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Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree that it is sometimes necessary to discipline a child with a good, hard spanking?
Approval of spanking to discipline children · Asked in 22 waves, 1986–2024 · 34,444 responses · weighted estimates computed from individual responses
Dashed lines mark changes in how interviews were done, which can shift answers: 1. → web (2021).
Shares of people who gave an answer. Each column is one wave, evenly spaced rather than to scale in time; hover for exact shares.
| Group | Strongly agree | Agree | Disagree | Strongly disagree | n | MoE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Field dates | Mode | Respondents | Responses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Social Survey 2024 | 2024-04-05 to 2024-12-02 | mixed | 3,309 | 2,183 |
| General Social Survey 2022 | 2022-05-08 to 2023-01-08 | mixed | 3,544 | 2,376 |
| General Social Survey 2021 | 2020-12-03 to 2021-05-02 | web | 4,032 | 2,715 |
| General Social Survey 2018 | 2018-04-12 to 2018-11-10 | face to face | 2,348 | 1,559 |
| General Social Survey 2016 | 2016-04-05 to 2016-11-19 | face to face | 2,867 | 1,888 |
| General Social Survey 2014 | 2014-03-31 to 2014-10-13 | face to face | 2,538 | 1,675 |
| General Social Survey 2012 | 2012-03-20 to 2012-09-05 | face to face | 1,974 | 1,302 |
| General Social Survey 2010 | 2010-03-15 to 2010-08-12 | face to face | 2,044 | 1,430 |
| General Social Survey 2008 | 2008-04-17 to 2008-09-13 | face to face | 2,023 | 1,329 |
| General Social Survey 2006 |
Dashed lines mark changes in how interviews were done, which can shift answers: 1. → web (2021).
Shares of people who gave an answer. A group’s column is left blank in waves where its effective sample is under 50; hover for exact shares.
| All respondents |
| 17% |
| 37% |
| 29% |
| 17% |
| 2183 |
| ±3 |
| Democrats | 11% | 27% | 31% | 30% | 600 | ±6 |
| Independents (incl. leaners) | 18% | 37% | 31% | 14% | 944 | ±4 |
| Republicans | 21% | 46% | 24% | 9% | 559 | ±6 |
General Social Survey 2024 · US adults 18+ living in households (English, and Spanish since 2006). Shares of people who gave an answer. n is unweighted; ± is the 95% margin of error at 50% from the weighted effective sample. Groups with an effective sample under 50 are grayed; under 20, hidden.
| 2006-03-07 to 2006-08-07 |
| face to face |
| 4,510 |
| 1,992 |
| General Social Survey 2004 | 2004-08-18 to 2005-01-04 | face to face | 2,812 | 906 |
| General Social Survey 2002 | 2002-02-06 to 2002-06-26 | face to face | 2,765 | 908 |
| General Social Survey 2000 | 2000-02-01 to 2000-06-25 | face to face | 2,817 | 1,877 |
| General Social Survey 1998 | 1998-02-01 to 1998-06-19 | face to face | 2,832 | 1,871 |
| General Social Survey 1996 | 1996-02-01 to 1996-05-25 | face to face | 2,904 | 1,960 |
| General Social Survey 1994 | 1994-01-04 to 1994-06-29 | face to face | 2,992 | 1,977 |
| General Social Survey 1993 | 1993-02-05 to 1993-04-26 | face to face | 1,606 | 1,080 |
| General Social Survey 1991 | 1991-02-09 to 1991-05-06 | face to face | 1,517 | 1,024 |
| General Social Survey 1990 | 1990-02-06 to 1990-04-22 | face to face | 1,372 | 928 |
| General Social Survey 1989 | 1989-02-04 to 1989-05-01 | face to face | 1,537 | 1,006 |
| General Social Survey 1988 | 1988-02-12 to 1988-04-26 | face to face | 1,481 | 988 |
| General Social Survey 1986 | 1986-02-14 to 1986-04-24 | face to face | 1,470 | 1,470 |