> Same-sex marriage label changes support
Same-sex marriage label changes support
April 24, 2007
Controversy aside, support for same-sex marriage tends to increase when the label becomes 'civil union.' An SFU researcher has found that's due in part to a perceived threat to heterosexual identity when the term ‘marriage’ is used.
Michael Schmitt, an assistant professor of psychology at SFU, presented two hypothetical state laws, one legally recognizing same-sex civil unions, the other, same-sex marriage, to 115 U.S.-based heterosexual psychology students (67 males and 48 females).
Participants considering the marriage law supported it less and found it more threatening to heterosexuals' rights and social status. The threat partially mediated support for the law. Schmitt’s research will be published in the journal Group Processes and Intergroup Relations.
Schmitt, an internationally known expert in social identity theory and responses to discrimination, will give a talk on Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage: The Role of Heterosexual Identity as part of the Psych in the City lecture series at SFU's Surrey campus on Wednesday, April 25 at 7 p.m.
Michael Schmitt, an assistant professor of psychology at SFU, presented two hypothetical state laws, one legally recognizing same-sex civil unions, the other, same-sex marriage, to 115 U.S.-based heterosexual psychology students (67 males and 48 females).
Participants considering the marriage law supported it less and found it more threatening to heterosexuals' rights and social status. The threat partially mediated support for the law. Schmitt’s research will be published in the journal Group Processes and Intergroup Relations.
Schmitt, an internationally known expert in social identity theory and responses to discrimination, will give a talk on Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage: The Role of Heterosexual Identity as part of the Psych in the City lecture series at SFU's Surrey campus on Wednesday, April 25 at 7 p.m.