Abortion attitudes in context: A multidimensional vignette approach

• Abortion attitudes are often highly sensitive to contextual circumstances.
• Positions on abortion are readily taken in the absence of pertinent information.
• Attitudinal abortion data are often methodological artifacts of poor survey designs.

The effects of relationship status, rationale for considering abortion (life circumstance versus health issue), and the male partner’s wishes on abortion attitudes were examined using a multiple-segment factorial vignette with a probability sample of 532 Kentucky households. Respondents expressed strong opinions in the absence of contextual details, yet many shifted the direction of their strongly-held positions once contextual information was revealed that challenged their initial assumptions. Results confirm and extend prior research by indicating that attitudes are strongly held but are simultaneously highly responsive to context. The validity of surveys and polls that attempt to measure global attitudes toward abortion, such as pro-choice versus pro-life, in the absence of contextual details is therefore questioned. The full context of one’s life and situation is weighed in the abortion decision-making process, and our findings indicate that attitudes toward abortion are largely responsive and reflective of that context as well.