TABLE 5.
The percent of students by political affiliation who reported that they might find a particular subject offensive if a science instructor were to tell a joke about it.
| Potentially Offensive Subject | % of Democrat Students (n=546) | % of Independent Students (n=266) | % of Libertarian Students (n=97) | % of Not Political Students (n=301) | % of Republican Students (n=269) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | |||||
| Women | 74.2% | 62.8%¶ | 51.5%¶ | 53.8%¶ | 46.8%¶ |
| Race/ethnicity | |||||
| African Americans | 73.3% | 59.8%¶ | 53.6%¶ | 52.8%¶ | 49.1%¶ |
| Mexicans | 73.8% | 57.1%¶ | 52.6%¶ | 53.2%¶ | 49.8%¶ |
| Immigration | 63.6% | 49.6%¶ | 42.3%¶ | 41.9%¶ | 31.6%¶ |
| Religion | |||||
| Christians | 54.2% | 52.6% | 43.3% | 47.5% | 55.0% |
| Jewish people | 67.8% | 54.5%¶ | 53.6% | 49.5%¶ | 48.3%¶ |
| Muslims | 75.5% | 61.7%¶ | 53.6%¶ | 55.1%¶ | 47.6%¶ |
| LGBTQ+ status | |||||
| Gay or lesbian people | 71.1% | 59.0%¶ | 52.6%¶ | 51.8%¶ | 45.0%¶ |
| Transgender people | 73.4% | 60.9%¶ | 53.6%¶ | 51.2%¶ | 45.4%¶ |
| Disability status | |||||
| People with disabilities | 73.3% | 66.2% | 54.6%¶ | 56.1%¶ | 56.5%¶ |
| Age | |||||
| Old people | 35.0% | 29.7% | 28.9% | 27.6% | 22.3%¶ |
| Political affiliation | |||||
| Democrats | 51.3% | 36.1%¶ | 32.0%¶ | 32.6%¶ | 31.2%¶ |
| Republicans | 33.9% | 32.0% | 35.1% | 33.6% | 45.0%* |
| Other | |||||
| Genitalia | 39.0% | 33.5% | 32.0% | 28.9%¶ | 32.0% |
| Weight | 57.1% | 48.1% | 46.4% | 42.9%¶ | 36.8%¶ |
| Divorce | 30.4% | 28.2% | 21.6% | 27.9% | 27.5% |
Significant differences are bolded.
¶
indicates that students of a particular political affiliation were significantly less likely than Democrat students to find a particular subject offensive if a college science instructor were to joke about it. (¶p<0.003).
We used the Bonferroni-adjusted p value to indicate significance (0.05/16) (p<0.003).
The binary logistic regression model tested for each potentially offensive subject was: (whether student perceived the subject as offensive [Y/N]) ~ political affiliation.