General Social Survey: Data Overview

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom W. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Social Survey

Population Aging, Intracohort Aging, and Sociopolitical Attitudes

2007 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 812-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas L. Danigelis ◽  
Melissa Hardy ◽  
Stephen J. Cutler
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Sociopolitical Attitudes ◽  
The Life Course

Prevailing stereotypes of older people hold that their attitudes are inflexible or that aging tends to promote increasing conservatism in sociopolitical outlook. In spite of mounting scientific evidence demonstrating that learning, adaptation, and reassessment are behaviors in which older people can and do engage, the stereotype persists. We use U.S. General Social Survey data from 25 surveys between 1972 and 2004 to formally assess the magnitude and direction of changes in attitudes that occur within cohorts at different stages of the life course. We decompose changes in sociopolitical attitudes into the proportions attributable to cohort succession and intracohort aging for three categories of items: attitudes toward historically subordinate groups, civil liberties, and privacy. We find that significant intracohort change in attitudes occurs in cohorts-inlater- stages (age 60 and older) as well as cohorts-in-earlier-stages (ages 18 to 39), that the change for cohorts-in-later-stages is frequently greater than that for cohorts-inearlier-stages, and that the direction of change is most often toward increased tolerance rather than increased conservatism. These findings are discussed within the context of population aging and development.

Policy Mood and Political Sophistication: Why Everybody Moves Mood

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER K. ENNS ◽  
PAUL M. KELLSTEDT
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Political Sophistication ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Opinion Change

This article presents evidence that both micro (individual level) and macro (aggregate level) theories of public opinion overstate the importance of political sophistication for opinion change. It is argued that even the least politically sophisticated segment of society receives messages about the economy and uses this information to update attitudes about political issues. To test this hypothesis, the authors have used General Social Survey data to construct a 31-item measure of policy mood, disaggregated by political sophistication, that spans from 1972 to 2004. They found that all the subgroups generally changed opinion at the same time, in the same direction, and to about the same extent. Furthermore, they show that groups at different sophistication levels change opinions for predominantly the same reasons.

Understanding Female Gun Ownership

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria D. H. Koeppel ◽  
Matt R. Nobles
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Fear Of Crime ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gun Ownership ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
New Research

This research examines female gun ownership trends from 1973 to 2010. Nationally representative General Social Survey data are used to compare rates for male and female gun ownership. In light of the specific marketing trends by gun manufacturers beginning in the mid-1990s as well as previous findings within the literature, we test (a) whether an increase in female gun ownership is observed from 1973 to 2010, (b) whether female gun owners report increased fear of crime, and (c) the extent to which other gun-owning motivations, especially hunting, shape women’s gun ownership. Our analysis confirms a decline in women’s gun ownership, but in contrast to previous studies emphasizing a link between fear of crime and female gun ownership, we find that hobbies and lifestyle factors may better explain women’s interests in firearms. We could conclude by highlighting avenues for new research that better take into account the heterogeneity of gun ownership in the United States.

scholarly journals The Gender Pray Gap: Wage Labor and the Religiosity of High-Earning Women and Men

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Landon Schnabel
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Wage Labor ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Earned Income ◽  
High Earning ◽  
The Relationship

Social scientists agree that women are generally more religious than men, but disagree about whether the differences are universal or contingent on social context. This study uses General Social Survey data to explore differences in religiosity between, as well as among, women and men by level of individual earned income. Extending previous research, I focus on high earners with other groups included for comparison. Predicted probabilities based upon fully-interacted models provide four key findings: (1) There are no significant gender differences among high earners; (2) high-earning women are less religious than low-earning women; (3) high-earning men are more religious than low-earning men; and (4) differences among women and among men at different earnings levels are just as large as average differences between women and men. Further analyses demonstrate that the relationship between gender, earnings, and religiosity varies by race. The findings demonstrate the utility of intersectional approaches for understanding gender differences in religiosity. Beyond the implications specific to the gender differences in religiosity literature, this study also indicates that religion is an important, yet often under-emphasized, aspect of our intersectional selves.

Sex Role Ideology, Marital Status, and Happiness

1989 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
LLOYD B. LUEPTOW ◽  
MARGARET B. GUSS ◽  
COLLEEN HYDEN
Keyword(s):  
Stability Analysis ◽  
Marital Status ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Sex Role ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Work Status ◽  
Marital Happiness ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Marital Success

Research suggests that women's, but not men's, sex role ideology may be negatively related to marital happiness and stability. Analysis of General Social Survey data from 1974 to 1986 supports that proposition. Nontraditional women are less happy and more likely to be separated or divorced. These relations are stronger for attitudes about women's personality than about roles, and are not eliminated by controls for age, year, education, or work status. They are also stronger for women constrained in marriage by opposition to divorce. All in all, the results are consistent with the idea that modern sex role ideology is negatively related to marital success for women.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document