Can Trusted Authorities Change Minds on Strong Moral Norms?

• In Event: Elite-Citizen Relations

Abstract

Can trusted authorities change minds on anti-LGBTQI+ norms in African societies? In Ghana, the majority of the public are opposed to LGBTQI+ rights. As a result, political leaders have the incentive to cave to public opinion because of fear of electoral consequences. But Ghana's political context is highly polarized, and the public's political affiliations towards the country's two major political parties are equally strong. In this context, efforts by trusted authorities, in particular political leaders, to change minds puts the public's anti-LGBTQI+ norms in conflict with their political affiliations. In this study, we examine whether the public alters their political affiliations if they are inconsistent with their moral norms. How the public balances their deeply held anti-LGBTQI+ norms and their political affiliations give political leaders open to making progress on LBGTQI+ rights, or not supporting an anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, useful information to manage their political behavior.
African societies hold strong anti-LGBTQI+ norms and changing minds towards acceptability of rights of minority groups is a challenge for reformers and advocates. Previous research shows that in the African context trusted authorities could change public attitudes, thus shifting the interpretation of social norms (Cialdini and Trost, 1998). In this study, we seek to make two policy and academic contributions. Taking Ghana as a case, we first use the issue of LGBTQI+ rights to study how trusted authorities can change social norms and pave the way for social change. Second, we study how the public balances their deeply held anti-LGBTQI+ norms and their political affiliations if the two are in conflict. Does the public alter their political preferences against their political leaders if they do not uphold rigid moral norms? How the public balances their deeply held anti-LGBTQI+ norms and their political affiliations give political leaders open to making progress on LBGTQI+ rights or not supporting an anti-LGBTQ+ legislation useful information to manage their political risk-taking behaviors. The study contributes to scholarship on political behavior in Africa, which is generally understudied or is restricted to a limited number of issues. Using Ghana as a case to examine how anti-LBGTQI+ norms as deeply held moral norms interact with and influence the public’s electoral behavior, we provide insights into understanding the issue in other countries with similar contexts.
Anti-LGBTQI+ norms have emerged as deeply and widely held moral norms among the Ghanaian public. According to a recent study, over 93 percent of Ghanaians are strongly opposed to LGBTQI+ rights, with a majority advocating for the state to criminalize their activities and advocacy. Ghana is also currently at the center of international attention, amidst a moral panic at home, as a group of legislators have sponsored a uniquely penal anti-LGBTQI+ bill before parliament. Expectedly, the bill has a high level of support among the Ghanaian public. We argue that making progress on LGBTQI+ rights in the current climate in Ghana would require the role of trusted authorities based on previous research showing their impact on changing social norms (Okyerefo et. al, 2011; Yirenkyi, 2000). Trusted authorities are important nodes of opinion formation and modification among the public (Denisova, 2020; Nukuny, 2003). In the Ghanaian political and cultural context, trusted authorities constitute religious leaders, traditional leaders, and political leaders. These trusted authorities appeal to distinct values; for religious leaders, it is the values of love and kindness; for traditional leaders, it is the values of community and co-existence; and for political leaders, it is the value of tolerance. Because of their traditional roles in shaping public opinion, this study seeks to examine how these trusted Ghanaian authorities and respective values resonate and change minds among the Ghanaian public on LGBTI+ rights, which has emerged as a contentious social and cultural issue.
This study seeks to answer three interrelated questions: Can trusted authorities change minds on anti-LGBTQI+ norms in conservative African societies? How does the relative salience of party affiliation and adherence to moral norms affect the role of trusted political authorities in changing minds? Are some values more persuasive and effective than others in changing minds on strongly held moral norms?
The project relies on a survey experiment conducted in Ghana. Respondents were presented with one out of four randomized vignettes. The sample consists of approximately 800 respondents, from a nationally representative sample of the adult Ghanaian population; with all relevant political and cultural elements of the population being represented. The participants were sampled from Ghana's 16 regions and interviewed face-to-face in their communities.

Authors

• Michael Yekple, Bowdoin College

• Zlatin Mitkov, North Carolina State University