When contact changes minds: An experiment on transmission of support for gay equality

@article{Lacour2014WhenCC,
  title={When contact changes minds: An experiment on transmission of support for gay equality},
  author={Michael Lacour and Donald P. Green},
  journal={Science},
  year={2014},
  volume={346},
  pages={1366 - 1369}
}
Can a single conversation change minds on divisive social issues, such as same-sex marriage? A randomized placebo-controlled trial assessed whether gay (n = 22) or straight (n = 19) messengers were effective at encouraging voters (n = 972) to support same-sex marriage and whether attitude change persisted and spread to others in voters’ social networks. The results, measured by an unrelated panel survey, show that both gay and straight canvassers produced large effects initially, but only gay… 
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108 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
5
Background Citations
26
Methods Citations
7
Results Citations
1

108 Citations

The Role of Selection Effects in the Contact Hypothesis: Results from a U.S. National Survey on Sexual Prejudice
TLDR
Effect of contact on attitudes toward formal rights and a relatively unexplored dimension, informal privileges, found no significant differences between the attitudes of those who had contact and those who did not, for either formal or informal measures.
Science, sexuality, and civil rights: Does research on the causes of homosexuality have a political impact?
Does learning that homosexuality is innate tend to increase a person’s support for gay rights? While there is no doubt that the “born gay” belief and support for gay rights are correlated, scholars…
Gay Acquaintanceship and Attitudes toward Homosexuality: A Conservative Test
Does acquaintanceship with gays and lesbians produce more accepting attitudes toward homosexuality and gay rights? Although most scholars and laypeople would likely answer in the affirmative,…
Comment on “The Role of Selection Effects in the Contact Hypothesis: Results from a U.S. National Survey on Sexual Prejudice” by Loehr, Doan, and Miller (2015)
  • K. Zucker
  • Education
    Archives of sexual behavior
  • 2015
TLDR
The lead article by Loehr, Doan, and Miller (2015) in this issue is a very nice empirical study on sexual prejudice in the United States, but references to the LaCour and Green study should not be faulted for citing an article published in a prestigious peerreviewed Journal.
Durably reducing transphobia: A field experiment on door-to-door canvassing
TLDR
It is shown that a single approximately 10-minute conversation encouraging actively taking the perspective of others can markedly reduce prejudice for at least 3 months, and this potential is illustrated with a door-to-door canvassing intervention in South Florida targeting antitransgender prejudice.
Whither Now, Opinion Modelers?
TLDR
The current status and potential directions of development of agent-based models of social opinion dynamics are described and certain promising directions for development are pointed out.
Field experiments across the social sciences
Using field experiments, scholars can identify causal effects via randomization while studying people and groups in their naturally occurring contexts. In light of renewed interest in field…
Replication and Research Integrity in Criminology: Introduction to the Special Issue
Imagine growing up in a family where every statement you make is called into question by the other family members. Perhaps such families exist but they would likely be considered “dysfunctional.”…
Department of Corrections.
TLDR
The editors of Science retracted a study that described how attitudes toward the marriage of same-sex couples could be changed after brief, face-to-face conversations with individuals who had a personal stake in the issue after further scrutiny revealed irregularities.
Social Information and Political Action in Honduras and Ghana
Author(s): Hughes, Douglas Alexander | Advisor(s): Fowler, James H | Abstract: Existing research argues for one of two sides of a dichotomy. Either, individuals' social connections shape behavior…
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