Mormons make up only two percent of the United States population. This is about the same as Jews. Because we are so small, in order to conduct valid survey research, Mormons must be the objective of the study. Otherwise, the sample size would be too small to draw any conclusions from the survey results.
The following results are from quality organizations focusing on Mormons.
This study looked at party affiliation among groups. It focused on long term trends and delved into existing data going back to 1992.
"Nearly half of Mormons (49%) identify as Republicans, compared with just 12% who identify as Democrats; 35% describe themselves as independents. Fully 70% of Mormons identify as Republicans or lean Republican; fewer than a quarter (22%) lean Democratic."More »
Most Americans feel neutral towards Mormons as a religious group. White Mainline Protestants feel the warmest towards Mormons, followed by Catholics and Jews. Closely following them are white Evangelical Protestants and Agnostics. Those with the coolest feelings toward Mormons are Atheists and black Protestants.
Older people feel slightly warmer towards Mormons than younger people. Mormons are viewed most favorably by whites, Hispanics and then blacks.
Republicans and those who lean towards the Republican party feel largely neutral towards Mormons. Democrats and Democratic leaners are cooler towards Mormons than Republicans are.
Less than half of the United States population actually know a Mormon. When people know a person of a particular religion, they generally feel more positive towards the religion.More »
Despite Mitt Romney, a Mormon, running for President of the United States, the Book of Mormon musical's popularity, substantial coverage in mainstream media and a publicity campaign by the Church itself, Americans learned next to nothing about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or its history.
Correct answers to factual questions about Mormons has not increased at all in the past few years, either for Democrats or Republicans.
Public attitudes towards Mormons have increased in some ways and are more positive. This is most evident in white mainline Protestants. They see more common ground with Mormons and are reacting more positively to them. This also holds true for Republicans and Republican leaners.More »
A wide variety of scholars conducted studies on Mormons, especially on volunteering and other aspects of civic life. They verbally presented their findings analyzing them against other research. See the quotes below. Assumptions that can be drawn from the dialog are numbered.
1. Mormons are overwhelmingly conservative Republican.
Greg Smith, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: "Mormons are among the most reliably Republican and ideologically conservative groups in the population."
2. Mormons believe they must provide aid to the needy.
Greg Smith, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: "... Mormons believe that providing aid to the poor and to the needy is a critical part of what it means to be a good Mormon."
3. Mormons do not believe government is the best entity to help provide for the needy.
Greg Smith, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: "I think it’s interesting to point out that Mormons’ deep concern for the poor and their willingness to contribute their own resources to social and charitable causes — this does not necessarily translate into support for government intervention in these areas."
4. Mormons are comfortable contributing to the Church and letting it provide for the needy.
David Campbell, University of Notre Dame: "...Mormons politically are this very conservative group who don’t want government intervention in anything. But when it comes to their church, they’re very comfortable with very dramatic redistribution of wealth."
5. Mormons are pro-social!
Ram Cnaan, University of Pennsylvania: "To conclude, we found a group of people that are most generous in our society. Through their theology of obedience and sacrifice and strong commitment to tithing and service, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints are the most pro-social members in American society."
6. Mormons contribute a staggering amount of money and volunteer time to charitable causes.
Ram Cnaan, University of Pennsylvania: "If you add all the numbers together, you have about 430 hours [annually for Mormons] — and I’m rounding the number — which amounts to 8.2 hours weekly. If I go to the monthly, which is about 36 hours, compare this to the three to four hours [for the average American]. This is the level of how much members of the Latter-day Saints Church are doing — much more than all other members of American society. If we take the value of the hours volunteering for an average member of the Latter-day Saints, it’s about $9,140 annually. This is a major, major contribution."
7. The majority of the money and time is donated to the Church.
David Campbell, University of Notre Dame: "...the vast majority of the volunteering that we find among the Mormon population is actually for the maintenance of the church itself."
8. Even removing the Church from the analyses, Mormons contribute far more to charity than other groups.
Ram Cnaan, University of Pennsylvania: ". . . yes, they do more for religion, but what they do for others is way above what other groups are doing. So you have a group that says, yes, we don’t want the government to provide services — we will do it; we are doing it — where other people just sit idle. And this is what’s very unique about this group."
