American Attitudes Toward Abortion

Abortion is among the most divisive issues in American society. Zealots on both the pro and anti abortion sides claim to have the majority of the American public on their side, which cannot be true. A recent sample of over 1,000 Americans were questioned on the topic, and their attitudes are recorded to determine whether the majority of Americans are pro-abortion, anti-abortion, or neither. Differences in attitudes about abortion are noted between married and unmarried individuals and between men and women. Recommendations for future study are made.

Among the most divisive issues in America today is the issue of abortion. If one were to judge by news coverage alone, one would assume that the nation is divided into two camps, pro-abortion and anti-abortion (the terms "pro-abortion" and "anti-abortion" will be used here, rather than the misleading terms of "pro-choice" and "pro-life"). Each of these camps claim to represent the mainstream consensus of the general populace, and spokespersons from each cite polling statistics to support this position. Clearly, this cannot be the case, as such a consensus for one position would necessarily preclude the other.

This study will attempt to rectify this flaw by examining the effects of one particular social variable on abortion attitudes, while controlling for gender. The dependent variable in question will be marital status, and two research questions will b

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rried are combined with those who have been married in the past (Widowed, divorced, or separated), those respondents with some marital experience outnumber those who have never been married by nearly 4 to 1 (79.9% to 20.1%). Table 1 Frequencies of Responses for MARITAL STATUS Value Label Value Frequency Percent Percent Percent MARRIED 1 788 53.2 53.2 53.2 WIDOWED 2 161 10.9 10.9 64.1 DIVORCED 3 186 12.6 12.6 76.6 SEPARATED 4 48 3.2 3.2 79.9 NEVER MARRIED 5 298 20.1 20.1 100.0 Total 1481 100.0 100.0 Valid cases 1481 Missing cases 0 Table 2 contains the frequencies of responses for the variable SEX. Given that female respondents outnumbered male respondents by 56.9% to 43.1%, it appears that the 1988 GSS may have oversampled females. Table 2 Frequencies of Responses for SEX Value Label Value Frequency Percent Percent Percent MALE 1 638 43.1 43.1 43.1 FEMALE

Category: Psychology - A