Political Science Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2017
Volume
29
Issue
3
Journal
International Journal of Public Opinion Research
First Page
449
URL with Digital Object Identifier
https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edw008
Last Page
470
Abstract
Individuals do not always accurately report the forces driving their policy preferences. Such inaccuracy may result from the fact that true justifications are socially undesirable or less persuasive than competing justifications or are unavailable in conscious awareness. Because of the delicate nature of these issues, people may be particularly likely to misstate the reasons for preferences on gay marriage, abortion, abstinence-only education, and premarital sex. Advocates on both sides typically justify their preferences in terms of preserving social order, maintaining moral values, or protecting civil liberties, not in terms of their own sexual preferences. Though these are the stated reasons, in empirical tests we find that psychophysiological response to sexual images also may be a significant driver of policy attitudes.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Citation of this paper:
Friesen, A., Smith, K. B., & Hibbing, J. R. (2016). Physiological Arousal and Self-Reported Valence for Erotica Images Correlate with Sexual Policy Preferences. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. http://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edw008
