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Public Opinion Quarterly Advance Access originally published online on May 23, 2008
Public Opinion Quarterly 2008 72(2):291-310; doi:10.1093/poq/nfn015
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Beliefs About the Origins of Homosexuality and Support For Gay Rights

An Empirical Test of Attribution Theory

Donald P. Haider-Markel and Mark R. Joslyn

Address correspondence to Donald P. Haider-Markel; e-mail: prex{at}ku.edu

In this study, we employ Weiner's attribution theory of controllability to examine beliefs about the origins of homosexuality. If the cause of homosexuality is perceived as controllable (learned, environmental, or an individual choice), negative affect toward homosexuals and reduced support for policies relevant to the group can be expected. If the cause is perceived as uncontrollable (biological or genetic in origin), positive affect and increased support for polices is anticipated. Our analyses of data from two unique surveys of national adults corroborate these hypotheses, showing that positive feelings toward gays, support for gay civil rights, civil unions, and same-sex marriage are strongly determined by a genetic attribution for homosexuality. Attributions are in fact the strongest predictor of support. We distinguish our analysis from previous research by examining the important role of religion, ideology, and experience, in shaping attributions.

DONALD P. HAIDER-MARKEL is with Department of Political Science, University of Kansas, 1541 Lilac Lane, 504 Blake Hall, Lawrence, KS 66044, USA. MARK R. JOSLYN is with Department of Political Science, University of Kansas, 1541 Lilac Lane, 504 Blake Hall, Lawrence, KS 66044, USA. This research was partially supported by a 2003 American Psychological Foundation Wayne F. Placek Award to the corresponding author. The authors thank Gary Segura for comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.


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