Americans identify as conservative at highest levels since 2012

More Americans identify as conservative in 2023 than have done so since 2012, according to a recent survey.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents identified as conservative on social issues, compared to 31% who described themselves as moderate and 29% who identified as liberal in a Gallup survey.

The survey has not shown comparable levels of self-identified conservatism since 2012.

Much of the surge in social conservatism has come from Republicans, with the number of self-identified "very conservative/conservative" Republicans rising from 60% in 2021, to 68% in 2022, before reaching 74% in 2023.

Independents, meanwhile, have shown a more modest, but still consistent, swing rightward. In 2021, 24% considered themselves "very conservative/conservative" while that figure rose to 26% in 2022. In 2023, the number stood at 29%.

Conservative Democrats remained more consistent in that period, hovering around 10% during the same period.

The surge in conservatism has affected nearly all age brackets, with only those aged 65+ posting a 1% decline in conservatism from 2021 to the present. In that same interval, those aged 18-29 trend six points rightward while those aged 30-49 did so by a 13-point margin. Individuals aged 50-64 shifted 11 points more conservative.

Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs survey was conducted May 1-24.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.