Are People Getting Ruder? Studies Say Absolutely.

Have you noticed people becoming ruder recently? Maybe it's the look people give you, or the way not many people say hello or smile.

Well, this thought might not be limited to your head. Across the world, people are noticing that we are getting ruder in all parts of our lives. Those in customer service notice it in the impatient people in line. Flight attendants are noticing it on each flight, sometimes even having to call the authorities on rowdy fliers.

But why? And when did this start? While most point to the COVID-19 pandemic, that's just a tiny part of the equation.

For this slideshow, 24/7 Tempo consulted news sources and studies, including one published by the Pew Research Center. Click through it for more information on how people are getting ruder (and if they really are).

On a survey conducted on November 12 - 17, 2024, by Pew Research Center, nearly half (47%) of respondents noted that the pubic is ruder after the pandemic. This included respondents who chose 'a little more' and 'a lot more.'

According to the same survey results, about 34% of respondents see rude behavior in public frequently, while another 46% say sometimes. Although this number may seem telling, it's anecdotal and hard to decipher as the full truth since everyone has different ideas on what is rude.

While there are plenty of surveys that touch on rudeness, the one conducted by Pew Research Center is very telling. They noted that over 70% of people consider smoking in public and taking a photo or video of someone they don't know to be rude.

The same survey found that more than 60% of survey takers find it rude to take children to adult functions and curse out loud in public. Of course, not everyone feels this way.

The Pew Research Center isn't the only survey to note that people are getting ruder. Another one conducted/published in the Harvard Business Review stated this, too. The survey was conducted with over 2,000 respondents in diverse industries across the world.

The Harvard Business Review study noted that 73% of respondents say it's not uncommon for people to behave badly in public. Also, 78% of respondents say it's more common for customers to behave rudely to employees compared to a few years ago. This isn't strange to think about, considering how many videos go viral of customers screaming or acting poorly towards a person just trying to do their job.

There is no one strict answer to this question; however, experts have a few possible reasons. Slide on for a few of these possible reasons.

Something that came up a lot in research studies on rudeness and people's bad public behavior is stress, which makes sense. When you are stressed, it's easier to react negatively. However, this isn't an excuse to act inappropriately towards someone else. Still, stress is on the rise. The Mental Health Foundation found that 74% of people felt intense stress in 2018. And that was in 2018!

A lack of community might also be why so many people are acting rudely in public. When you grow up without a strong community or just don't have one at all, it's common to lack empathy or simply not care about your actions.

Community can include strong family ties, friend groups, and clubs and organizations. So many more people are feeling lonely and disconnected compared to just 10 years ago. In 2014, a study found that 65% of people didn't feel a sense of community.

Technology is blamed for a lot today, but for a good reason. While technology like smartphones keeps us connected, it also makes it hard to socialize in person, especially for younger kids.

When you use technology, you are hiding behind a screen. How many times have you read comments and been shocked at how rude or mean they are? Most of the time, the people behind the comments would never say it out loud.

Psychology Today also noted that people become rude because of chat bots and robots when calling in for customer support. After trying to get in touch with someone and yelling 'representative' over and over, they are already mad when someone does pick up the phone.

Another reason that people are growing ruder is because of a lack of consequences. Think about it. What happens when a customer yells at an employee? While they can get kicked out, this doesn't always happen. Instead, the customer may even walk out with a discount.

The same goes for children. Schools are reporting high numbers of rudeness and rowdy behavior, with little support from parents. Instead, the parents blame the schools and don't provide consequences for their children's actions.

This is noted in the Pew Research Center survey. They saw huge age gaps in what is considered rude and what isn't. For instance, 89% of survey respondents 65 years or older found that cursing out loud is rarely or never acceptable, compared to only 38% of those 18 to 29.

The same goes for wearing headphones while someone is talking to them. About 36% of 18 to 29-year-olds believe it's rude, compared to 76% of adults 65 and older.