We examine whether the George Floyd protests influenced public opinion on political violence. Drawing upon the 2016 and 2020 American National Election Studies, we find that most U.S. citizens do not support political violence, and those overall rates remained relatively unchanged. However, we found seismic demographic shifts in attitudes between the two samples. Using logistic regression, we find that strength of support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, liberal ideology, youth, and protest participation were positively correlated with the belief that political violence is justifiable. There was a decrease in support for political violence among older people who oppose the BLM movement, are college educated, ideologically conservative, and trust mainstream news. We argue that cultural views on the acceptability of political violence are pliable, and we offer a theoretical model that explains how salient movement events can shift public attitudes toward controversial protest methods.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
December 2022
ARTICLES|
January 09 2023
HOW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS INFLUENCE PUBLIC OPINION ON POLITICAL VIOLENCE: ATTITUDE SHIFTS IN THE WAKE OF THE GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS* Available to Purchase
Davyd Setter;
Davyd Setter
† Davyd Setter is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of New Mexico. Sharon Erickson Nepstad is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico.
Search for other works by this author on:
Sharon Erickson Nepstad
† Davyd Setter is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of New Mexico. Sharon Erickson Nepstad is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico.
Please direct all correspondence to Sharon Erickson Nepstad at [email protected].
Search for other works by this author on:
Mobilization: An International Quarterly (2022) 27 (4): 429–444.
Citation
Davyd Setter, Sharon Erickson Nepstad; HOW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS INFLUENCE PUBLIC OPINION ON POLITICAL VIOLENCE: ATTITUDE SHIFTS IN THE WAKE OF THE GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS. Mobilization: An International Quarterly 1 December 2022; 27 (4): 429–444. doi: https://doi.org/10.17813/1086-671X-27-4-429
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.
Sign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionCiting articles via
RESISTING THE FAR-RIGHT: EXPLAINING DIVERGENT COUNTERMOBILIZATION TRAJECTORIES IN TWO GERMAN CITIES
Larissa Daria Meier, Jan Matti Dollbaum, Priska Daphi, Sebastian Haunss
BOOK REVIEWS
Kelsy Kretschmer