Opinions are diverse on 'those Mormons'

Stark, a religion scholar, said the results aren't as negative as they would have been 30 years ago. "I think people's attitudes have become much less hostile," he said.

Jan Shipps, emeritus professor of history and religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University, said the poll results aren't shocking.

"There's nothing about it that really surprises me," she said.

Shipps, who has studied the LDS Church since 1961, attributes the poor impression to the impact of Christian fundamentalists, evangelicals and Pentecostals who question whether Mormons are Christians. Groups like Ex-Mormons for Jesus and films like "The Godmakers" also play into it, she said.

One perception the LDS Church has not been able to shake is its connection to polygamy, a practice it officially banned in 1890.

In an open-ended question, respondents were asked what comes to mind when they think about the LDS Church.

Polygamy topped the list, followed by Salt Lake City or Utah and good, caring people with strong morals. Other responses included a dislike of LDS beliefs, door-to-door proselyting, big families and descriptions such as strange or cult-like. The Osmonds were way down on the list.

Interestingly, among 17 percent of those who have favorable opinions of the LDS Church, polygamy is the most frequently mentioned single impression.

Shipps said two things factor into polygamy as the top answer. "One is Warren Jeffs and the all the fundamentalists, and two is 'Big Love,"' the HBO series.

Liberals, evangelicals

Despite Utah being one of the most Republican states in the nation, GOP survey respondents didn't show Mormons much love. Republicans had a more unfavorable impression than did Democrats or independents.

Quinn Monson, a Brigham Young University political scientist, said that polls haven't dug deep enough to confirm it yet, but he believes data are showing that the unfavorable group is really two groups — secular liberals and Christian fundamentalists or evangelical conservatives who don't like LDS beliefs.

"The secular liberals don't like us because they are unfavorable toward religion," Monson said, "and the evangelicals don't like our doctrine and theology, although they might like to be around us, don't mind hanging out with us, think we're pretty good people."

That jibes with an anecdote published recently in a New York Times Magazine excerpt from the book "The Blind Side," by Michael Lewis. A former University of Mississippi basketball player and evangelical named Sean Tuohy, referring to help his adopted son got from BYU while taking correspondence courses, said, "The Mormons may be going to hell, but they really are nice people."