This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1065912908317033v1 62/2/355    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Barth, J. Articles by Huffmon, S. H. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Community Context, Personal Contact, and Support for an Anti—Gay Rights Referendum

Hendrix College, Conway, Arkansas, barth{at}hendrix.edu

L. Marvin Overby

University of Missouri, Columbia, overby{at}missouri.edu

Scott H. Huffmon

Winthrop University, Rock Hill, South Carolina, huffmons{at}winthrop.edu

Using data from an unusual survey, we gauge factors influencing support for a state anti—gay rights referendum. After controlling for other powerful predictors of attitudes, we find personal contact (especially relevant and voluntary contact) has an important impact on public support, although community context does not. These findings support an integrated notion of interactions with "out" groups, grounded in social categorization theory, that sees community context and interpersonal contact as concentric circles, moving from abstract, detached forms of contact to more pronounced, personal forms. However, even among those with substantial interpersonal contact, support for the referendum was still widespread.

Key Words: gay rights • contact hypothesis • same-sex marriages

This version was published on June 1, 2009

Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 62, No. 2, 355-365 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1065912908317033


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