How Social Movements Influence Public Opinion on Political Violence
Attitude Shifts in the Wake of the George Floyd Protests
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6209908 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Davyd Setter († Davyd Setter is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of New Mexico. Sharon Erickson Nepstad is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico., corresponding author), E Nepstad (0000-0002-2564-5329, University of New Mexico), Sharon Erickson Nepstad († Davyd Setter is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of New Mexico. Sharon Erickson Nepstad is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico.) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 429-444 |
| Publication date | 2022-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Mobilization An International Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1086-671X • E-ISSN: 1938-1514 |
| Publisher | Mobilization Journal (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.17813/1086-671x-27-4-429 |
| OpenAlex | W4313597171 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
We examine whether the George Floyd protests influenced public opinion on political violence. Drawing upon the 2016 and 2020 American National Election Studies, we find that most U.S. citizens do not support political violence, and those overall rates remained relatively unchanged. However, we found seismic demographic shifts in attitudes between the two samples. Using logistic regression, we find that strength of support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, liberal ideology, youth, and protest participation were positively correlated with the belief that political violence is justifiable. There was a decrease in support for political violence among older people who oppose the BLM movement, are college educated, ideologically conservative, and trust mainstream news. We argue that cultural views on the acceptability of political violence are pliable, and we offer a theoretical model that explains how salient movement events can shift public attitudes toward controversial protest methods
Criminology · Ideology · Mainstream · Political economy · Political science · Political violence · Politics · Public opinion · Social movement · Sociology · Law · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,67 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |