{"title":"Dimensions and clusters of abortion legal attitudes: A cross-national analysis of diverse nations","authors":"Juan J. Fernández , Amy Adamczyk","doi":"10.1016/j.ssresearch.2025.103173","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The literature on abortion attitudes displays a clear dualism. Cross-national studies conceptualize these attitudes as unidimensional (higher vs lower tolerance). But country case-studies indicate that attitudes are more complicated than what a continuous (higher/lower) or categorical (pro-choice vs pro-life) differentiation may suggest. Cross-national studies thus likely understate the complexity of abortion views. Utilizing a unique cross-national database and confirmatory factor analysis, cluster analysis, and multivariate regressions, we fill this void. In our sample of 23 diverse nations, we find that respondents are more supportive when the mother's health is in danger and during earlier gestational stages, and they are less likely to punish the woman than the provider when it is illegal. We also show that women, better educated, richer, and more liberal people are more likely to support abortion across different dimensions in the cross-national context. These relationships are largely similar across different legal environments. Finally, we show that attitudes related to the various legal dimensions of abortion are best characterized as multi-dimensional.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48338,"journal":{"name":"Social Science Research","volume":"128 ","pages":"Article 103173"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Social Science Research","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X25000341","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"SOCIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The literature on abortion attitudes displays a clear dualism. Cross-national studies conceptualize these attitudes as unidimensional (higher vs lower tolerance). But country case-studies indicate that attitudes are more complicated than what a continuous (higher/lower) or categorical (pro-choice vs pro-life) differentiation may suggest. Cross-national studies thus likely understate the complexity of abortion views. Utilizing a unique cross-national database and confirmatory factor analysis, cluster analysis, and multivariate regressions, we fill this void. In our sample of 23 diverse nations, we find that respondents are more supportive when the mother's health is in danger and during earlier gestational stages, and they are less likely to punish the woman than the provider when it is illegal. We also show that women, better educated, richer, and more liberal people are more likely to support abortion across different dimensions in the cross-national context. These relationships are largely similar across different legal environments. Finally, we show that attitudes related to the various legal dimensions of abortion are best characterized as multi-dimensional.
期刊介绍:
Social Science Research publishes papers devoted to quantitative social science research and methodology. The journal features articles that illustrate the use of quantitative methods in the empirical solution of substantive problems, and emphasizes those concerned with issues or methods that cut across traditional disciplinary lines. Special attention is given to methods that have been used by only one particular social science discipline, but that may have application to a broader range of areas.