Chapter 6: Social and Political Attitudes
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Asian
Americans, as a whole, are more politically liberal than the general public and
tilt more toward the Democratic Party than toward the Republican Party. But
Asians who are evangelical Protestants tend to favor the GOP, and they are more
likely than other Asian-American religious groups overall to say they are
politically conservative.
Asian
Americans’ attitudes on social issues such as abortion and homosexuality vary
by religious group according to the same basic pattern as in the general
public. But this is not true when it comes to opinions about the size of
government. On this question, Asian-American Protestants, Catholics and the
unaffiliated are more likely than their counterparts in the general public to
prefer a bigger government offering more services rather than a smaller
government providing fewer services. Half of Asian-American Protestants (52%)
prefer a bigger government, compared with about a third of all U.S. Protestants
(37%). The difference is starker among evangelicals: Half of U.S. Asian
evangelical Protestants prefer a bigger government (51%), significantly more
than the 20% of white evangelicals in the general public who say the same.
Political Party
About
half of Asian-American registered voters are Democrats or lean toward the
Democratic Party (52%), while 32% identify with or lean toward the GOP. Among
all registered voters, 49% fall in the Democratic camp and 45% are Republican.
Compared with the general public, however, more Asian-American voters across
all religious groups say they do not lean toward either party.
Political
divisions among Asian-American religious groups mostly mirror those in the
general public. U.S. Asian Protestant voters tend to identify with or lean
toward the GOP (47%) more than the Democratic Party (36%), as do Protestants in
the general public (51% vs. 43%).
Republicans
fare even better among Asian-American evangelical registered voters; more than
half are Republican or lean toward the Republican Party (56%). However, support
for the GOP among Asian-American evangelicals is lower than among white
evangelical voters in the general public (70%).
Mainline
Protestant Asian Americans tend to diverge from white mainline Protestant
voters on party identification. Among U.S. Asian mainline Protestants, 44% say
they are Democrats or lean Democratic, while 37% are Republicans or lean
Republican. Among white mainline Protestants, 44% also say they are Democrats
or lean Democratic, but almost half (49%) are Republicans or lean Republican.
U.S.
Asians who are religiously unaffiliated lean strongly toward the Democratic
Party, as do the unaffiliated in the general public. Among unaffiliated Asian
Americans who are registered to vote, 63% say they are Democrats or lean
Democratic and 21% are Republican or lean Republican. Similarly, 62% of
unaffiliated voters in the general public identify with or lean toward the
Democratic Party, while 31% identify with or lean toward the GOP.
Asian-American
Buddhists and Hindus are also more likely to be Democrats than Republicans.
Indeed, among U.S. Asian Hindus who are registered to vote, nearly
three-quarters say they are Democrats or lean Democratic (72%), while 9% are
Republicans or lean Republican. Asian-American Buddhist voters also tilt
strongly toward the Democrats over the Republicans, but not by as large a
margin (56% to 27%).
Catholic
Asian-American voters are divided in their partisanship, with 42% saying they
are Republicans or lean Republican and 41% identifying as Democrats or leaning
Democratic. Catholic voters in the general public are also split (48%
Republican/lean Republican vs. 44% Democrat/lean Democrat).
Political Ideology
In
keeping with their partisan leanings, Asian Americans tend to be more liberal
than conservative in their ideological views: 31% describe their political
views as liberal, while 24% say they are conservative, and 37% say they are
moderate. The opposite pattern occurs among the general public: a third of all
U.S. adults (34%) say they are conservative, 24% say they are liberal, and 37% say
they are moderate.
Asian-American
Buddhists, Hindus and those who are not affiliated with any religion are more
likely than Asian-American Protestants or Catholics to describe their political
views as liberal. Among Asian-American Buddhists, 34% are liberal, 19% are
conservative and 36% are moderate. Among Asian-American Hindus, 34% are
liberal, 14% are conservative and 44% are moderate.
Religiously
unaffiliated U.S. Asians are the group most likely to say they are liberal
(42%, with 15% saying they are conservative and 36% identifying their views as
moderate). The Asian-American unaffiliated are similar to the unaffiliated in
the general public on ideology; 36% of the unaffiliated in the general public
are liberal, 21% are conservative and 36% are moderate.
