Abstract. I wasn t born here: Using the 2010 General Social Survey to examine social attitudes of foreign-born individuals

Katja Buckley “I wasn’t born here: Using the 2010 General Social Survey to examine social attitudes of foreign-born individuals.” Abstract Researc...
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Katja Buckley

“I wasn’t born here: Using the 2010 General Social Survey to examine social attitudes of foreign-born individuals.”

Abstract

Research shows that social attitudes are often influenced by gender, race, religious and political views. Yet there is little research examining whether someone’s place of birth influences social attitudes. Using data from the 2010 General Social Survey, I performed univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis to determine the extent to which foreign-born individuals’ attitudes toward the death penalty, legalization of marijuana, and homosexual marriage differed from individuals born in the United States. The findings suggest that an individual’s place of birth is a statistically significant factor on social attitudes towards the death penalty and legalization of marijuana. Foreign-born individuals are less likely to be in favor of the death penalty. Differences associated with an individual’s place of birth remained statistically significant in multivariate analysis after controlling for sex, race, and political views. Individuals born outside the United States are also more likely to be opposed to the legalization of marijuana. This finding remained statistically significant after controlling for race, marital status, and political views. Keywords: Demoraphy, same-sex marriage, death penalty, legalization of marijuana, foreign-born, General Social Survey

TXSTUR

Vol. 3 Issue 1

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Introduction Currently, it is estimated nearly 13% of the population of the United States–about 40 million people–are foreign-born individuals (U.S. Census Bureau 2012). By 2060, it is projected 18.8% of the population will be foreign-born (U.S. Census Bureau 2012). With immigrants currently representing one-sixth of the U.S. population, it is important to understand their social attitudes as a sub-culture. While not all 40 million immigrants will become part of the voting population, their attitudes toward social policies nonetheless have a vital impact on their community and descendants. Over the years, research has explored differences in marital status, household size, income, and occupation of the foreign born population as compared to the native-born population. Research has not, however, explored differences in social attitudes regarding the death penalty, homosexual marriage, and legalization of marijuana between the native-born and foreign-born population. For the present study, I will use the 2010 General Social Survey (GSS) to explore foreign-born individuals’ opinions on these critical social issues. Literature Review There is an estimated 2, 600 foreigners obtaining legal status as U.S. residents daily. This number does not include the approximated 1, 400 foreigners still added to the population of unauthorized foreigners (Martin and Midgley 2006). In the past, Europe was the source of most immigrants to the United States, however, the majority of immigrants today arrive from Latin American and Asian countries (Martin and Midgley 2006). A significant amount of research is conducted in the areas of capital punishment, gay marriage, and legalization of marijuana. This research primarily focuses on how race, gender, religion, and political party affiliation determines a person’s attitude toward these important social issues, but has neglected to explore if place of birth also affects their attitude. Capital Punishment Most Western democracies reject capital punishment. In 1999, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights called for a

worldwide moratorium on capital punishment. The United States, along with China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia perform the most executions. Currently, a majority of Americans favor capital punishment. For a brief period of time in the mid-1960s, a plurality of Americans opposed the death penalty (Unnever, Cullen and Roberts 2005), in the past 30 years support for capital punishment remained well above 70 percent (Baik 2012). In the 1990s, support for the death penalty peaked around 80 percent (Baik 2012). In 1972, during a time where public support for the death penalty was at its lowest, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled the death penalty violated the United States Constitution’s 8th Amendment the “cruel and unusual punishment” clause. As a result of the Furman v. Georgia placed a four-year moratorium on the death penalty. The Justice Marshall at the time argued, if given information about the death penalty, the majority of citizens would realize it was immoral and therefore unconstitutional. The court’s argument was, “informed public opinion was opposed to the death penalty and it should, therefore, be ruled unconstitutional” (Falco and Freiburger 2011). The death penalty was reinstated in 1976 when the case of Gregg v. Georgia was heard by the Supreme Court. While research suggests men are more likely than women to support the death penalty, the majority of both sexes support of capital punishment (Baik 2012; Ellsworth and Gross 1994; Morin 2008). The strongest predictor of whether one supports or opposes capital punishment is race (Unnever and Cullen 2007). Previous studies on support for capital punishment have found Whites tend to support capital punishment more strongly than African Americans. Not only does support differ between Whites and African Americans, but these two groups also differ in their responses to arguments against the death penalty. In studies conducted, African Americans were found to be more receptive to arguments against the death penalty rather than Whites (Baik 2012; Ellsworth and Gross 1994; Mallicoat and Brown 2008; Morin 2008). The second strongest predictor of whether a person will favor or oppose the death penalty is religion (Baik 2012; Miller and Hayward 2008;