David Campbell, University of Notre Dame: "...Mormons rank at the top when it comes to volunteering both within their church and beyond the church."
9. Mormons' volunteer and charitable work does not result in them bonding with outside people. It results in them bonding more strongly to each other.
David Campbell, University of Notre Dame: "[Mormons] are bonding with members of their own faith, but arguably at the expense of not bridging to those of other faiths."
10. Mormons do not support same-sex marriage but they do support civil unions.
David Campbell, University of Notre Dame: "Even on the one issue that Mormons are probably most famous or infamous for, gay marriage — even on that issue, you actually find a plurality of Mormons — and I’ve seen this in more than one data set, so it’s not idiosyncratic to any one way of collecting the data — on the issue of gay marriage, a plurality of Mormons actually favor civil unions. So very few Mormons support marriage for homosexuals, but at the same, not all that many Mormons say, I don’t want any legal recognition of homosexual couples. They instead are willing to take the middle ground, civil unions."More »
Fully two-thirds of Mormons identify themselves as conservatives and 74 percent of Mormon registered voters identify themselves as Republican or that they lean Republican.
Desiring smaller government is a conservative trait and 75 percent of Mormons favor smaller government. Highly committed Mormons favor smaller government more than less committed Mormons. Mormons with higher education also favored smaller government in higher proportions than less educated Mormons.
When compared to the general public, Mormons hold distinctly conservative views on cultural and moral issues. Strong majorities of Mormons consider polygamy, abortion, alcohol and sex between unmarried people as morally wrong. The public is equally divided on the morality of abortion, otherwise only a minority of the public classify the rest as morally wrong.
Mormons view the Republican party as more friendly toward Mormons than the Democratic party. Mormon Democrats and Democratic leaners feel both parties are friendly to Mormons in relatively equal proportions.
Mormons overwhelmingly feel the country is ready for a Mormon president. However, Mormon men feel more strongly about this than Mormon women.
For Mormons as a whole, 66 percent identify as conservative, 22 percent as moderate and only 8 percent as liberal. Mormon men are more conservative than Mormon women. Mormons in Western areas are more conservative than Mormons outside these areas.
Highly committed Mormons are more conservative than Mormons who are less committed. Lower committed Mormons are more likely to be Democrats than Republicans. This holds true despite age differences.More »
"Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, are the most conservative major religious group in the country, with 59% identifying as conservative, 31% as moderate, and 8% as liberal."
"A recent Gallup analysis showed that Mormons have the highest percentage identification with the Republican Party of any major religious group."
"The data show that these lapsed Mormons are substantially different in ideology from their fellow Mormons who remain active in the church (as defined by attendance at church services). In fact, lapsed Mormons are essentially no different from all other non-Mormons in terms of their basic ideology."
"... whether a Mormon lives in Utah does not appear to make a significant difference in his or her ideology. The percentage of Mormons living in Utah who are conservative is little different from the conservative percentage among Mormons living elsewhere in the United States."
"Bottom Line: Mormons are both the most Republican and the most conservative of any of the major religious groups in the U.S. today."More »
Over 80 percent of Mormons embrace moral absolutism saying that there is right and wrong. This percentage is higher than the general public or any other religion.
More Mormons identify as Republican or Republican leaning than identify as conservative.
There is only one more politically homogenous group than Mormons. Those attending historically black churches are overwhelmingly Democrat.
Mormons are more conservative Republican than any other group.
In line with conservative views. Mormons would like government to be smaller and less activist, except when it comes to morality.
In foreign affairs, Mormons differ with the general public. They prefer government to be more involved with world affairs and are more likely to favor military action over diplomacy in ensuring peace.
More active Mormons are Republicans. Less active Mormons tend to be Democrats.
Mormons with more education are more Republican than those with less education.
Married Mormons are more likely to be conservative Republicans than unmarried Mormons.More »
The following results are from quality organizations focusing on Mormons.
1. Pew Research Center, April, 2015, A Deep Dive Into Party Affiliation
This study looked at party affiliation among groups. It focused on long term trends and delved into existing data going back to 1992.
