Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP14309
Authors: Cevat Giray Aksoy; Christopher S. Carpenter; Ralph de Haas; Kevin Tran
Abstract: Understanding whether laws shape or simply reflect citizens’ attitudes is important but empirically difficult. We provide new evidence on this question by studying the relation between legal same-sex relationship recognition policies (SSRRPs) and attitudes toward sexual minorities in Europe. Using data from the European Social Surveys covering 2002-2016 and exploiting variation in the timing of SSRRPs across countries, we show that legal relationship recognition is associated with statistically significant improvements in attitudes toward sexual minorities. These effects are widespread across demographic groups but are consistently larger for more conservative groups in countries with less gender equality. Our results suggest that laws can exert a powerful influence in shaping societal attitudes.
Keywords: Public Opinion; Same-Sex Relationship Recognition Policies; LGB Attitudes
JEL Codes: K36; Z1
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| same-sex relationship recognition policies (SSRPs) (J18) | attitudes toward sexual minorities (J15) |
| same-sex relationship recognition policies (SSRPs) (J18) | attitudes toward sexual minorities (among conservative groups) (J15) |
| same-sex relationship recognition policies (SSRPs) (J18) | attitudes toward sexual minorities (in countries with lower gender equality) (J16) |
| same-sex relationship recognition policies (SSRPs) (J18) | attitudes toward other social issues (A13) |
| same-sex relationship recognition policies (SSRPs) (J18) | attitudes (D91) |