Adult attachment style and beliefs about public affairs and scientific issues

Figures & data

Table 1. Comparisons of 2013 and 2014 demographic data with national census data^a

Variables	2013 general population sample (N = 330) (%)	2014 general population sample (N = 223) (%)	2014 conservative sample (N = 202) (%)	2013 American community survey (N = 163,663) (%)
Gender
Males	45.5	44.8	55.4	48.6
Females	54.5	55.2	44.6	51.4
Education
No high school degree	0.6	0.9	0.5	13.6^b
High school degree	9.7	7.6	12.4	28.0
Some college	35.7	34.1	34.7	29.2
College degree	30.0	30.9	28.2	18.2
Graduate work/degree	23.9	26.5	24.3	11.0
Household income
Less than $20,000	9.4	13.5	7.9	18.8
$20,000–$34,999	11.6	13.0	11.4	16.0
$35,000–$49,999	10.6	15.2	14.9	13.7
$50,000–$74,999	23.7	13.0	20.3	18.1
$75,000–$99,999	17.9	15.7	15.3	11.8
$100,000–$149,999	17.6	17.9	13.9	12.4
$150,000 or more	9.1	11.7	16.3	9.2
Age
18–24 years	7.9	14.3	7.4	12.8
25–34 years	16.1	17.9	11.4	17.6
35–44 years	22.4	17.5	14.9	16.8
45–54 years	20.3	23.3	16.3	18.3
55–64 years	20.3	16.6	25.7	16.2
65 years or older	13.0	10.3	24.3	18.3

^a Some totals do not add to 100% because of rounding.

^b Based on adults aged 25 years or older.

Table 2. t-tests on partisanship results for 2013 sample, 2014 samples, and 2014 national General Social Survey (GSS) sample obtained from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, IL, USA

Partisan identification
	Mean	SD	Median	N
2013 general audience sample^a^,^b	3.46	1.73	4	313
2014 general audience sample^b^,^c^,^d	3.43	1.61	3	204
2014 conservative sample^c^,^e	5.45	1.32	6	194
2014 GSS^a^,^d^,^e	3.66	1.92	4	2,450

Notes: Partisanship was measured on a seven-point scale, where lowest = “strong Democrat,” highest = “strong Republican,” and 4 = “Independent.” “Don’t know” responses and identification with other parties excluded.

^a t = 1.75, df = 2,761, p = 0.10.

^b t = 0.20, df = 515, p < 0.84.

^c t = 13.65, df = 396, p < 0.001.

^d t = 1.66, df = 2,652, p = 0.10.

^e t = 12.72, df = 2,642, p = 0.001.

Table 3. Pearson correlations for main variables in 2013 survey

	Party ID^a	Security	Avoidance	Worry	Merger	Religiosity	Media trust	Education	Household income	Age
Party ID	–
Security	−0.07	–
Avoidance	−0.06	−0.45^***	–
Worry	−0.09	−0.01	0.27^***	–
Merger	−0.07	0.02	0.27^***	0.47^***	–
Religiosity	0.25^***	0.05	−0.23^***	−0.15^**	−0.00	–
Media trust	−0.29^***	0.23^***	−0.14^*	0.05	0.06	0.02	–
Education	−0.04	0.10^†	−0.08	−0.06	0.04	0.05	0.11^*	–
Household income	0.07	0.14^*	−0.13^*	−0.09^†	−0.07	−0.04	0.11^*	0.26^***	–
Age	0.06	0.07	−0.07	−0.14^*	0.05	0.12^*	0.17^**	0.15^**	0.07	–

Note: N = 313 (17 observations missing).

^a High = Republican, low = Democrat.

^† p < 0.10.

^* p < 0.05.

^** p < 0.01.

^*** p < 0.001 (two-tailed).

Table 4. Binary logistic regression results for belief outcomes in 2013 and 2014 conservatives

	2013 general population sample		2014 conservative sample
	Evolution is untrue (=1)	Homosexuality can be changed (=1)	Government can’t afford to help needy (=1)	Blacks are mostly responsible (=1)	Government is wasteful (=1)
Education	−0.668^***	−0.390^*	0.583^†	−0.294	−0.265
Household income	0.036	−0.029	0.376^*	−0.011	0.128
Age	0.006	0.020^†	0.000	0.023	0.038^**
Gender (1 = female)	0.323	−1.112^***	0.178	0.592	0.982^*
Block 1 χ^2	16.375^**	26.149^***	19.189^***	6.020	13.421^**
Religiosity	0.369^***	0.262^***	0.002	−0.423^**	−0.151^†
Media trust	−0.260	−0.186	−0.048	−0.168	−0.550^*
Party ID^a	0.141	0.401^***	0.466^*	0.634^**	0.411^*
Block 2 χ^2	63.750^***	63.255^***	10.514^*	22.604^***	14.322^**
Secure	−0.051	−0.111^†	0.140	0.082	−0.108
Avoidant	−0.082	−0.032	0.302^*	−0.066	−0.090
Worry	0.096^*	0.010	−0.234^*	−0.119	−0.155^*
Merger	−0.029	−0.011	0.174	0.174^†	0.100
Block 3 χ^2	6.023	3.630	14.730^**	5.695	5.162
Tests
Model likelihood ratio test χ^2, df = 11	86.148^***	93.034^***	44.433^***	34.319^***	32.906^***
Goodness of fit: Hosmer & Lemeshow df = 8	6.957	9.170	11.926	12.175	9.814
Nagelkerke R^2	0.346	0.401	0.388	0.308	0.261
N	313 (17 missing)	272 (58 missing)	194 (8 missing)	194 (8 missing)	194 (8 missing)

