Collaborative Research: RAPID: Institutional Change and Intergroup Attitudes

个人对有争议话题的看法差异很大，并不总是与管理该问题的政策和法律相符。决定政策和法律的关键时刻如何影响个人的态度？制度变革的时刻会导致更极端的态度吗？巩固现状的时刻是否会导致更根深蒂固的态度？这些时刻如何根据人们持有的具体态度对人们产生不同的影响？在备受期待的最高法院关于生殖健康的案件对州法律有直接影响之后，目前的项目调查了美国人性别态度的变化。这项研究包括控制良好的自然主义研究，这些研究由态度变化的心理学理论和关于政策与公众舆论之间联系的政治学研究提供信息。两项研究，一项横向研究，一项纵向研究，评估了最高法院即将就生殖健康问题作出裁决前后的性别态度。这些研究还说明了政策执行方面的地理差异。此外，本项目还考察了影响对州法律和政策变化的态度反应的具体条件和机制。受访者的性别态度可能受到以下因素的影响：(1)对州和联邦政策制定机构的合法性认知；(2)他们在其他人和与他们关系密切的人之间感知到的性别规范；(3)他们对生殖权利政策的预先支持；(4)他们认为生殖权利政策是一个与性别相关的问题。理解政策是如何影响民意的——准确地指出超越一个人是赞成还是反对政策变化的具体因果机制——提供了对民主社会中机构和个人之间关系的洞察。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Individual opinions about controversial topics vary widely and do not always match the policies and laws that govern the issue. How do critical moments that define policies and laws affect individuals' attitudes? Do moments of institutional change cause more extreme attitudes? Do moments that reinforce the status quo lead to more entrenched attitudes? How do these moments affect people differently depending on the specific attitudes they hold? The current project examines changes in U.S. Americans' gender attitudes following a highly anticipated Supreme Court case on reproductive health that has direct implications for state laws. This research involves well-controlled, naturalistic studies that are informed by psychological theories of attitude change and political science research on the link between policy and public opinion. Two studies, one cross-sectional and one longitudinal, assess gender attitudes before and after an impending Supreme Court decision on reproductive health. The studies also account for geographic variations in policy implementation. Additionally, this project examines specific conditions and mechanisms that influence attitudinal response to changes in state laws and policies. Gender attitudes of respondents may be affected by: (1) the perceived legitimacy of state and federal policy-making bodies, (2) the gender norms that they perceive among others in general and others close to them, (3) their pre-existing support for reproductive rights policy, and (4) their belief that reproductive rights policy is a gender-relevant issue. Understanding how policies influence opinions – pinpointing the specific causal mechanisms that transcend whether a person favors or opposes a policy change – provides insight into the relationship between institutions and individuals in a democratic society.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.