Latest Publications

July 17, 2023Daniel A. Cox
What the Rise in Dog Attacks Signals About the State of America’s Social Capital
In the wake of the pandemic, the increase in both dog attacks and individual antisocial behavior seems to be a consequence of our deteriorating social capital.

April 26, 2023Daniel A. Cox, Phil Jones
Does Politics Make People More Likely to Identify as LGBTQ?
A novel survey experiment tests the relationship between LGBTQ identity and political ideology.

March 15, 2023Daniel A. Cox, Kelsey Eyre Hammond, Jessie Wall
Despite Professional Successes Many Women Still Experience Imposter Syndrome
Women in the professional world are thriving and have been pulling ahead of men for years. Confidence in job performance however, remains lower than men of their same age.
Facts & Figures
- White Evangelical Trump Support Fracturing
- A Generational Jump in Bisexuality
- Friend Zone
White Evangelical Trump Support Fracturing: White evangelicals have been Trump’s most consistent and committed supporters throughout his presidency. They overwhelmingly supported Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. More recently, some white evangelicals appear less enthused about Trump. Only 56 percent of white evangelicals with a college degree have a favorable view of Trump, down from 68 percent in 2017. Trump’s support among white evangelicals without a college degree appears far more stable.
A Generational Jump in Bisexuality: New research finds that one in five adults who belong to Generation Z (age 18 to 25) identify as LGBT. However, most of the increase is due to the jump in bisexual identity—roughly two-thirds of those LGBT Gen Zers are bisexual. Part of this increase in bisexual identity reflects the fluidity with which young people today approach sexuality. Most people who identify as bisexual are not equally attracted to men and women but rather tend to be attracted mostly to men or mostly to women. But it also may be a question of definition. As noted recently in an American Storylines newsletter: “Americans whose sexuality is not something that fits neatly in a check box may find that bisexuality comes closest, even if it’s not completely right.”
Friend Zone: Dating apps have become an undeniable part of the romantic landscape, but more young people opting for a different strategy of finding a partner: Their friends. A new report, “From Swiping to Sexting: The Enduring Gender Divide in American Dating and Relationships” finds that young adults are much more likely than older Americans to say their partner or spouse was a friend first. This trend is even more common among young women. Half (50 percent) of young women who are in a relationship are dating someone with whom they were friends before they started dating.
Advantages to dating your friends include; relationships starting from a place of mutual care, shared personal history, and an ability to trust the person you are dating and for young women specifically, safety. Seems like being in the “friend-zone” might not be as permanent of a position as many young men might think.
In the News
September 24, 2023
Being There
September 24, 2023
Feeling Lonely? Go to the Library
September 23, 2023