"Nearly half of Mormons (49%) identify as Republicans, compared with just 12% who identify as Democrats; 35% describe themselves as independents. Fully 70% of Mormons identify as Republicans or lean Republican; fewer than a quarter (22%) lean Democratic."More »
2. Pew Research Center,July, 2014, How Americans Feel About Religious Groups
Most Americans feel neutral towards Mormons as a religious group. White Mainline Protestants feel the warmest towards Mormons, followed by Catholics and Jews. Closely following them are white Evangelical Protestants and Agnostics. Those with the coolest feelings toward Mormons are Atheists and black Protestants.
Older people feel slightly warmer towards Mormons than younger people. Mormons are viewed most favorably by whites, Hispanics and then blacks.
Republicans and those who lean towards the Republican party feel largely neutral towards Mormons. Democrats and Democratic leaners are cooler towards Mormons than Republicans are.
Less than half of the United States population actually know a Mormon. When people know a person of a particular religion, they generally feel more positive towards the religion.More »
3. Pew Research Center, December, 2012, Americans Learned Little About [LDS]...
Despite Mitt Romney, a Mormon, running for President of the United States, the Book of Mormon musical's popularity, substantial coverage in mainstream media and a publicity campaign by the Church itself, Americans learned next to nothing about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or its history.
Correct answers to factual questions about Mormons has not increased at all in the past few years, either for Democrats or Republicans.
Public attitudes towards Mormons have increased in some ways and are more positive. This is most evident in white mainline Protestants. They see more common ground with Mormons and are reacting more positively to them. This also holds true for Republicans and Republican leaners.More »
4. Pew Research Center, March, 2012, Mormons in Civic Life
A wide variety of scholars conducted studies on Mormons, especially on volunteering and other aspects of civic life. They verbally presented their findings analyzing them against other research. See the quotes below. Assumptions that can be drawn from the dialog are numbered.
1. Mormons are overwhelmingly conservative Republican.
Greg Smith, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: "Mormons are among the most reliably Republican and ideologically conservative groups in the population."
2. Mormons believe they must provide aid to the needy.
Greg Smith, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: "... Mormons believe that providing aid to the poor and to the needy is a critical part of what it means to be a good Mormon."
3. Mormons do not believe government is the best entity to help provide for the needy.
Greg Smith, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: "I think it’s interesting to point out that Mormons’ deep concern for the poor and their willingness to contribute their own resources to social and charitable causes — this does not necessarily translate into support for government intervention in these areas."
4. Mormons are comfortable contributing to the Church and letting it provide for the needy.
David Campbell, University of Notre Dame: "...Mormons politically are this very conservative group who don’t want government intervention in anything. But when it comes to their church, they’re very comfortable with very dramatic redistribution of wealth."
5. Mormons are pro-social!
Ram Cnaan, University of Pennsylvania: "To conclude, we found a group of people that are most generous in our society. Through their theology of obedience and sacrifice and strong commitment to tithing and service, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints are the most pro-social members in American society."
6. Mormons contribute a staggering amount of money and volunteer time to charitable causes.
Ram Cnaan, University of Pennsylvania: "If you add all the numbers together, you have about 430 hours [annually for Mormons] — and I’m rounding the number — which amounts to 8.2 hours weekly. If I go to the monthly, which is about 36 hours, compare this to the three to four hours [for the average American]. This is the level of how much members of the Latter-day Saints Church are doing — much more than all other members of American society. If we take the value of the hours volunteering for an average member of the Latter-day Saints, it’s about $9,140 annually. This is a major, major contribution."
7. The majority of the money and time is donated to the Church.
David Campbell, University of Notre Dame: "...the vast majority of the volunteering that we find among the Mormon population is actually for the maintenance of the church itself."
8. Even removing the Church from the analyses, Mormons contribute far more to charity than other groups.
Ram Cnaan, University of Pennsylvania: ". . . yes, they do more for religion, but what they do for others is way above what other groups are doing. So you have a group that says, yes, we don’t want the government to provide services — we will do it; we are doing it — where other people just sit idle. And this is what’s very unique about this group."
