More Americans are now identifying as socially and economically conservative than at any point in more than a decade, a new Gallup poll has found.
According to the poll, 38% of Americans say they are conservative on social issues, up from 33% last year and 30% in 2021. That is the highest percentage since 2012, when the same number of Americans identified as such.
Americans identifying as liberal dropped significantly, falling to 29% from 34% in both 2022 and 2021. Those identifying as moderate made up 31% of survey participants.
When broken down by political affiliation, Republicans had the largest swing towards conservatism with 74% saying they identified as socially conservative. That number was 68% in 2022 and 60% in 2021.
Independents went in the same direction with 29% identifying as socially conservative, up from 26% in 2022 and 24% in 2021. Democrats continued to hover at around 10%.
Americans aged 18-29 also saw a big swing towards conservatism with 30% identifying as socially conservative, up from 26% in 2022 and 24% in 2021. Americans aged 30-49 and 50-64 trended in the same direction, with the former moving up to 35% from 27% in 2022 and 22% in 2021, and the latter up to 46% from 36% in 2022 and 35% in 2021.
Those identifying as economically conservative also hit its highest point since 2012, reaching 44%. Those identifying as moderate were at 33% and liberal at 21%.
In terms of political affiliation, 79% of Republicans said they identified as economically conservative, while 36% of independents and 16% of Democrats said the same.
The poll’s findings come as the nation continues to grapple with efforts from the left to push transgender ideology on American society. Conservatives have sought to counter those efforts with state-level laws banning things like gender transition treatments for children and boycotts against corporations for promoting such ideologies.