As
in the general public, U.S. Asian Protestants are more conservative than
liberal. Nearly four-in-ten Asian-American Protestants (38%) say they are
conservative, 19% are liberal, and 35% are moderate.
U.S.
Asians who are evangelical Protestant are especially likely to be conservative,
while mainline Protestants are not. Among Asian-American evangelical
Protestants, 45% are conservative, 16% are liberal, and 32% are moderate.
However, evangelical Asian Americans are not as conservative as white
evangelical Protestants (61%).
Among
Asian-American mainline Protestants, roughly equal shares are conservative
(28%) and liberal (23%). Among white mainline Protestants in the general public,
32% are conservative, 23% are liberal.
Asian-American
Catholics hold ideological views that closely mirror those of Catholics in the
general public. Both groups of Catholics are somewhat more likely to say they
are conservative than liberal.
Views on Government
In
keeping with party affiliation and ideology, Asian Americans tend to prefer a
bigger government that provides more services (55%) to a smaller government
that provides fewer services (36%). In the general public, 41% of adults prefer
a bigger government providing more services, while a 48% plurality prefers a
smaller government providing fewer services.
Asian-American
Protestants tend to diverge from Protestants in the general public on this
measure, however. About half of Asian-American Protestants (52%) prefer a
bigger, more activist government, compared with 37% among Protestants in the
general public.
Asian
Americans who are evangelical Protestant also tend to prefer a larger
government (51%) to a smaller one (41%). This diverges sharply from white
evangelical Protestants in the general public; among this group, 20% prefer a
bigger government, while 71% prefer a smaller one.
Asian-American
Catholics are more likely than Catholics in the general public to prefer a
bigger government, although the overall Catholic number masks large differences
between Latino and non-Latino Catholics on this question. Among Asian-American
Catholics, six-in-ten prefer a bigger government (60%), and a third prefer a
smaller government (33%). Catholics in the general public are closely divided on
this measure, with 45% preferring a bigger government and 48% preferring a
smaller one. Latino Catholics, however, are even more likely than
Asian-American Catholics to prefer a larger government (72% vs. 60%).
Asian-American
Buddhists (62%) and those with no religious affiliation (54%) are also more
likely to prefer a bigger government to a smaller government.
Despite
their strong Democratic leanings, however, Asian-American Hindus are divided in
their opinions about the role of government, with 46% saying they prefer a
bigger government with more services and 41% saying they prefer a smaller
government providing fewer services.
Voting and Support
for Obama in 2008
In
keeping with the Democratic leanings of Asian Americans, those who report voting
in the 2008 election were more likely to pick the Democratic candidate. The
survey finds that 63% of Asian Americans who turned out to vote say they voted
for Barack Obama, while 26% say they voted for GOP nominee John McCain. This
finding closely mirrors those from the national exit poll on the Asian-American
vote.42
In the general public, a 2011 Pew Research Center survey found that 54% of those
turning out say they voted for Obama, while 35% say they voted for McCain.
In
general, Asian Americans from each religious group voted along the same lines
as their respective counterparts in the general public. Among U.S. Asian
Protestants who turned out, 47% report voting for Obama; this compares with 49%
among Protestants in the general public.
U.S.
Asians who are evangelical Protestant are somewhat more likely to report voting
for McCain; 45% of those turning out say they voted for McCain, while 35% say
they voted for Obama. White evangelical Protestants in the general public are
also more likely to report voting for McCain over Obama, but by a much larger
margin (61% for McCain and 28% for Obama).
By
contrast, Asian-American mainline Protestants who turned out to vote report
voting for Obama over McCain by a roughly two-to-one margin (60% to 32%). About
half of white mainline Protestants in the general public say they voted for
Obama (48%), with 41% saying they voted for McCain.
Asian-American
Catholic voters report voting for Obama (53%) over McCain (37%). This vote
choice is similar to that found among Catholics in the general public (51% for
Obama, 37% for McCain).
U.S.
Asians who are unaffiliated with any religion report voting for Obama over
McCain by a large margin (72% to 18%). The same is true among religiously
unaffiliated voters in the general public (70% to 20%).
Asian-American
Buddhists and Hindus also report voting for Obama over McCain by large margins.
Fully 85% of Asian-American Hindus and two-thirds of Asian-American Buddhists
(66%) report voting for Obama.
