Patriotism in freefall: Only 39% of US adults and 18% of young people are “extremely proud” to be American
Patriotism in freefall: Only 39% of US adults and 18% of young people are “extremely proud” to be American
- Only 39 percent of adults expressed “extreme” pride in the United States, says Gallup
- Among younger adults, less than a fifth are strongly patriotic
- Read about the large number of Americans calling for the January 6th bombers to be pardoned
A new poll shows Americans are becoming less and less interested in being American.
Gallup researchers found that the proportion of US adults who feel proud of their country has been steadily declining for two decades.
Currently, just 39 percent say they are “extremely proud” to be an American.
Of young adults between the ages of 18 and 34, only 18 percent say they are extremely proud of their nationality.
Gallup said patriotism has hit an all-time low, suggesting it’s related to the country’s increasingly partisan politics.
Party affiliation undoubtedly also plays a role, researchers said.
Protesters against anti-LGBTQ laws in Los Angeles this month adopted a sentence from the US Constitution
The proportion of US adults who are proud of their country has been steadily declining for two decades
A full 60 percent of Republicans say they are extremely proud to be an American, compared to just 29 percent of Democrats.
“Pride in one’s national identity continues to differ most among partisans, with more Republicans than Democrats saying they are proud,” Gallup said in a statement.
“However, age is almost as important a factor, with younger adults in all party groups showing significantly less pride than older adults in each party.”
They found that Republicans tend to be older than Democrats, which partially explains these results.
Attitudes have changed significantly this century as the US was rocked by the 9/11 attacks, the war on terror, its first black president, and the rise of populist and anti-immigrant sentiments.
When pollsters first asked this question in January 2021, a whopping 55 percent of US adults said they were extremely proud to be American.
After the attacks of September 11, 2001, this proportion jumped to almost 70 percent between 2002 and 2004, but began to decrease from 2005 onwards.
As of 2018, less than half of the US population is extremely proud to call themselves American.
Gallup’s latest findings were based on phone interviews conducted in June with more than 1,000 US adults.