AGE,PERIOD, AND COHORT EFFECTS ON DEATH PENALTY ATTITUDES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1974–2014

In this article, we further the understanding of both changes in public opinion on capital punishment in the United States and changes in the factors associated with public opinion on the death penalty. Support for the death penalty may be motivated by events happening during specific time periods, and it can vary across birth cohorts as a result of cohort‐specific socialization processes, demographic changes, and formative events that are specific to each generation. An explication of the sources of and variation in death penalty attitudes over time would benefit from the accounting for the age of the respondent, the year of the survey response, and the birth cohort of the respondent. We improve on previous research by using multiple approaches including hierarchical age–period–cohort models and data from the General Social Survey (N = 41,474) to examine changes in death penalty attitudes over time and across birth cohorts. The results showed curvilinear age effects, strong period effects, and weak cohort effects on death penalty support. The violent crime rate explained much of the variation in support for the death penalty across periods. The examination of subgroup differences suggests that support for the death penalty is becoming concentrated among Whites, Protestants, and Republicans.     

Community perceptions of a public sex offender registry introduced in Western Australia

Abstract

Publically accessible information about sex offenders through an online registry of sex offenders has been a polemic issue for governments, police and the wider community with debate largely driven by community expectations of police ensuring the safety of children and women from sexual predators. In October 2012, Western Australia became the first and currently only state or territory in Australia to allow public access to a three tiered register via the Community Protection Website (CPW) that would be monitored by West Australian Police. The introduction of this website triggered significant debate across the country. A survey was developed to capture the opinions of members of the public who had accessed the online registry to understand their views of the online tool and its purpose as a form of community safety. Findings from the survey reveal that the community lacks understanding of the prevalence of child sexual abuse and the fact that a child is more likely to experience sexual victimization within the family unit. There is also a need for greater community education and awareness about the purpose and limitations of the CPW as many believed that all sex known sex offenders are publicly registered, therefore creating a false sense of security.     

Predicting Competitive‐Unethical Negotiating Behavior and Its Consequences

This study examines the relationships between negotiators' attitudes toward competitive and unethical tactics, their actual use of those tactics, and their subsequent perceptions of performance and reputation in two‐party, e‐mail‐based negotiations. The results indicate several predictors of competitive‐unethical behavior, including a negotiator's attitude toward competitive‐unethical tactics, early use of competitive‐unethical tactics, and the behavior of a negotiating counterpart. Furthermore, it was the perceived honesty of one's counterpart rather than the actual use of competitive‐unethical behaviors that was associated with a negotiator's perceptions of the collective or joint outcome. The implications of these findings are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.     

Long-term income trajectories and the evolution of political attitudes

Income and political attitudes are powerfully correlated in cross-sectional data, yet research based on panel data finds at most a weak correlation. In this paper, we examine this puzzling pattern by exploring the long-term evolution of attitudes over the life cycle. We evaluate the predictions of five different explanations on the relationship between attitudes and income experiences. These explanations focus on, respectively: socialization, anticipation, myopic self-interest, learning and status maximization. We employ accelerated longitudinal design models using data on core political values that span up to sixteen years from the British Household Panel Survey. Our findings reconcile the mixed evidence in the literature: the correlation between income and political attitudes, strong in cross-sectional studies but weak in short panel studies, emerges because attitudes crystallize – slowly but systematically – as income evolves over the life cycle. This pattern is most consistent with the learning explanation.     

The relationship between political attitudes and political participation: Evidence from monozygotic twins in the United States,Sweden, Germany,and Denmark

Many studies have shown that political efficacy, interest in politics, and political knowledge are strongly related to political participation. In most analyses, these variables are described as having a causal effect on participation. In this paper, we examine the extent to which the relationship between political attitudes and participation is confounded by familial factors. By using the discordant twin design, which relates within-pair differences in political attitudes to within-pair differences in political participation, we are able to examine the relationship net of confounding factors rooted in genes and the early rearing environment. Using four samples of monozygotic twins from the United States, Sweden, Germany, and Denmark, we find that the relationship between political attitudes and political participation is confounded to a large extent. This study makes an important contribution to the literature on political attitudes and political participation given the longstanding idea that attitudes cause political participation. Our findings also have practical implications for those interested in elevating levels of political participation. In addition, they have important implications for how scholars theorize about, model, and examine political participation in the future.     

The electoral consequences of anti-Muslim prejudice

A growing body of research has documented the development of pervasive anti-Muslim sentiment among White Americans. We build on this research to demonstrate that anti-Muslim attitudes and negative stereotypes of Muslim people have become an enduring and consistent component of White Americans' presidential vote choice beyond any one specific candidate or election. We argue that the racialization of Muslim Americas has increased their salience and significance in both the minds of White Americans and in national political discourse, making attitudes toward Muslims a consistent predictor of Whites’ presidential candidate evaluations in every election since at least 2004. We support this account with empirical evidence from the 2004–2020 American National Election Studies, using measures of group affect and negative stereotypes of Muslim people.     

We’re Not all Happy Yet: Attitudes to Work,Leadership, and High Performance Work Practices among Managers in the Public Sector

This article explores the attitudes of male and female managers in the public sector toward high performance Human Resource Management (HRM) policies and practices, work, and organisational leadership, and compares these attitudes to those of managers in the private sector. It finds that female public sector managers are most positive about high performance HRM policies and practices. Male public sector managers are less positive than female managers in the public sector and male and female managers in the private sector across all the measures. Psychological contract theory suggests either the changes associated with high performance HRM policies and practices, or attempts to decrease the disadvantage felt by women in the public sector may have resulted in a sense of disadvantage among some men in the sector, and created a changed, more transactional psychological contract between these men and their organisation. Strategies are needed to reengage public sector men.     

Attitudes toward mental health services among homeless and matched housed youth

Homeless youth experience high rates of mental health problems yet they under-utilize mental health services. The present study surveyed 56 homeless youth and 97 matched at-risk housed youth on their attitudes toward mental health services, and investigated the link between social support and attitudes. Results showed groups shared similar neutral to positive attitudes. Higher levels of social support were associated with increased positive attitudes toward services. Further analyses found that lesbian/gay/bisexual/questioning youth held more positive attitudes compared to heterosexual youth. Implications of the current study can assist service providers with eliminating barriers and increasing mental health service use.     

Concealed Guns on College Campuses: Examining Support for Campus Carry Among Faculty,Staff, and Students

ABSTRACT

This study examined the factors that influence support for campus carry laws among a sample of approximately 2,700 faculty/administrators, staff, and students at a large, public university in Georgia. Although previous research suggests that support for campus carry may differ across groups on campus, there have been no studies that have examined why these differences may exist. In order to shed light on this understudied issue, this study estimated the extent of support for campus carry and examined if the predictors of support varied across campus populations. Results indicated that there were differences in the proportion of each group that supported campus carry with students (57%) reporting a higher level of support than staff (39%) and faculty/administrators (19%). Further, results from multivariate analyses indicated that there are some differences in the factors that predict support for campus carry for faculty/administrators compared to staff and students.