has had a bad impact. In fact, the U.S. is an outlier on a number of measures, with larger shares of Americans seeing social media as divisive.
An overwhelming share of U.S. adults (88%) say either that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use by adults (59%) or that it should be legal for medical use only (30%). Just one-in-ten (10%) say marijuana use should not be legal, according to a survey conducted Oct. 10-16, 2022. These views are virtually unchanged since April 2021.
Society has long fretted about technology’s impact on youth. But unlike radio and television, the hyperconnected nature of social media has led to new anxieties, including worries that these platforms may be negatively impacting teenagers’ mental health.
Despite these concerns, teens themselves paint a more nuanced picture of adolescent life on social media. It is one in which majorities credit these platforms with deepening connections and providing a support network when they need it, while smaller – though notable – shares acknowledge the drama and pressures that can come along with using social media, according to a survey of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 conducted April 14 to May 4, 2022.
Eight-in-ten teens say that what they see on social media makes them feel more connected to what’s going on in their friends’ lives, while 71% say it makes them feel like they have a place where they can show their creative side. And 67% say these platforms make them feel as if they have people who can support them through tough times. A smaller share – though still a majority – say the same for feeling more accepted.
Large majorities of Americans value government investments in scientific enterprise, but few believe the pace of scientific development in the U.S. outstrips that of other countries around the world. Just 14% of U.S. adults think the U.S. is gaining ground on other countries in its scientific achievements, while 38% think the U.S. is losing ground, and 47% say it is staying in about the same place relative to other countries.
54% of Americans say it is very important for the U.S. to be a world leader in scientific achievements. 37% say this is somewhat important, and 8% say it is not too or not at all important.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, a hot war between Russia and Ukraine ongoing, inflation rates rising globally and heat records being smashed across parts of the world, countries are facing a wide variety of challenges in 2022.
Among the many threats facing the globe, climate change stands out as a strong concern among citizens in advanced economies. A median of 75% across 19 countries label global climate change as a major threat. Majorities in most countries surveyed also view the spread of false information online, cyberattacks from other countries, the condition of the global economy and the spread of infectious diseases as major threats to their nations.
The share of young adults in the United States who are living with a parent has grown considerably in recent decades, a trend that many Americans see as bad for society, according to a survey conducted in October 2021.
Over a third of Americans (36%) say that more young adults living with their parents is bad for society, while 16% say it is good for society. Nearly half of Americans (47%) say it doesn’t make a difference.
In July 2022, half of adults ages 18 to 29 were living with one or both of their parents. This was down from a recent peak of 52% in June 2020 but still significantly higher than the share who were living with their parents in 2010 (44% on average that year) or 2000 (38% on average).
Partisan polarization has long been a fact of political life in the United States, but deeply negative views of the opposing party are far more widespread than in the past.
Increasingly, Republicans and Democrats view not just the opposing party but also the people in that party in a negative light. Growing shares in each party now describe those in the other party as more closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent than other Americans.
Perhaps the most striking change is the extent to which partisans view those in the opposing party as immoral. In 2016, about half of Republicans (47%) and slightly more than a third of Democrats (35%) said those in the other party were a lot or somewhat more immoral than other Americans. Today, 72% of Republicans regard Democrats as more immoral, and 63% of Democrats say the same about Republicans.
Should journalists always strive to give equal coverage to all sides of an issue? Journalists in the United States differ markedly from the general public in their views on this question. U.S. adults overall are much more likely than U.S. journalists to say that journalists should always strive to give all sides of an issue equal coverage, while U.S. journalists are much more likely than the general public to say that every side *does not* always deserve equal coverage in the news.
Surging inflation has taken a bite out of U.S. workers’ “real earnings” – the amount of money a worker makes after adjusting for inflation. This is especially the case for workers who have remained with the same employer. In recent months, most of them have experienced real wage losses compared with the year before. Meanwhile, most workers who switched employers have seen increases in their real earnings on a year-over-year basis, with the median worker seeing an increase of 9.7% most recently.
Black Americans are less likely than White or Hispanic Americans to believe that the widespread use of facial recognition technology will make policing fairer. Only 22% of Black adults say it will make policing fairer, while 29% say it will make policing less fair and about half say it will make no difference. Hispanic and White Americans are more likely than Black Americans to say the widespread use of this technology will make policing fairer (40% and 36% say this, respectively).
With public views of the nation’s economy at their most negative in years, Joe Biden’s political standing is at the lowest point of his presidency: 37% of U.S. adults say they approve of how he is handling his job as president while 62% disapprove.
Additionally, more than half of Americans say Biden’s policies have hurt the economy. Just 11% say his policies have improved the economy, while 32% say they have not had much of an effect.
As levels of public concern over the coronavirus outbreak recede, Americans offer a lackluster evaluation of how the country has balanced priorities during the outbreak. A majority of U.S. adults say the country has given too little priority to meeting the educational needs of K-12 students since the outbreak first took hold in February 2020. Assessments of the nation’s response across other domains are little better: Fewer than half of Americans say the country has done about the right amount to support quality of life and economic activity or to protect public health.
57% of Americans disapprove of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling overturning the Roe v. Wade decision (41% approve of the decision). Meanwhile, public support for legal abortion remains largely unchanged since before the decision, with 62% saying it should be legal in all or most cases.
