Word: yankelovich
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...moral dilemma of abortion divides the American people, just as their elected representatives are divided (the vote in the House last week was 181 to 167). According to a TIME Yankelovich poll, 64% of the public believe that a woman should be free to have an abortion if she wants one. But 58% agree with Jimmy Carter ("Life is unfair") that public funds should not be used for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or where a woman's life is in danger...
...general, it is clear that the traditional moral system has widespread support. But whether this is a yearning for more conservative moral times or simply the persistence of attitudes that were widely thought to have faded is less apparent. The Yankelovich survey asked people whether their own views about morality had become more liberal or more conservative in the past few years. In response, 42% said there had been no change, 41% said they had become more liberal and 15% said they had become more conservative. It is difficult to measure such changes exactly, but even after ie process...
...only do most Americans now oppose laws against abortion or homosexuals, the Yankelovich poll shows but they are against all Government prohibitions on sexual behavior...
...reflect the views of the pollsters. Perhaps the most significant such survey, however, is one taken in 1970 by the Kinsey Institute (officially the Institute for Sex Research), which is being used as the basis of a book entitled American Sexual Standards, to be published next year. Like the Yankelovich survey, the Kinsey study of 3,000 people showed a substantial majority (72% to 87%) disapproving of adultery, homosexuality, prostitution and casual sex among adolescents. "What really surprised us," Colin J. Williams, coauthor of the study, told TIME, "was that there existed such a hard-core bunch of conservatives...
...hard to determine exactly how a society acquires or changes such attitudes about itself. The processes of legislature and law move slowly. One unmistakable new element on the scene, however, is President Jimmy Carter, whom 53% of the Yankelovich respondents regarded as providing "strong moral leadership" (13% found him "too righteous"). Carter's influence may take some personal twists, like urging Government employees "who are living in sin" to get married (four of his top aides have done so since his election). On the other hand, the President's personal views can have major political significance...