How College Influences Attitudes About Guns: Examining Political Attitudes as Relational Properties

• In Event: 4155 - Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 6. Guns and Mass Shootings

Abstract

Using both quantitative and qualitative analysis, this study explores how attitudes towards guns are developed among college students. Drawing on a national sample of college students, we find that, although a student’s family upbringing leads them to enter college with certain beliefs, their attitudes towards guns evolve significantly during their time in college. Contrary to popular belief, we do not find that this process is a consequence of the courses the students take or the interaction with faculty that they have. Instead, students’ attitudes are largely shaped by the close relationships, or the lack of, they form among peers. These findings highlight the importance of understanding attitudes about guns as relational properties rather than individual attributes.

Authors

• Ken-Hou Lin, University of Texas-Austin

• Harel Shapira, University of Texas at Austin

• Patrick Sheehan, University of Texas at Austin