Notes: Entries are betas from binary logistic regressions. Republican, or more conservative, beliefs are coded = 1.

^a High = Republican, low = Democrat.

^† p < 0.10.

^* p < 0.05.

^** p < 0.01.

^*** p < 0.001 (two-tailed).

Table 5. Pearson correlations for main variables in 2014 survey of conservatives

	Party ID^a	Security	Avoidance	Worry	Merger	Religiosity	Media trust	Education	Household income	Age
Party ID	–
Security	0.13^†	–
Avoidance	0.02	−0.58^***	–
Worry	−0.09	−0.26^***	0.31^***	–
Merger	−0.01	−0.07	0.28^***	0.53^***	–
Religiosity	0.11	0.04	−0.13^†	−0.04	0.08	–
Media trust	−0.13^†	0.09	−0.07	0.00	0.02	0.12^†	–
Education	0.07	0.05	−0.01	−0.08^†	−0.08	0.06	−0.05	–
Household income	0.44^***	0.17^*	−0.09	−0.08	−0.14^*	−0.08	−0.06	0.22^**	–
Age	−0.04	0.05	−0.10	−0.13^†	−0.14^†	−0.02	0.10	0.16^*	0.13^†	–

Note: N = 194 (8 observations missing).

^a High = Republican, low = Democrat.

^† p < 0.10.

^* p < 0.05.

^** p < 0.01.

^*** p < 0.001 (two-tailed).

Table 6. Multiple regression: GMO science belief scores for 2014 conservative sample

	Zero-order	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3
Block 1: Demographic variables
Education	0.296^***	0.255^***	0.268^***	0.255^***
Household income	0.214^**	0.140^†	0.073	0.091
Age	0.055	−0.015	−0.002	−0.011
Gender (1 = female)	−0.157^*	−0.102	−0.087	−0.075
Incremental R^2 (%)		12.1^***
Block 2: Heuristic cues
Religiosity	−0.122^†		−0.141^*	−0.129^†
Media trust	−0.092		−0.028	−0.024
Party ID^a	0.173^*		0.120	0.094
Incremental R^2 (%)			2.8
Block 3: Attachment variables
Secure	0.000			−0.006
Avoidant	0.096			0.134
Worry	−0.178^*			−0.198^*
Merger	−0.087			0.015
Incremental R^2 (%)				3.8^†
Total R^2 (%)				18.7^***
Adjusted R^2 (%)				13.8^***
N				194 (8 missing)

Note: Cell entries are standardized regression coefficients.

^a High = Republican, low = Democrat.

^† p < 0.10.

^* p < 0.05.

^** p < 0.01.

^*** p < 0.001 (two-tailed).

Table 7. Pearson correlations for main variables in 2014 survey of general population

	Party ID^a	Security	Avoidance	Worry	Merger	Religiosity	Media trust	Education	Household income	Age
Party ID	–
Security	−0.03	–
Avoidance	0.07	−0.51^***	–
Worry	−0.00	0.08	0.20^**	–
Merger	0.01	0.17^*	0.19^**	0.62^***	–
Religiosity	0.20^**	0.07	−0.09	−0.01	−0.03	–
Media trust	−0.11	0.15^*	−0.10	−0.04	−0.06	0.05	–
Education	−0.18^**	0.18^*	−0.05	−0.14^*	−0.13^†	0.00	−0.02	–
Household income	0.06	0.11	−0.01	−0.19^**	−0.16^*	−0.04	0.11	0.37^***	–
Age	0.07	−0.08	−0.04	−0.14^†	−0.07	0.19^**	0.14^*	0.10	0.30^***	–

Note: N = 204 (19 observations missing).

^a High = Republican, low = Democrat.

^† p < 0.10.

^* p < 0.05.

^** p < 0.01.

^*** p < 0.001 (two-tailed).