Views on Homosexuality
and Abortion
Asian
Americans’ views about homosexuality are similar to the views of the general
public. Overall, 53% of Asian Americans say homosexuality should be accepted by
society and 35% say it should be discouraged (compared with 58% of the general
public that says it should be accepted and 33% that say it should be
discouraged).
Acceptance
of homosexuality is closely tied to religious affiliation. Asian Americans who
are not affiliated with any religion are among the most accepting. Fully 69% of
unaffiliated Asian Americans say homosexuality should be accepted. The
unaffiliated in the general public are also strongly accepting of homosexuality
(79% say it should be accepted vs. 15% who say it should be discouraged).
At
the opposite end of the spectrum are evangelical Protestants. About two-thirds
of Asian-American evangelicals (65%) say homosexuality should be discouraged. Views
among white evangelical Protestants in the general public are similar (63% say
homosexuality should be discouraged).
U.S.
Asians who are mainline Protestant tend to be more accepting of homosexuality
than Asian-American evangelicals. About half of this group (49%) says
homosexuality should be accepted, while 39% say it should be discouraged. A
majority of white mainline Protestants in the general public are accepting of
homosexuality (65%).
Among
Asian-American Catholics, the balance of opinion is toward acceptance: 58% say
homosexuality should be accepted and 30% say it should be discouraged.
Catholics in the general public hold similar views.
Among
Asian Americans who are Buddhist or Hindu, narrow majorities (54%) say
homosexuality should be accepted, while 32% of Buddhists and 30% of Hindus say
homosexuality should be discouraged by society.
U.S.
Asians’ views on abortion also are similar to those of the general public.
About half of Asian Americans (54%) say abortion should be legal in all or most
circumstances, while more than a third (37%) say it should be illegal in most
or all cases. Among all adults in the U.S., 51% say abortion should be legal
and 43% say it should be illegal.
As
is the case with the general public, Asian Americans’ views on this topic are
closely linked to religious affiliation. Asian-American evangelical Protestants
are especially likely to say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases
(64%) rather than legal (28%). Similarly, two-thirds of white evangelical
Protestants in the general public (66%) say abortion should be illegal in all
or most cases, while 29% say it should be legal.
Catholic
Asian Americans are also more likely to say abortion should be illegal (56%)
than legal (38%). By contrast, Catholics in the general public are closely
divided on the issue, with 45% saying abortion should be illegal and 49% saying
it should be legal in all or most circumstances.
A majority
of Asian Americans who are Buddhist and Hindu say abortion should be legal in
all or most circumstances (59% among Buddhists and 64% among Hindus).
Roughly
three-quarters of U.S. Asians who are religiously unaffiliated say abortion
should be legal in all or most cases (74%). About seven-in-ten of the
unaffiliated in the general public (69%) also hold this position.
Civic Participation
More
than four-in-ten Asian Americans (44%) say they have worked to fix a community
problem in the past year. In the general public, 38% say they have done this.43
For
the most part, those who have worked to fix a community problem are more likely
to have done so through a civic organization than exclusively through a
religious organization. A fifth of Asian Americans (22%) report working to fix
a community problem through a civic organization, 7% report doing so through a
religious organization and more than one-in-ten say they have done both (13%).
Evangelical
Protestant Asian Americans show a different pattern; 20% have worked to fix a
community problem only through a religious organization, which is twice as many
as have worked only through a civic organization (10%). An additional 20% have
worked through both kinds of organizations.
Assimilation and
National Identity
The
survey also asked whether Asian Americans—a largely immigrant group—think of
themselves as “a typical American or very different from a typical American.”
On balance, they are more likely to see themselves as very different (53%) than
as typical (39%).
Views
on this question are strongly linked to whether or not an individual was born
in the U.S. and the length of time an immigrant has been in the country. However,
religious affiliation is also tied to Asian Americans’ self-perceptions of
themselves as typical Americans or very different. Asian Americans who are
Christian are more likely to see themselves as typical Americans than either
Buddhists or Hindus, even when place of birth and length of time living in the
U.S. are held constant.
U.S.
Asians who are mainline Protestant are more likely than those from other faiths
to see themselves as typical Americans (48%) rather than as different (41%).