David Campbell, University of Notre Dame: "...Mormons rank at the top when it comes to volunteering both within their church and beyond the church."
9. Mormons' volunteer and charitable work does not result in them bonding with outside people. It results in them bonding more strongly to each other.
David Campbell, University of Notre Dame: "[Mormons] are bonding with members of their own faith, but arguably at the expense of not bridging to those of other faiths."
10. Mormons do not support same-sex marriage but they do support civil unions.
David Campbell, University of Notre Dame: "Even on the one issue that Mormons are probably most famous or infamous for, gay marriage — even on that issue, you actually find a plurality of Mormons — and I’ve seen this in more than one data set, so it’s not idiosyncratic to any one way of collecting the data — on the issue of gay marriage, a plurality of Mormons actually favor civil unions. So very few Mormons support marriage for homosexuals, but at the same, not all that many Mormons say, I don’t want any legal recognition of homosexual couples. They instead are willing to take the middle ground, civil unions."More »
5. Pew Research Center, January, 2012, Mormons in America
Fully two-thirds of Mormons identify themselves as conservatives and 74 percent of Mormon registered voters identify themselves as Republican or that they lean Republican.
Desiring smaller government is a conservative trait and 75 percent of Mormons favor smaller government. Highly committed Mormons favor smaller government more than less committed Mormons. Mormons with higher education also favored smaller government in higher proportions than less educated Mormons.
When compared to the general public, Mormons hold distinctly conservative views on cultural and moral issues. Strong majorities of Mormons consider polygamy, abortion, alcohol and sex between unmarried people as morally wrong. The public is equally divided on the morality of abortion, otherwise only a minority of the public classify the rest as morally wrong.
Mormons view the Republican party as more friendly toward Mormons than the Democratic party. Mormon Democrats and Democratic leaners feel both parties are friendly to Mormons in relatively equal proportions.
Mormons overwhelmingly feel the country is ready for a Mormon president. However, Mormon men feel more strongly about this than Mormon women.
For Mormons as a whole, 66 percent identify as conservative, 22 percent as moderate and only 8 percent as liberal. Mormon men are more conservative than Mormon women. Mormons in Western areas are more conservative than Mormons outside these areas.
Highly committed Mormons are more conservative than Mormons who are less committed. Lower committed Mormons are more likely to be Democrats than Republicans. This holds true despite age differences.More »
6. Gallup, January, 2010, Mormons Most Conservative Major Religious Group in U.S.
"Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, are the most conservative major religious group in the country, with 59% identifying as conservative, 31% as moderate, and 8% as liberal."
"A recent Gallup analysis showed that Mormons have the highest percentage identification with the Republican Party of any major religious group."
"The data show that these lapsed Mormons are substantially different in ideology from their fellow Mormons who remain active in the church (as defined by attendance at church services). In fact, lapsed Mormons are essentially no different from all other non-Mormons in terms of their basic ideology."
"... whether a Mormon lives in Utah does not appear to make a significant difference in his or her ideology. The percentage of Mormons living in Utah who are conservative is little different from the conservative percentage among Mormons living elsewhere in the United States."
"Bottom Line: Mormons are both the most Republican and the most conservative of any of the major religious groups in the U.S. today."More »
7. Pew Research Center, July, 2009, A Portrait of Mormons in the United States
Over 80 percent of Mormons embrace moral absolutism saying that there is right and wrong. This percentage is higher than the general public or any other religion.
More Mormons identify as Republican or Republican leaning than identify as conservative.
There is only one more politically homogenous group than Mormons. Those attending historically black churches are overwhelmingly Democrat.
Mormons are more conservative Republican than any other group.
In line with conservative views. Mormons would like government to be smaller and less activist, except when it comes to morality.
In foreign affairs, Mormons differ with the general public. They prefer government to be more involved with world affairs and are more likely to favor military action over diplomacy in ensuring peace.
More active Mormons are Republicans. Less active Mormons tend to be Democrats.
Mormons with more education are more Republican than those with less education.
Married Mormons are more likely to be conservative Republicans than unmarried Mormons.More »
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