Table 8. Binary logistic regression: Belief outcomes in 2014 general population sample

	2014 general population sample
	Government can’t afford to help needy (=1)	Blacks are mostly responsible (=1)	Government is wasteful (=1)	Obama was not born in the US (=1)	Common Core is un-Christian, etc. (=1)	Environmental protection is too costly (=1)
Education	0.361^†	−0.125	−0.058	−0.712^*	−0.327	−0.190
Household income	−0.031	0.085	0.026	−0.108	0.111	0.104
Age	−0.027^*	0.032^*	0.019	0.019	0.044^†	−0.010
Gender (1 = female)	0.318	−0.410	0.550	0.508	0.238	−0.452
Block 1 χ^2	2.047	13.116^*	5.512	17.052^**	5.801	3.346
Religiosity	0.081	0.097	0.003	−0.018	0.236^†	0.267^***
Media trust	0.101	−0.579^*	−0.790^***	−0.638^*	−0.914^*	−0.344
Party ID^a	0.694^***	0.692^***	0.577^***	0.694^***	0.602^**	0.423^***
Block 2 χ^2	43.852^***	50.801^***	42.867^***	27.346^***	21.563^***	34.173^***
Secure	−0.120^†	0.047	−0.076	−0.097	0.009	−0.005
Avoidant	0.014	0.148^*	−0.047	−0.074	−0.014	0.056
Worry	−0.055	−0.050	−0.068	0.165*	0.193^†	−0.053
Merger	0.112^†	0.074	0.214^**	0.037	−0.073	0.174^*
Block 3 χ^2	7.112	8.626^†	12.065^*	8.084^†	3.148	9.621^*
Tests
Model likelihood ratio test χ^2, df = 11	53.012^***	72.542^***	60.444^***	52.482^***	30.513^***	47.140^***
Goodness of fit: Hosmer & Lemeshow df = 8	4.695	11.124	3.530	6.124	4.553	10.537
Nagelkerke R^2	0.307	0.401	0.346	0.394	0.353	0.309

Notes: N = 204 (19 observations missing, except for Obama’s birthplace, where N = 188, 35 observations missing). Entries are betas from binary logistic regressions. Republican, or more conservative, beliefs are coded = 1.

^a High = Republican, low = Democrat.

^† p < 0.10.

^* p < 0.05.

^** p < 0.01.

^*** p < 0.001 (two-tailed).

Table

	M	SD	N
2013 study
Education	3.67	0.966	330
Household income	4.18	1.760	330
Age	46.58	14.767	330
Secure	16.44	3.009	330
Avoidant	10.37	3.465	330
Ambivalent-worry	8.76	3.878	330
Ambivalent-merger	9.58	3.537	330
Political party identification	3.46	1.726	313
Ideology	3.74	1.669	330
Religiosity	5.53	2.927	330
Media trust	2.67	0.884	330
2014 study, general population
Education	3.74	0.964	223
Household income	4.05	1.955	223
Age	43.67	15.372	223
Secure	16.44	3.108	223
Avoidant	10.60	3.461	223
Ambivalent-worry	9.14	3.730	223
Ambivalent-merger	9.76	3.627	223
Political party identification	3.43	1.606	204
Ideology	3.52	1.494	223
Religiosity	5.14	2.870	223
Media trust	3.01	0.872	223
2014 study, conservatives
Education	3.63	1.000	202
Household income	4.31	1.849	202
Age	51.31	16.311	202
Secure	17.10	2.740	202
Avoidant	9.97	3.211	202
Ambivalent-worry	8.08	3.404	202
Ambivalent-merger	9.26	3.391	202
Political party identification	5.45	1.319	194
Ideology	5.80	0.904	202
Religiosity	7.22	2.747	202
Media trust	2.63	0.867	202

Table

Type of belief	Attachment style	β^a	Odds ratio exp (B)	Direction of relationship
General population 2013
Evolution	Worry	0.096*	1.101	Higher worry and did not believe in evolution
Changing homosexuality	Security	−0.111^†	0.895	Lower security and belief that homosexuality could be changed
General population 2014
Helping needy	Security	−0.120^†	0.887	Lower security and/or higher merger and belief that helping the needy is too expensive
	Merger	0.112^†	1.119
Blacks responsible	Avoidance	0.148*	1.159	Higher avoidance and belief that blacks are responsible for their condition
Government waste	Merger	0.214**	1.238	Higher merger and belief that government is wasteful
Obama’s birthplace	Worry	0.165*	1.180	Higher worry and belief Obama was not born in USA
Common Core	Worry	0.193^†	1.213	Higher worry and belief that Common Core is bad
Environment	Merger	0.174*	1.190	Higher merger and belief protection is too costly
Conservatives 2014
Helping needy	Avoidance	0.302*	1.352	Higher avoidance and/or lower worry and belief that helping the needy is too expensive
	Worry	−0.234*	0.791
Blacks responsible	Merger	0.174^†	1.190	Higher merger and belief that blacks are responsible for their condition
Government waste	Worry	−0.155*	0.856	Lower worry and belief that government is wasteful
GMO belief-knowledge^b	Worry	−0.198*	d = −0.40	Lower worry and more knowledgeable about scientific facts

^† p < 0.10.

^* p < 0.05.

^** p < 0.01 (two-tailed).

^a From logistic regressions in Tables 4 and 8.

^b Measured as a continuous variable. Result is from the multiple regression in Table 6.