There’s widespread apprehension among Americans: They overwhelmingly decry political violence, saying it is unacceptable.
Yet they also think it will increase in the coming years.
Notably, Americans of all political stripes say violence is unacceptable; there’s no meaningful difference between views of partisans on this. There are some differences according to age, though, with older Americans especially likely to call political violence unacceptable, and they do almost universally.
This concern is not entirely new and has even increased over recent years.
Concern over political violence also relates to a majority’s pessimism that people of different political stripes can come together.
It does, however, stand in contrast to a generally positive view that most hold about people, apart from politics: that they do get along, but that politics drives them apart.
Older Americans are more likely to think people get along than younger ones. This may be a generational difference, marked by more time spent before a hyper-partisan era; older Americans are even more likely than younger ones to say civility has gotten worse over time.
At the same time, we aren’t all talking to each other.
Fewer than half feel comfortable publicly expressing political views. Half the public says they almost never have a political discussion with someone who holds different views. Most say they never have such an interaction online (perhaps because people can readily self-select into groups that agree with them.) And only one in 10 hold such conversations a lot.
The number who report talking in person to people with different political views is lower than it was four years ago.
That may be partly because there’s a perception about negative outcomes for people who do express views publicly.
In general, most think doing so can lead to insults, to threats, or employment problems just as much — if not more than — more positive outcomes, like finding others who share those views, or building support.
Majorities of Americans of all ages and across the political spectrum say they don’t feel American culture and society respects them. But those who are more comfortable publicly expressing political opinions are more likely to feel that society does respect them.
Relatedly, big majorities across party lines say the tone and civility of politics has gotten worse. This, too, is not new. Americans have overwhelmingly felt this in recent years, when asked.
When partisans look at the other side of the aisle, do they see political opposition, or enemies? Mostly, it’s opposition, not enemies. But that’s not universal. Just under half of Democrats say Republicans, when they win, threaten their way of life, much as they said four years ago. Just over a third of Republicans see Democrats as enemies, and that’s a little fewer than thought so four years ago; at the time, Democrats had more sway in Washington than they do today.
And in sum, there is majority pessimism right now that Americans can put aside political views and work out their differences. That pessimism spans party lines, though Republicans are relatively more optimistic than Democrats – and younger Americans are somewhat more optimistic than older ones.
This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,489 U.S. adults interviewed between September 30-October 2, 2025. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.2 points.
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