Shifting Religious Influences on Attitudes Towards Same-Sex Behavior and Civil Liberties: A Multilevel Across-Time Analysis
Americans' acceptance of same-sex sexual relations and their willingness to restrict the civil liberties of sexual minorities vary substantially across both time and place even as overall trends have been towards more liberalizing stances. Yet few quantitative studies have explored both the ind...
| Published in: | Journal for the scientific study of religion |
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| Authors: | ; ; ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
2021
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| In: |
Journal for the scientific study of religion
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
USA
/ Homosexuality
/ Civil rights
/ Christianity
/ Fundamentalism
|
| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy CB Christian life; spirituality CG Christianity and Politics CH Christianity and Society KBQ North America ZC Politics in general |
| Further subjects: | B
contextual effects
B Attitudes B Religion B change over time B Sexual minorities B Civil liberties B same-sex relations |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Americans' acceptance of same-sex sexual relations and their willingness to restrict the civil liberties of sexual minorities vary substantially across both time and place even as overall trends have been towards more liberalizing stances. Yet few quantitative studies have explored both the individual and contextual religious factors shaping Americans' views and none have applied such an analysis to examining attitudes over time. Using hierarchical ordered logistic modeling and time-year interactions with 1973–2016 General Social Survey data, we examine whether the religious characteristics of residents and the contexts in which they reside moderated Americans' liberalizing attitudes over time. We find that more religiously engaged people, those who belonged to evangelical and Black protestant faiths, as well as those living in areas with higher overall levels of religious attendance changed their moral perspective about same-sex relations at a lesser rate over time. However, we do not find similar moderating influences of religious factors for explaining Americans' willingness to restrict the civil liberties of individuals identifying as homosexual. We frame these findings relative to the morality and equality discourses permeating the culture and the concerted efforts of the Christian Right to influence public opinion and policy since the 1970s. |
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| ISSN: | 1468-5906 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12718 |