People’s prior attitudes shape which label they prefer for the same issue

Evidence

Of those who indicated support of the ERA, 72% chose to frame the issue in terms of eliminating inequity, whereas only 60% of those who opposed the ERA chose this frame. This finding is consistent with the common observation regarding the political significance of how issues are labeled. A familiar example involves abortion, whose opponents call themselves prolife, not antichoice. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2459

Categorization

• XREF: Extends the framing dynamic in 2456 and connects to my article on moral panics over dress where labeling was also contested political territory. — connects to: The label used for a system shapes whether people maintain or resist it. — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 453; Latent public opinion rarely diverges from expressed collective policy preferences — Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page, Testing Theories of American Politics:…, 22