Framing same-sex marriage in terms of equality may help encourage more African-Americans to support it

Same-sex marriage has enjoyed increasing support in recent years in the US. And yet, many African Americans remain less supportive compared to other groups. One way to persuade a group to support an issue is to change the way in which the issue is framed. Laurie Rhodebeck looks at whether more African Americans can be persuaded to support same-sex marriage if it is reframed as an equal rights issue. Combining tracking of news coverage of same-sex marriage with a survey experiment, she finds that changing how same-sex marriage is framed may be able to persuade people to support it

A Preliminary List of the Rhagionidae (Diptera) Known to Occur in Iowa

The members of the family Rhagionidae, commonly called snipe flies, are predaceous in larval and adult stages. The adults of a few blood sucking species have been known to attack man. The larvae are found in a great variety of situations, the terrestrial forms found under bark of trees, in dung, fungi, soil, moss, and wood. The larvae of the genus Atherix, found in the Far West, differ in this respect by being aquatic in nature. The adults of this family are found in long grass, on trees, logs, and in general in moist areas of heavy foliage

Prevalence and determinants of traditional sexist attitudes in Germany—an analysis based on Allbus data

Traditional sexism is still often present in Germans of both genders. To elucidate the mechanism of its development the paper is seeking for determinants of gender roles. Based on the ALLBUS 2008 data set structural equation models were calculated to separate direct from indirect factors. Both, socialization as well as the situation, play a role in development of traditional sexism. The following determinants where found as most relevant in both genders: (insufficient) education, origin from the western part of Germany, birth earlier than 1949, anti-egalitarian values and, a factor previously not investigated, anomia. Surprisingly two other determinants of sexism were only seen in men: Not working mother and the feeling of economic deprivation. These results provide starting points to reduce sexist attitudes in the future

Is Same-Sex Marriage an Equality Issue? Framing Effects Among African Americans

Public opinion about gay rights is often shaped by egalitarian values. While the extant literature has suggested that African Americans’ value structure tends to be very egalitarian, many popular media accounts as well as some scholarly research indicate that Blacks have, at times, opposed gay rights. We assert that when the media frame gay rights as equality issues, Blacks are more likely to rely on egalitarianism to form their opinions. We use content analysis to show that equality framing of gay rights dramatically increased in 2012, and we use national survey data to show that Blacks’ support for marriage equality also precipitously rose beginning in 2012. Then, we use data from an original framing experiment to show that exposure to an equality frame does, indeed, encourage Blacks to be more reliant on their egalitarian values to form an opinion about same-sex marriage and to be more supportive of the policy. </jats:p

Partisan values and gay rights: Public opinion about employment nondiscrimination

Partisan elites justify policy positions by invoking underlying values, and political parties are associated with value reputations that connect particular values to specific policy positions. Value recruitment theory explains the relationship between value framing and policy positions. Newspaper content analysis and statistical analysis of survey data show that Democrats are more likely to frame employment nondiscrimination against gay rights as an equality issue, while Republicans are more likely to frame it as morality- and capitalism-based values. Surprisingly, however, equality framing has a stronger effect on Republicans. The study extends research on nondiscrimination in employment with an empirical test of value recruitment theory. The results largely confirm expectations that the application of values can be shaped through citizen attachment to parties, generate insights into value recruitment in policy debates, and point to other questions for further analysis. </jats:p