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are generally more opposed to capital punishment, Morin (2008) fails to find a significant difference between Catholics, and non-Catholics. Miller and Hayward (2008) find supporters of the death penalty are more likely to be Protestant. In addition to race, gender, and religion, the media shapes social attitudes concerning capital punishment. During the 1988 presidential election campaign, public support for the death penalty was measured at 78% in October (Ellsworth and Gross 1994), up from 71% the April before. This increase largely resulted from media coverage and political campaigns between the Dukakis and Bush camps. As the Governor of Massachusetts at this time, Dukakis released convicted murderer Willie Horton as part of a furlough program. While on furlough, Willie Horton raped a woman and did not return to prison. According to Ellsworth and Gross (1994) it was, “the attention this issue received that created a short-term spike in general support for capital punishment” (p. 44). Gay Marriage Over the course of the past 30 years, public support for gay marriage has risen with a growing number of Americans supporting civil liberties for gay and lesbian individuals (Green 2008). While in 1988 as many as 71% of Americans had been opposed to gay marriage, in 2006 this number dropped to 52% (Baunach 2011). In the late 1980s, Whites and African Americans were uniformly opposed to the idea of gay marriage. By 2004, White opposition to samesex marriage had declined to below 54%, and dipped to 46% by 2006. In 2008, African Americans support for Proposition 8 in California was 70% (Sherkat, de Vries, and Creek 2010). Research suggests African Americans are generally more opposed to same-sex marriage (Green 2008; Sherkat, de Vries, and Creek 2010). In addition to race, gender is also a strong predictor of whether an individual will support or oppose same-sex marriage. According to Green (2008), heterosexual men tend to have more negative attitudes toward homosexuals than heterosexual women. Religion is also a good predictor of individuals’ attitudes toward same-sex marriage.

Religious denominations play a strong role in structuring an individual’s attitude about the morality of homosexuality. Sherkat, de Vries, and Creek (2010) find that mainline Protestants and Catholics are more supportive of homosexuals and same-sex marriage than sectarian Protestants. Over the past twenty years, Catholics especially are more tolerant and supportive of same-sex marriage (Hoffman and Miller 1998). Jews and people with no religious affiliation are the most supportive of homosexuals and same-sex marriage (Sherkat, de Vries, and Creek 2010). Green (2008) also finds political liberalism is more closely associated with favorable attitudes toward gay and lesbian individuals. Political conservatism is more closely associated with disapproval of gay marriage. Finally, more liberal attitudes appear to be emerging among members of the younger age cohort. Not only does being a member of Generation X or the Millennial Generation appear to be a predictor of support for same-sex marriage, this cohort overall has more liberal attitudes regarding marriage and family (Becker 2012). Legalization of Marijuana Marijuana is the drug of choice for many Americans and the debate over its legalization is ongoing (Millhorn et al. 2009). Over the past few decades the legal status of marijuana has changed greatly. Today, similar to the 1970s, public opinion is in favor of decriminalizing marijuana. In 1972, President Nixon’s Shafer Commission had recommended decriminalization of marijuana and numerous states did act on that recommendation. During the time it was not a question of whether the federal government would decriminalize marijuana, but rather when it would do so (Duke 2013). After Nixon’s resignation, President Ford did not believe the elimination of drug use was possible, but President Carter fully supported decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana (Nielsen 2010). Back in 1970, the Drug Enforcement Administration was created, but it was not until after the election of President Ronald Reagan in 1980 that a movement away from liberal values began (Duke 2013). Reagan declared a War

