NEW YORK -- Most Americans surveyed in a study released today say rudeness is on the rise in our society and 41 percent admit they too are sometimes a part of the problem. Unhappiness with reckless drivers, cell phone abuse, poor customer service, swearing and litter came from big cities and small towns in all geographic regions as large majorities of Americans say they believe life truly was more civil in the past. And American business is paying a price for the lack of manners - nearly half the people surveyed (46 percent) say bad service drove them out of a store in the past year.

The findings are part of Aggravating Circumstances: A Status Report on Rudeness in America, a nationwide study prepared by Public Agenda, a nonprofit organization dedicated to unbiased public opinion research, for The Pew Charitable Trusts. The study includes responses drawn from 2,013 adults in a random sample national telephone survey conducted in January, and from focus groups conducted in metropolitan Cleveland, Fort Lauderdale, St. Louis, Frisco, TX; Danbury, CT; Fort Lee, NJ; and Berkeley, CA.

Lack of manners for Americans is not whether you confuse the salad fork for the dinner fork, said Deborah Wadsworth, Public Agenda president. It's about the daily assault of selfish, inconsiderate behavior that gets under their skin on the highways, in the office, on TV, in stores and the myriad other settings where they encounter fellow Americans.
Among the report's key findings were that:

• 79 percent of Americans say lack of respect and courtesy should be regarded as a serious national problem; only 19 percent say it should not be viewed as serious given other issues facing society;
• 73 percent believe Americans did treat one another with greater respect in the past; just 21 percent attributed those feelings to a false nostalgia for a past that never existed;
• 62 percent say that witnessing rude and disrespectful behavior bothers them a lot and 52 percent said the residue from such episodes lingers with them for some time afterwards;
• Six in 10 believe the problem is getting worse, and;
• 41 percent confess to having acted rude or disrespectful themselves.

One of the more noteworthy findings in the Public Agenda survey was how little respect rudeness has for boundaries: experiences with bad behavior were virtually the same whether one was from the North or South, rich or poor, living in a big city or a small town.

Public Agenda was originally scheduled to conduct the survey in late September 2001, but because of the September 11 tragedy chose to delay until early this year and to include a section regarding the public's perceptions about the impact of the tragedy on Americans' behavior.

Rude Rules

Presented with a selection of inappropriate behaviors, respondents cited aggressive driving at the top of their lists.

Nearly six in 10 respondents (58 percent) said they often encounter reckless and aggressive drivers on the road and 64 percent believe the problem is getting worse. More than a third (35 percent) admit to the problem themselves. People in focus groups attributed their misbehavior behind the wheel in large part to traffic congestion and the anonymity afforded by driving. As a woman from Cleveland told Public Agenda, When you're in your car, your relationship with the people around you is so impersonal, because you have this shell around you.

Out-of-control parents at youth sport events generated disheartening responses. Of those who watched kids play organized sports in the past year, 71 percent reported seeing parents yell at coaches, referees or players. Two-thirds (67 percent) said such behavior bothered them a lot.

Nearly half the respondents (49 percent) said they often are subjected to loud and annoying cell phone conversations and 40 percent say such behavior bothers them a lot. Only 17 percent of cell phone owners said they had behaved in this manner.

Another downside to modern technology advances comes via the Internet. Nearly four in 10 survey respondents (39 percent) with online access report receiving crude or nasty e-mail or chat room messages over the past year.

The traditional vehicle for crudity -- foul language -- was heard often by 44 percent of the respondents and 56 percent said they were bothered a lot when they heard it. More than a third (36 percent) admitted to using bad language themselves.

Anti-litter campaigns also appear to have their work cut out. Only 27 percent of the respondents said the litter problem has gotten better; 31 percent saw no change and 40 percent said litter has gotten worse.

Customer Disservice

In its quest for greater efficiency, American business appears to have left customer service behind, respondents told Public Agenda. Fully 81 percent said too many stores cut corners on hiring, forcing customers to wait for service. When sales people are on the job, more than three-quarters (77 percent) of the respondents said it was common for sales people to act like the customer is not even there. Adding to the unpleasantry, 74 percent said they often see customers treating sales people rudely.

Nearly half of all Americans (46 percent) said they walked out of a store in the past year after encountering bad service. Higher income respondents (those earning more than $75,000 a year) were even more likely (57 percent) to say they had walked out.

Customer service by phone elicited one of the most negative reactions in the entire survey. Nearly the entire sample-94 percent-said it was very frustrating to call a company and be greeted by a recording rather than a human being.

You get the menu, 'press 1 for this and press 2 for this', a St. Louis woman related. If you stay on the line, 'punch 0, hold and an operator will come on'-and then you get music for 15 minutes, and then you get disgusted and you hang up.

Telemarketing also has few fans. Only 18 percent of the respondents view the calls as a reasonable and effective way to do business, while 77 percent regard them as rude and pushy. (Public Agenda notes in the report that it conducts its telephone surveys by calling people at home in the evening.)

Positive Signs

But the report also found some evidence of positive trends. Nearly half (48 percent) said they often see people being kind and considerate and a healthy 64 percent rate their neighbors as friendly and helpful. Almost six in 10 (59 percent) respondents aged 65 or older gave society good ratings for treating senior citizens with respect.

