One concern I have with legalizing behaviors that I view as immoral is that I suspect there is a reciprocal relationship between law and morality. Changing values lead to new laws, and new laws cause a change in values.
Using GSS data, I looked at the strength of the relationship between: 1) illegal drug use and favoring marijuana legalization, and 2) one's view on homosexual sex and favoring gay marriage. Eta-squared for the first relationship is .057 which indicates moderate strength. The gamma statistic for the second relationship is .79 which is very strong. Supporting a law, of course, does not logically require that one is in favor of the behavior in question, but sociologically the two seem to move in tandem.
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So, in a sense, the slippery slope is (somewhat) backed up by statistical data?
ReplyDeleteNot really, although I think Ron is right as well. What you need to do is show cause and effect somehow. The GSS doesn't record individual respondents over time, so there's no way to see if, for example, people's opinion on gay marriage changed after sodomy laws were struck down, for example.
ReplyDeleteThe main evidence that the laws affect morality is the change in attitudes about race in the U.S. - the laws changed faster than people's attitudes (to the extent that there was violent resistance across the country), but the attitudes did change, rather than hardening.
ReplyDeleteSo, in a sense, the slippery slope is (somewhat) backed up by statistical data?
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how you found a correlation between legality and societal views using GSS data. While it's true that supporting a law doesn't necessarily mean endorsing the behavior itself, these statistics do suggest a connection between changing moral values and legal changes. This observation raises important questions about the role of law in shaping social norms and attitudes. As society evolves, we must consider whether our laws should reflect those changes or if they should remain static regardless of public opinion. It will be fascinating to see how these relationships continue to develop over time.
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