While public opinion is typically stable over time, support for same-sex marriage increased from 35% to 61% between 2006 and 2016. It wasn’t just that older, more conservative people were dying and being replaced in the population by younger, more progressive people; people were changing their minds. Was this due to leadership from elites like President Barack Obama? To advocacy campaigns pushing for equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people? How does individual-level identity come into play? Given this uncharacteristic rate of attitudinal change, this book examines ... More

While public opinion is typically stable over time, support for same-sex marriage increased from 35% to 61% between 2006 and 2016. It wasn’t just that older, more conservative people were dying and being replaced in the population by younger, more progressive people; people were changing their minds. Was this due to leadership from elites like President Barack Obama? To advocacy campaigns pushing for equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people? How does individual-level identity come into play? Given this uncharacteristic rate of attitudinal change, this book examines the relationship between social group identity and support for LGBT rights. Between 2011 and 2014, the authors conducted public opinion experiments across the country, testing their new Theory of Dissonant Identity Priming. Drawing from political communication, psychology, and identity literature, the theory suggests that people will be more supportive of LGBT rights when they hear that others within a shared identity group are also supporters, particularly if they find that support surprising. The experiments primed identities in four major social groups: sports fans, religion, ethnorace (Black or Latino identity), and partisanship. Overall, the results provide considerable support for the theory. Fans of the Green Bay Packers football team were more likely to say they support same-sex marriage when told that Packers Hall-of-Famer Leroy Butler was supportive. African Americans were more likely to support same-sex marriage when told that President Obama was supportive. Political communication that primes a social identity can change attitudes.