Asian-American Catholics are divided on this question, with 46% calling
themselves typical Americans and 49% seeing themselves as very different.
The
balance of opinion among other faith groups tilts to seeing themselves as very
different rather than as typical. Indeed, nearly six-in-ten Asian-American
Hindus, Buddhists and evangelical Protestants see themselves as very different
rather than typical Americans.
Religious Freedom
About
half of Asian Americans (52%) see the
U.S. as having more religious freedom than their country of origin. Some 38%
see religious freedom to be similar in their country of origin and in the U.S.,
and 7% see religious freedom as better in their country of origin.44
Native-born
Asian Americans are more likely than the foreign born to say that religious
freedom is better in the U.S. than in their country of origin. About six-in-ten
U.S.-born Asian Americans (61%) hold this view, compared with about half of the
foreign born (49%).
Vietnamese
Americans are the most likely of the six largest U.S. Asian groups to say that
the U.S. offers more religious freedom than their country of origin (87%). And
65% of Chinese Americans say the same. Previous studies by the Pew Forum find
that Vietnam has high government restrictions on religion and China has very
high government restrictions on religion.45
Nearly
nine-in-ten Vietnamese Americans who are either Buddhist (87%) or Catholic
(88%) say that freedom to practice religion is better in the U.S. Similarly,
Chinese Americans from each of the largest religious groups (the unaffiliated,
Buddhists and Protestants) are as likely to say religious freedom is better in
the U.S.
Background
Characteristics by Religious Group
Asian
Americans as a whole have higher education and income levels than the general
public, although these averages mask significant variation among U.S. Asian
subgroups.
In
terms of education and income among U.S. religious groups, Asian-American
Hindus stand out. About half of Asian-American Hindus (48%) report an annual
family income of at least $100,000, and 57% say they have some graduate
education beyond a college degree. No religious group in the general public is
as highly educated. (Jews are next, with 34% saying they have at least some
post-graduate education.)
About
nine-in-ten Asian-American Hindus surveyed (89%) are immigrants who trace their
heritage to India. Their high socioeconomic status relative to other religious
groups likely stems from a variety of factors influencing the immigration
patterns of Indian Hindus to the U.S., including at least in part the U.S.
government’s H-1B visa program, which awards visas to scientists, engineers and
other highly skilled workers.46
Jews
are the only other religious group in the U.S. with family incomes as high as
those of Hindus. Four-in-ten Jews (including 55% of Reform Jews) report an
annual household income of at least $100,000, which is not statistically
different from the 48% of Asian-American Hindus who report the same.47
Asked
how they rate their personal financial situation, fully 70% of Asian-American
Hindus say it is excellent or good, the highest of all the major religious
groups. This contrasts sharply with Asian-American Buddhists, among whom 36%
rate their finances as excellent or good; 62% say they are only fair or poor.
The other religious groups fall between Hindus and Buddhists on this measure of
financial well-being, with 57% of unaffiliated Asian Americans 57% of mainline
Protestants, 49% of Catholics and 42% of evangelical Protestants describing
their finances as excellent or good.
Footnotes:
42 The exit polls conducted by Edison Media Research for the National Election
Pool in 2008 found that 62% of Asian Americans voted for Obama, 35% voted for
McCain and 3% voted for some other candidate or gave no answer. (return to text)
43 A third of Muslim Americans (33%) said they had worked on a community problem
in the past year, according to the Pew Research Center’s 2011 survey of Muslim
Americans. This level of civic participation is not significantly different
than that for the general public (38%) but is lower than that found for Asian
Americans. (return to text)
44 The survey asked a series of questions on whether certain conditions are better
in the U.S. or in the respondent’s country of origin. (Native-born Asian
Americans were asked about the country of origin of their parents or
ancestors.) For more details, see Pew Research Center’s Social and Demographic
Trends project. 2011. “The
Rise of Asian Americans.” Washington, D.C.: June. (return to text)
45 See Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. 2011. “Rising
Restrictions on Religion.” Washington, D.C.: August. (return to text)
46 See Pew Research Center’s Social and Demographic Trends project. 2011. “The
Rise of Asian Americans.” Washington, D.C.: June. (return to text)
47 Figures for Reform Jews from the Pew Forum’s 2007 “U.S. Religious Landscape
Survey.” (return to text)
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