Is the morality of Americans really headed towards degradation? A huge number of residents in the United States think so.

Some 73 percent of Americans think the state of moral values in the U.S. is getting worse, according to a recent survey conducted by the research-based consulting company Gallup Inc. This year, only 20 percent of the 1,025 respondents said U.S. values are improving.

The number of pessimistic U.S. residents is slightly higher this year than last year's 72 percent, which means more Americans are losing faith in the moral values of their own nation.

This also continues the trend for the past 15 years showing solid majorities consistently of the opinion that the direction of the country's values is going downhill. This view was expressed by 67 percent of the respondents in 2002 and 2003. The figure increased to 82 percent in 2007.

"Negative views of the state of moral values in the U.S. are the norm for Americans—they are most likely to describe it as poor, and a strong majority say it is only getting worse," Gallup said in a statement posted on its website.

More specifically, 43 percent of the respondents described the state of morality in the U.S. as "poor," while 36 percent said it is "only fair."

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents were more likely to think that the morals of Americans were already deteriorating. Some 84 percent of the Republican respondents held this negative view, compared to the 61 percent among their Democratic counterparts.

Republicans have been less positive about the state of American morality since 2007, according to Gallup. Before this year, respondents from both parties were "equally likely to view the direction of the country's morals negatively."

"Platform issues on moral values are frequently espoused by Republican candidates for office at all levels of U.S. government, so it may come as little surprise that those who identify as or lean Republican have a heightened sensitivity to the state of the nation's moral fabric," the research firm explained.

The company likewise projected that Americans will likely "continue to view the direction of the nation's morals negatively" primarily due to "poor values instilled by parents and reflected among government officials."