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on Drugs and sponsored the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, which effectively increased marijuana criminalization (Duke 2013; Lambert et al. 2006; Nielsen 2010). During the 1980s, crack cocaine emerged in the United States. In response to this emergence, major federal anti-drug bills were passed providing more funds for fighting the war on drugs. Former president George H. W. Bush stressed intolerance of drugs and referred to drug use as, “the most pressing problem facing the Nation” (Nielsen 2010). While Bush’s successor, Bill Clinton, paid more attention to treatment and demand-side reductions, most of the antidrug policies were in place remained unchanged. George W. Bush continued to maintain the drugwar policies of his predecessors (Nielsen 2010). In 1996, California and Arizona voters approved medical marijuana (Nielsen 2010), and since then twenty states have approved medical marijuana use with some level of regulation. In 2012, Colorado and Washington voters were the first to approve the use and possession of small quantities of marijuana (Duke 2013). A majority of Americans have supported the War on Drugs since its inception in the 1980s (Lambert et al. 2006). Today, more people are arrested for arijuana offenses than for any other violent crimes (Duke 2013). There is greater public support for spending on criminal justice than for treatment approaches (Lambert et al. 2006). As with capital punishment and same-sex marriage, race is a strong predictor of individuals’ attitudes toward legalization of marijuana and their attitudes toward drugs. Race can be tied to the level of support for rehabilitation of drug users. African Americans are more supportive of spending on treatment and prevention than whites. Non-whites are also more likely to view drug abuse as an illness and are more tolerant of marijuana use by adults in their own homes (Lambert et al. 2006; Nielsen 2010). Gender is another predictor of attitudes toward drug use and marijuana legalization. Men are found to be more supportive of control and punishment spending than women, who tend to be more supportive of legal alternatives than punishment (Lambert et al. 2006; Nielsen 2010). Lambert et al. (2006) further finds

individuals who attend religious services, and individuals who consider themselves more religious are less supportive of drug use or rehabilitation and more supportive of punishing drug users. Lastly, political party affiliation is a predictor of support or opposition to the war on drugs and drug use. Conservatives are less likely to be in support of spending for drug rehabilitation, but are supportive of spending to control and punish drug use (Lambert et al. 2006). Literature Limitations Research to-date has explored social attitudes toward capital punishment, same-sex marriage, and legalization of marijuana. While it is clear views on these important topics vary by race, gender, religion, political affiliation, and age, it is unclear how the attitudes of foreign-born individuals differ from the attitudes of individuals born in the United States. This study attempts to add to the current literature by exploring the social attitudes of foreign-born individuals toward capital punishment, same-sex marriage, and legalization of marijuana by addressing the following three research hypotheses: 1) Support for capital punishment varies between foreign-born individuals and individuals born in the United States. 2) Support for gay marriage varies between foreign-born individuals and individuals born in the United States. 3) Support for the legalization of marijuana varies between individuals who are foreign-born and individuals born in the United States. Methodology In order to answer the three proposed research hypotheses I used data from the 2010 General Social Survey(GSS). The GSS is fielded by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) and is a United States based, nationally representative, in-person survey of individuals who are at least 18 years of age, and not institutionalized. The GSS uses full-probability sampling, has a sample size of 4, 901 and an average response rate of over 70% (NORC 2014). Using SPSS I analyzed 2010 GSS data to answer the proposed hypotheses. Dependent Variables

