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This study uses an experiment embedded in a large, nationally representative survey to test whether exposure to imagery of a gay or lesbian couple's wedding influences support for gay marriage. It also tests whether any such effects depend on the nature of the image (gay or lesbian couple, kissing or not) and viewer characteristics (sex, age, race, education, religion, and ideology). Results show that exposure to imagery of a gay couple kissing reduced support for gay marriage relative to the baseline. Other image treatments (gay couple not kissing, lesbian couple kissing, lesbian couple not kissing) did not significantly influence opinion.

This study examines how members of the public frame artificial intelligence (AI) along with how news use predicts “frames in mind” for AI. The study also tests whether news use, science fiction viewing, and discussing technology influence attitudes toward AI independently and in conjunction with one another. The analyses use data from a nationally representative online panel survey. Respondents invoked social progress and Pandora’s box frames for AI, and technology news use predicted mentioning each frame. Use of technology news also predicted change in support for AI, while science fiction viewing and discussing technology were conditionally related to such change.

This study examines how different forms of media use predict attitudes toward the development of facial recognition technology (FRT) and applications of it by law enforcement to identify criminal suspects, identify potential terrorists, and monitor public protests. The theoretical framework builds on theories of cultivation and genre-specific viewing to develop hypotheses and research questions. The analyses draw on original data from two nationally representative surveys of the U.S. public conducted in 2020, amid a series of controversies and protests about policing and racial justice. The results demonstrate that overall television viewing and crime media viewing predicted support for multiple uses of FRT, while Fox News viewing predicted support for using FRT to monitor protests. The findings advance our understanding of public opinion toward the technology and its implications for policing, protests, and social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research note examines how framing influences attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI). It uses an experiment embedded in a nationally representative online survey to test the effects of text-based frames and visuals on opinion about developing, funding, and banning AI. Participants exposed to a "social progress" frame reported greater support for AI than those exposed to a "Pandora's box" frame. Images (virtual assistants, personal robots, menacing movie AIs, or none) did not influence opinion by themselves but interacted with textual frames to do so. The results extend our understanding of framing effects on public attitudes toward emerging technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research analyzes data from a survey experiment testing whether asking about male perpetration of domestic violence ("a man hitting a woman") before asking about corporal punishment affects opinions on the latter; and whether framing the corporal punishment question in a gender-consistent way ("a father spanking his daughter") or not ("parents spank child") further alters opinion. Results show that context and framing both reduce support for corporal punishment. The strongest context effects occur among liberals, with small but significant framing effects occurring among conservatives. The results suggest that political discourse about domestic violence, especially heightening gender norms, can draw attention to the violent nature of corporal punishment and lower the intensity of support for spanking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Research suggests that issue frames emphasizing how voter ID laws might harm eligible voters can influence opinions toward the laws. This study examines the effects of frames emphasizing harm to specific groups of eligible voters-namely, elderly, college-aged, African-American, and Hispanic voters-on public support for such laws. Methods We analyze data from question wording experiments included in two state polls. Results We replicate the finding that emphasizing the harmful effects of the laws on eligible voters reduces support. We also find that a frame emphasizing harm to African Americans produces an additional reduction in support. Emphasizing harm to other specific groups (the elderly, college-aged, or Hispanics) does not produce discernible effects beyond the general framing effect. Within group analyses by race, age and political predispositions reveal additional patterns of effects. Conclusion The results suggest political communication about specific groups can shift public opinion for voter ID laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the extent to which negative attitudes toward African Americans influence public reactions to restoring political rights to felons. We argue that race-neutral policies, such as felon disenfranchisement laws, are non-separable from racial considerations, as images of criminals and felons are typically associated with Blacks. Such attitudes produce collateral consequences for felons, hampering the restoration of their full political rights and, ultimately, their citizenship. Predispositions, such as racial attitudes and political ideology, provide both racial and nonracial justifications for supporting these laws, yet, there are no empirical accounts of their relational effects on opinion toward felons’ rights. Using nationally representative survey data, we find that racialized resentment and ideology exert the most influence on the reactions to policies seeking political rights for felons as well as beliefs about the value of doing so. Consistent with much of the literature on attitudes toward ameliorative racial policies, higher levels of racial resentment strongly predict lower support for felons’ political rights among both conservatives and liberals, yet, racial resentment is most influential among liberals. Conservatives exhibit the highest levels of racial resentment, but its impact is depressed more by agreement on both racial attitudes and opposition to political rights of felons. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Voter ID laws require individuals to show government-endorsed identification when casting their ballots on Election Day. Whereas some see these laws as necessary to prevent voting fraud, others argue that fraud is extremely rare and that voter ID laws can suppress voting. The relative newness of the laws, along with variance in their substance, suggests that the public may possess low information about voter ID laws; thus, opinions on the issue may be influenced by political information, group predispositions, and the media. Using data from a national poll (n = 906), this study investigates what underlies opinion on voter ID laws. The results indicate that political predispositions, including ideology, party identification, and racial attitudes, influence support for such laws. The results also yield evidence of several types of information effects. A question-wording experiment shows that exposure to an anti–voter ID law argument framing voter ID laws as preventing eligible people from voting reduced support, whereas other framing treatments (pro and con) had no discernible impact on opinion. A “polarization effect” emerges, with issue familiarity magnifying the gap in opinion between liberals and conservatives. Fox News viewers are particularly likely to support voter ID laws, though no other forms of media use are significantly related to support. Finally, perceptions of voting fraud as “common” are associated with support for voter ID laws. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]