The Pieces of a Changing Social Puzzle: Socio-DemographicInfluences on American Attitudes Toward Gay Marriage Open Access

Stein, Jordan Maxwell (2012)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/vq27zp373?locale=en
Published

Abstract

In this honors thesis I examine the extent to which various socio-demographic factors influence American attitudes toward same-sex marriage. Using the 2010 General Social Survey, a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States, I quantify the effects of sex, race, age, educational attainment, political ideology, frequency of religious service attendance, religious preference, and total household income. My results largely replicate past research. In a final ordinary least squares regression analysis, political ideology, frequency of religious service attendance, age, educational attainment, race, sex, and total household income are found to be the strongest predictors of gay marriage attitude, in that order. The implications of the findings for social science and social policy are discussed.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Literature Review 5

Context 5

Historical Precedents 5

Public Opinion Towards Gay Marriage in a Political and Electoral Context 8

Public Opinion Towards Gay Marriage in a Demographic Context 11

Methods and Procedures 12

Analysis 15

Independent Variables and Cross-Tabulations 17

Cross-Tabulation between Same-Sex Marriage Attitude and Gender 21

Cross-Tabulation between Same-Sex Marriage Attitude and Race 22

Cross-Tabulation between Same-Sex Marriage Attitude and Age 23

Cross-Tabulation between Same-Sex Marriage Attitude and Educational Attainment 24

Cross-Tabulation between Same-Sex Marriage Attitude and Political Ideology 25

Cross-Tabulation between Same-Sex Marriage Attitude and Service Attendance 26

Cross-Tabulation between Same-Sex Marriage Attitude and Religious Preference 27

Cross-Tabulation between Same-Sex Marriage Attitude and Total Household Income 28

Multivariate Cross-Tabulation Analysis 28

The Effect of Sex, Controlling for Race 29

The Effect of Attendance, Controlling for Race 29

The Effect of Age, Controlling for Sex 31

The Effect of Age, Controlling for Race 31

The Effect of Political Views, Controlling for Sex 32

Multivariate Regression Analysis 38

Discussion and Conclusion 41

References 46

About this Honors Thesis

Rights statement
  • Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.
School
Department
Degree
Submission
Language
  • English
Research Field
Keyword
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor
Committee Members
Last modified

Primary PDF

Supplemental Files