The 2018 'Civility in America' survey reveals that 93% of Americans believe there is a civility problem in the nation, and 84% have personally experienced incivility. The workplace is seen as a 'civility safety zone' with 92% of employees describing it as civil, yet many find discussing contentious topics challenging. The survey also highlights a desire for civility training in workplaces to address this issue.

2. Weber Shandwick and Powell Tate, in
partnership with KRC Research, have
conducted Civility in America: A Nationwide
Survey annually since 2010.
In this eighth edition of Civility in America,
conducted online among 1,481 U.S. adults in
January 2018, we continue to track Americans’
perceptions of and experiences with civility in
their lives. We also dig deeper into a
phenomenon we detected last year – the role of
the workplace as a civility safety zone.

3. 93% of Americans say our nation
has a civility problem
84% of Americans have personally
experienced incivility
Americans experience incivility an
average of 10.6 times each week
92% of employees describe their
workplace as civil
51% of employees agree leadership has a
responsibility to enforce civility in the workplace
42% of Americans are in favor of civility training in
the workplace to improve civility in America
71% of employees report that some topics are
difficult to discuss civilly at work
Only 15% of employees feel more comfortable than
they used to expressing opinions about controversial
societal and political issues at work

4. 4

5. 5
39% while shopping
39% on the road
38% on social media

6. 6
5.4 = online or on social media per week
5.2 = in-person per week

7. 7

8. 8
There are no free passes for
leaders when it comes to incivility.

9. 9

10. 10
Most commonly… politics (38%)

11. 11

12. 12
For more information about Civility in America 2018 or our
other civility studies: thoughtleadership@webershandwick.com