Last December, Science published a provocative paper about political persuasion. Persuasion is famously difficult: study after study—not to mention much of world history—has shown that, when it comes to controversial subjects, people rarely change their minds, especially if those subjects are important to them. … The Science study, “When contact […] Read more »
On Social Ideology, the Left Catches Up to the Right
Thirty-one percent of Americans describe their views on social issues as generally liberal, matching the percentage who identify as social conservatives for the first time in Gallup records dating back to 1999. CONT. Jeffrey M. Jones, Gallup Read more »
Author of Study on Changing Views of Gay Marriage Seeks Its Retraction
The senior author of a widely publicized study suggesting that gay political canvassers could change conservative voters’ views on gay marriage has asked that the report be retracted due to the failure of his fellow author to produce the raw data. … Marcia McNutt, editor in chief of Science, said […] Read more »
Majority Now Say Gays and Lesbians Born, Not Made
For the first time, a majority of Americans say same-sex orientation is something gays and lesbians are born with rather than something that is determined by their upbringing or environment. Over the past 15 years, Americans had been much more closely divided on the issue. And in the 1970s and […] Read more »
More Say Animals Should Have Same Rights as People
Almost a third of Americans, 32%, believe animals should be given the same rights as people, while 62% say they deserve some protection but can still be used for the benefit of humans. The strong animal rights view is up from 2008 when 25% thought animals’ rights should be on […] Read more »
The Rise of the Religiously Unaffiliated
The picture of faith in America is changing rapidly, according to data released by the Pew Research Center this past week, and those changes may have some big impacts the American political scene. CONT. Dante Chinni (American U.), NBC News Read more »