IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/socsci/v100y2019i6p2408-2424.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gun Ownership as a Social Identity: Estimating Behavioral and Attitudinal Relationships

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew J. Lacombe
  • Adam J. Howat
  • Jacob E. Rothschild

Abstract

Objective Recent research suggests that a gun owner social identity may undergird the deep political engagement of U.S. gun rights supporters. We adapt social psychological measures to assess whether such an identity does indeed exist, examine the factors that predict whether individuals hold the identity, and assess whether the identity predicts individuals’ political attitudes and participation. Methods We analyze two distinct survey data sets using various statistical techniques: (1) an original Mechanical Turk survey and (2) a survey of gun owners conducted by the Pew Research Center. Results Gun owner identity is an individual characteristic that can be meaningfully measured. Moreover, gun owner identity is predicted by contact with the National Rifle Association and participation in gun‐related social activities, among other factors. Further, this identity strongly predicts firearm‐related policy attitudes, the importance individuals place upon these issues, and their propensity to act in opposition to gun regulations, all independent of gun ownership. Conclusions Our results suggest that nuanced measurement of gun owner identity can provide a richer understanding of gun policy attitudes, identity politics, and interest group influence. In so doing, they help explain gun rights supporters’ unusual dedication and, by extension, the NRA's success in the realm of gun policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew J. Lacombe & Adam J. Howat & Jacob E. Rothschild, 2019. "Gun Ownership as a Social Identity: Estimating Behavioral and Attitudinal Relationships," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 100(6), pages 2408-2424, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:100:y:2019:i:6:p:2408-2424
    DOI: 10.1111/ssqu.12710
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12710
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ssqu.12710?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shawn Ratcliff, 2022. "Presidential firepower: The effect of the presidential party on gun ownership, 1980–2018," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(3), pages 737-751, May.
    2. Alexandra Filindra & Loren Collingwood & Noah J. Kaplan, 2020. "Anxious About Social Violence: The Emotional Underpinnings of Support for Gun Control," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 101(5), pages 2101-2120, September.
    3. Diana C. Mutz, 2023. "Freedom of Speech in the Post-Floyd Era: Public Support for Political Tolerance," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 708(1), pages 184-205, July.
    4. Raymond Tatalovich & Donald P. Haider‐Markel, 2022. "Voting on gun rights: Mapping the electoral scope of the pro‐gun constituency in America," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(6), pages 1359-1370, November.
    5. Christopher G. Ellison & Margaret S. Kelley & David Leal & Pablo E. Gonzalez, 2022. "How do veterans view gun policies? Evidence from the Guns in American Life Survey," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(3), pages 752-768, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:100:y:2019:i:6:p:2408-2424. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0038-4941 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.