More than eight out of 10 Americans are concerned about the direction of moral behaviour, according to LifeWay Research.

LifeWay found that 81 per cent of people who responded to its survey agreed with the statement.'I am concerned about declining moral behavior in our nation.'

There is some variation in how strongly held this belief is, though. Nearly half (46 per cent) of respondents said they 'strongly agree', while 35 per cent said they 'agree'.

LifeWay is part of the conservative Southern Baptist Convention and regularly polls Americans about their views on social, political and economic issues.

There are seveal other findings in the research which point to differences among different groups of Americans on the topic. For example, the research says that on the issue of declining moral standards, 'Christians (85 per cent) are more likely to agree than Other Religions (70 per cent) and Nonreligious (72 per cent).' It also points out that, 'Protestant Christians (89 per cent) are more likely to agree than Catholics (82 per cent). Meanwhile, those with evangelical beliefs (91 per cent) are more likely to agree than those without evangelical beliefs (79 per cent).

Lifeway spokesperson Scott McConnell told the Christian Post: 'We are shifting very fast... We are not all on the same page when it comes to morality. And we haven't reckoned with what that means.'