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are: whether an individual favors or opposes the death penalty, favors or opposes the legalization of marijuana, and if they favor or oppose homosexual marriage. For the first variable, respondents were asked, “Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for persons convicted of murder?” Response options were (1) favor, and (2) oppose. For the second variable respondents were asked, “Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal, or not?” Response options were (1) should, and (2) should not. For the third variable respondents were asked, “Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Homosexual couples have the right to marry one another.” Response options were (1) strongly agree, (2) agree, (3) neither agree nor disagree, (4) disagree, and (5) strongly disagree. This third variable was recoded into a dichotomous variable, combining respondents’ answers “strongly agree” and “agree” into the singular (1) agree, and respondents’ answers “disagree” and “strongly disagree” into (2) disagree. Respondents answering neither agree nor disagree were not included in the analysis. Independent Variable The independent variable for this study concerned “Were you born in this country?” Response options were (1) yes, and (2) no. Control Variables I controlled for basic demographics (sex, race, marital status, education, and income) as well as for religious and political views. The variables of race, marital status, religious views, and political views were recoded into dichotomous variables. Race was recoded into (1) White, and (2) NonWhite. Marital status was recoded into (1) married, and (2) not married. Religious views were recoded into (1) Catholic, and (2) not Catholic, and political views were recoded into (1) Liberal, and (2) Conservative. Once all variables were recoded, I performed univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses to determine the extent to which foreign-born individuals’ attitudes toward the death penalty, legalization of marijuana, and homosexual marriage differed from individuals born in the United States.

Frequencies were used for the univariate analysis. Since all four variables are dichotomous variables, Chi Square is the appropriate methodology for the bivariate analysis, and binary logistic regression is most appropriate for the multivariate analysis. Methodology Limitations There were limitations associated with this study. First, only one year of the GSS was used for this analysis. By not expanding my research to cover multiple years of the GSS it is likely I have missed valuable data. Second, the questions in the GSS on the death penalty, legalization of marijuana, and homosexual marriage are closed-ended questions. Expanding on respondents’ answers by including contingency questions in a survey would provide additional insight and data as to why respondents favor or oppose the death penalty, legalization of marijuana, and homosexual marriage. Despite these limitations, analysis of existing data was sufficient to answer my research questions.

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RESULTS Univariate Analysis Frequencies were used to get an understanding of the variables used for analysis. Table 1 presents frequencies for all variables. Table 1. Descriptive Statistics for Univariate Analysis Was Respondent Born in this Country Percent Frequency Yes 87.9 1795 No 12.1 248 Does Respondent Favor or Oppose Capital Punishment Percent Frequency Favor 67.5 1297 Oppose 32.5 624 Should Marijuana be made legal Percent Frequency Yes 47.9 603 No 52.1 656 Should homosexuals have the right to marry Percent Frequency Yes 53.5 586 No 46.5 509 Respondents Sex Percent Frequency Male 43.6 891 Female 56.4 1153 Respondents Race Percent Frequency White 75.8 1550 Other 24.2 494 Respondents Marital Status Percent Frequency Married 43.6 891 Not Married 56.4 1152 Respondents Religion Percent Frequency Catholic 23.7 482 Other 76.3 1549 Respondents Political View Percent Frequency Liberal 46.2 567 Conservative 53.8 660 Mean Median Frequency Income $ 30,813.31 $ 23,310.00 1805 Years of Education 13.46 13.00 2039

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Bivariate Analysis Chi-square analysis was used to further analyze whether attitudes of foreign-born respondents toward the death penalty, legalization of marijuana, and homosexual marriage differ from the attitudes of respondents who indicated they were born in the United States

Table 2. Chi Square Analysis (Foreign born/US born) Capital Punishment US Born Foreign Born Significance Favor 1194 103 .000 70.6% 44.8% Oppose 497 127 29.4% 55.2% Legalization of Marijuana US Born Foreign Born Significance Favor 553 50 .000 50.3% 31.4% Oppose 547 109 49.7% 68.6% Homosexuals’ right to marry US Born Foreign Born Significance Favor 520 65 .846 53.3% 54.6% Oppose 455 54 46.7% 45.4% Table 2 reveals there is a statistically significant difference (p