Public Agenda asked all respondents in its survey if society's treatment had gotten better for groups that traditionally have been relegated to secondary status: 59 percent said that was true for African-Americans, 51 percent for people with physical disabilities, half said gay people and 41 percent said Hispanics. But getting better doesn't necessarily mean these groups are treated well by society, the respondents said. For instance, 51 percent rated Americans as excellent' or good in treating African-Americans with respect, only 31 percent gave that rating for treating gays with respect.

Just 41 percent of African-Americans surveyed said that their treatment has gotten better and 73 percent cited a need for further improvement by society. Fully 44 percent of African-Americans said that within the past year they had been followed around a store by an employee who suspected them of trying to shoplift.

September 11

Following the shock of the September 11 terrorist attacks, a public outpouring of sympathy for the victims and a renewed sense of patriotism swept the country. Did this translate to renewed respect across society, and will the feeling last?

Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of the survey respondents told Public Agenda that Americans had become more thoughtful and caring towards one another in the aftermath of the attacks, and 87 percent said Americans do appreciate their country more. The sense of good feeling even broke through the Beltway - 55 percent said they believed politicians in Washington would put politics aside and act for the good of the country.

But only 34 percent believe the good feeling will last for a long time and just 30 percent felt elected officials would continue to put politics aside. In fact, 23 percent said the good feeling already was over in Washington when the poll was taken in January. Moreover, a majority of Americans (55 percent) believe money donated to September 11 victim charities will be misused or misdirected, while 37 percent feel the donations will get to the people who are deserving.

The feelings of renewed patriotism, however, appear to run deeper. More than half the respondents (54 percent) said they believe that Americans in the aftermath of the attacks would continue to feel more appreciation for their country for a long while.

In a July 2000 Gallup poll, 78 percent of Americans said they felt rude and selfish behavior was on the rise. Four months after the September 11 tragedy, when Public Agenda conducted its poll, that number had dropped to 61 percent.

It's a temporary reaction, a Florida man told Public Agenda. The biases we all have, the frustrations and irritations are always there.

Profiling in Law Enforcement

The domestic crackdown on terrorism in the aftermath of September 11 stirred anew the controversy over the use of profiling as a tool in law enforcement. Two-thirds (67 percent) said they felt it would be understandable for police to view people with Middle Eastern features with greater suspicion, although they wished that did not have to be the case; 21 percent said there was no excuse for profiling with Middle Easterners, while 11 percent said they saw nothing wrong with it.

By contrast, 52 percent of Americans said there was no excuse for racial profiling of African-Americans, 41 percent said it was understandable but they wished it were not the case and just four percent said they had no problem with the practice.

Black respondents were almost twice as likely as whites (35 percent to 18 percent) to declare there was no excuse for profiling Middle Easterners, but most African-Americans surveyed (59 percent) as with whites (69 percent) chose the middle ground of finding profiling understandable although undesirable.

Americans are clearly struggling with the balance between our vigilance against terrorism and their desire to treat people fairly, Wadsworth said. Memories of the mistreatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II conflict with the realization that terrorists used the freedoms of our open society against us.

What's the Polite Thing to Do?

Legislation and public education campaigns have fundamentally changed American behavior with regard to smoking, drunk driving and seatbelt usage. Would similar campaigns be useful in reducing rude behavior? Americans responded to a series of suggestions offered by Public Agenda.

• Customer Service Over 90 percent said it would be effective to notify management of employees who are rude so that action can be taken, but also to identify helpful employees so that they can be financially rewarded.
• Road Rage Nearly eight in ten (78 percent) said it would be effective to encourage motorists to report extremely aggressive drivers to police and an almost equal number (75 percent) felt a public service campaign to promote courtesy on the road would be effective.
• Cell Phone Abuse Fully 61 percent believe a law banning cell phone use in public settings such as movies, restaurants and museums would be effective. Foul Language Three in four Americans want parents to teach their children that cursing is always wrong. A similar majority (71 percent) believe it would be an effective school policy to ban cursing on school grounds.

What should Americans do as individuals when confronted with rude behavior? About a third (36 percent) said a person should treat the rude person with special politeness in the hope they learn by example. Twenty percent said to let the person know they are doing something wrong. The largest group (42 percent) said walk away.

Aggravating Circumstances was prepared by Steve Farkas and Jean Johnson with Ann Duffett and Kathleen Collins. Copies of the full text of the survey can be accessed free of charge from Public Agenda's Web site (www.publicagenda.org). The site also includes a companion guide with statistics, charts, a video and other information from Aggravating Circumstances.

Methodology: Aggravating Circumstances was based on a nationwide telephone survey conducted between Jan. 2 and Jan. 23, 2002, seven focus groups conducted in spring 2001 and in-depth interviews conducted with leaders in academia, media, public interest groups and customer relations. The questionnaire was designed and the data interpreted by Public Agenda. The margin of error is plus or minus two percentage points; the margin of error is higher when comparing percentages across subgroups.

Public Agenda, based in New York City, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to nonpartisan public policy research. Founded in 1975 by former U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Daniel Yankelovich, the social scientist and author, Public Agenda is well respected for its influential public opinion polls and balanced citizen education materials. Its mission is to inform leaders about the public's views and to educate citizens about government policy.

The Pew Charitable Trusts (www.pewtrusts.com) support nonprofit activities in the areas of culture, education, the environment, health and human services, public policy and religion. Based in Philadelphia, the Trusts make strategic investments to help organizations and citizens develop practical solutions to difficult problems. In 2001, with approximately $4.3 billion in assets, the Trusts committed over $230 million to 175 nonprofit organizations.