Gun Ownership and Self‐Serving Attributions for Mass Shooting Tragedies*

Joslyn, Mark R.; Haider‐Markel, Donald P.

doi:10.1111/ssqu.12420

Cited by 41 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…() found gun ownership to be a stable and powerful predictor of voting for Republican presidential candidates across numerous election cycles from 1972 to 2012, and that this pattern increased over time. Additionally, gun owners, compared to nonowners, are also more likely to support concealed carry laws, oppose bans on guns, strongly champion the Second Amendment, less likely to blame guns for mass shootings, and less trustful of government (Joslyn and Haider‐Markel, , ; Lott, ; Parker et al., ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Intersectionality in Action: Gun Ownership and Women's Political Participation

Middlewood

Joslyn

Haider‐Markel

2019

Social Science Quarterly

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Objective. We hypothesize that gun ownership among women is an important determinant of political engagement. Methods. First, using 2013 Pew Research Center data, we examine different types of political participation concerning gun policy. Next, we examine data from a survey experiment embedded in a unique June 2017 national survey of nearly 900 gun owners. Finally, we analyze 2016 American National Election Studies data of behavioral and cognitive forms of political participation. Results. Gun-owning women exhibit levels of political participation about gun policy and a greater willingness to engage in political discussions about gun control than nonowning women. We also find greater levels of political engagement among gun-owning women on measures of participation not related to gun policy. Conclusion. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on political participation as well as for gun policy.Although gun ownership among men has been declining in recent decades, the same trend is not true among women. Since 1980, the percentage of women owning guns (about 11 percent) is stable, though still much lower than that of men (about 32 percent; see Goss, 2017;Parker et al., 2017;Yablon, 2016). The apparent resistance of women to the decline in ownership may be a result of several factors; most noteworthy the National Rifle Association and gun makers tailored marketing campaigns toward women, emphasizing protection, and featured programs designed to inculcate women into gun culture (Breslin,

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confidence: 99%

Intersectionality in Action: Gun Ownership and Women's Political Participation

Middlewood

Joslyn

Haider‐Markel

2019

Social Science Quarterly

Self Cite

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“…However, based on findings from psychological research on fear (Loewenstein et al, 2001;Slovic et al, 2007), the reverse is also likely to be true-those with negative feelings about guns who perceive little benefit to ownership may tend to over-estimate risks. Consistent with this dichotomy, both calls for legislative gun reform, as well as gun purchases increase in the wake of mass shootings (Wallace, 2015;Wozniak, 2017), with differences primarily predicted by the relative self-serving attributional biases of gun ownership and non-ownership alike (Joslyn and Haider-Markel, 2017).…”

Section: Gun Owner Diversitymentioning

confidence: 93%

The psychology of guns: risk, fear, and motivated reasoning

Pierre

2019

Palgrave Commun

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The gun debate in America is often framed as a stand-off between two immutable positions with little potential to move ahead with meaningful legislative reform. Attempts to resolve this impasse have been thwarted by thinking about gun ownership attitudes as based on rational choice economics instead of considering the broader socio-cultural meanings of guns. In this essay, an additional psychological perspective is offered that highlights how concerns about victimization and mass shootings within a shared culture of fear can drive cognitive bias and motivated reasoning on both sides of the gun debate. Despite common fears, differences in attitudes and feelings about guns themselves manifest in variable degrees of support for or opposition to gun control legislation that are often exaggerated within caricatured depictions of polarization. A psychological perspective suggests that consensus on gun legislation reform can be achieved through understanding differences and diversity on both sides of the debate, working within a common middle ground, and more research to resolve ambiguities about how best to minimize fear while maximizing personal and public safety.

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“…Future research should continue to take religion seriously as a contributor to Americans' gun control attitudes and probe for factors that mediate the relationship between religious tradition and support for or opposition to gun control. A recent study demonstrates that gun owners and non-gun owners have different attributions for mass shootings, with gun owners inclined to blame popular culture and parenting and non-gun owners more likely to blame the availability of guns (Joslyn and Haider-Markel 2017). Evangelical Protestants, too, may be more likely to have attributions that reflect their concern with individual responsibility and interpersonal relationships.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

God and Guns: Examining Religious Influences on Gun Control Attitudes in the United States

Merino

2018

Religions

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Mass shootings in the United States have generated significant media coverage and public concern, invigorating debates over gun control. Media coverage and academic research on gun control attitudes and reactions to mass shootings have paid little attention to the role of religion. Recent research sheds light on the complex relationship between religion and guns, including higher rates of gun ownership and stronger opposition to gun control among white evangelical Protestants. Using nationally representative survey data, this study examines the relationship between religious identity, gun ownership, and support for a range of gun control policies, including proposed remedies for preventing mass shootings. Compared with individuals from other religious traditions, evangelical Protestants are most opposed to stricter gun control laws and enforcement, even with statistical controls for gun ownership and demographic characteristics. Rather, they favor individualistic solutions and putting more emphasis on religious values in their social surroundings. I discuss how these findings reflect the cultural tools evangelical Protestants use to construct their understandings of social problems, including gun violence, and the broader implications for gun policy in the United States.

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Gun Ownership and Self‐Serving Attributions for Mass Shooting Tragedies*

Cited by 41 publications

References 30 publications

Intersectionality in Action: Gun Ownership and Women's Political Participation

Intersectionality in Action: Gun Ownership and Women's Political Participation

The psychology of guns: risk, fear, and motivated reasoning

God and Guns: Examining Religious Influences on Gun Control Attitudes in the United States

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