Social Ties and the Influence of Public Policies on Individual Opinions: The Case of Same-Sex Marriage Laws
研究了欧盟国家同性婚姻法通过后，人们的社会联系（强联系与弱联系）如何影响其对同性恋友好态度的变化，发现法律与当地社会规范的一致性决定了强联系的作用方向。
Abstract This paper evaluates if same-sex marriage (SSM) laws, approved in several European Union countries over the past decades, have contributed to favor gay-friendly opinions among people depending on their social interactions. We propose a dyadic model in which individuals learn about the social norm conveyed by a law through strong and weak ties. We show that the relative importance of these social ties in shaping individuals’ opinions depends on the alignment between the law and the local social norm. Using the 2002–2016 European Social Surveys, we test the theoretical predictions with a pseudo-panel dynamic difference-in-difference setting relying on the progressive adoption of SSM in European countries. We show that strong ties induce a lower increase in gay-friendly opinions following the adoption of SSM when the law is aligned with the local social norm. When the law clashes with this norm, strong ties induce a larger increase..