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Table 9 Personal willingness to engage in political violence, by target of violence

From: Single-year change in views of democracy and society and support for political violence in the USA: findings from a 2023 nationally representative survey

In a situation where you think force or violence is justified to advance an important political objective…How willing would you personally be to use force or violence in each of these ways?

2022 Respondents (n = 12,947)

2023 Respondents (n = 9385)

Mean Difference,* 2022–2023

Unweighted n

Weighted % (95% CI)

Mean score (95% CI)

Unweighted n

Weighted % (95% CI) Mean score (95% CI)

Unweighted n

Weighted % (95% CI) Mean score (95% CI)

An elected federal or state government official

Not asked the question†

2558

21.8 (20.9, 22.8)

2468

30.2 (28.9, 31.5)

9338

7.8 (6.3, 9.2)

Not willing

9509

70.5 (69.5, 71.5)

6301

62.0 (60.6, 63.4)

9338

 − 8.6 (− 10.2, − 7.0)

Somewhat willing

582

4.6 (4.1, 5.1)

359

4.8 (4.2, 5.6)

9338

0.5 (− 0.4, 1.3)

Very or completely willing

186

1.9 (1.6, 2.3)

129

1.8 (1.4, 2.2)

9338

0.1 (− 0.4, 0.7)

Non-response

112

1.1 (0.9, 1.4)

81

1.2 (0.9, 1.6)

9338

0.2 (− 0.3, 0.6)

Item score‡

10,277

1.11 (1.10, 1.12)

6789

1.12 (1.11, 1.14)

5900

 − 0.014 (− 0.032, 0.005)

An elected local government official

Not asked the question†

2558

21.8 (20.9, 22.8)

2468

30.2 (28.9, 31.5)

9338

7.8 (6.3, 9.2)

Not willing

9582

71.1 (70.1, 72.1)

6347

62.7 (61.4, 64.1)

9338

 − 7.8 (− 9.4, − 6.2)

Somewhat willing

515

4.2 (3.7, 4.7)

327

4.2 (3.6, 4.9)

9338

 − 0.2 (− 1.0, 0.6)

Very or completely willing

168

1.6 (1.3, 2.0)

118

1.8 (1.4, 2.2)

9338

0.1 (− 0.3, 0.6)

Non-response

124

1.2 (1.0, 1.5)

78

1.1 (0.9, 1.5)

9338

0.1 (− 0.3, 0.5)

Item score‡

10,265

1.10 (1.09, 1.11)

6792

1.11 (1.10, 1.13)

5898

0.000 (− 0.017, 0.017)

An election worker, such as a poll worker or vote counter

Not asked the question†

2558

21.8 (20.9, 22.8)

2468

30.2 (28.9, 31.5)

9338

7.8 (6.3, 9.2)

Not willing

9874

72.9 (71.9, 73.9)

6507

64.1 (62.7, 65.5)

9338

 − 8.3 (− 9.8, − 6.7)

Somewhat willing

283

2.7 (2.3, 3.1)

186

3.0 (2.5, 3.6)

9338

0.3 (− 0.4, 1.0)

Very or completely willing

131

1.5 (1.2, 1.8)

104

1.6 (1.3, 2.1)

9338

0.0 (− 0.5, 0.5)

Non-response

101

1.1 (0.9, 1.4)

73

1.1 (0.8, 1.5)

9338

0.2 (− 0.2, 0.5)

Item score‡

10,288

1.07 (1.06, 1.08)

6797

1.09 (1.08, 1.11)

5915

0.010 (− 0.006, 0.026)

A public health official

Not asked the question†

2558

21.8 (20.9, 22.8)

2468

30.2 (28.9, 31.5)

9338

7.8 (6.3, 9.2)

Not willing

9750

72.1 (71.0, 73.1)

6433

63.6 (62.2, 64.9)

9338

 − 7.8 (− 9.4, − 6.3)

Somewhat willing

386

3.4 (3.0, 3.8)

233

3.3 (2.8, 4.0)

9338

 − 0.1 (− 0.9, 0.6)

Very or completely willing

137

1.5 (1.2, 1.9)

126

1.9 (1.5, 2.3)

9338

0.1 (− 0.4, 0.7)

Non-response

116

1.2 (1.0, 1.5)

78

1.1 (0.8, 1.5)

9338

0.1 (− 0.4, 0.5)

Item score‡

10,273

1.08 (1.07, 1.09)

6792

1.10 (1.09, 1.12)

5904

0.001 (− 0.015, 0.018)

A member of the military or National Guard

Not asked the question†

2558

21.8 (20.9, 22.8)

2468

30.2 (28.9, 31.5)

9338

7.8 (6.3, 9.2)

Not willing

9651

71.2 (70.1, 72.2)

6406

62.9 (61.5, 64.3)

9338

 − 7.6 (− 9.2, − 6.0)

Somewhat willing

450

4.0 (3.5, 4.5)

272

4.0 (3.4, 4.6)

9338

 − 0.1 (− 0.9, 0.7)

Very or completely willing

180

1.9 (1.6, 2.3)

119

1.9 (1.5, 2.4)

9338

 − 0.2 (− 0.7, 0.4)

Non-response

108

1.1 (0.9, 1.4)

73

1.1 (0.8, 1.4)

9338

0.1 (− 0.3, 0.5)

Item score‡

10,281

1.10 (1.09, 1.11)

6797

1.11 (1.10, 1.13)

5912

 − 0.011 (− 0.030, 0.008)

A police officer

Not asked the question†

2558

21.8 (20.9, 22.8)

2468

30.2 (28.9, 31.5)

9338

7.8 (6.3, 9.2)

Not willing

9549

70.3 (69.2, 71.3)

6297

61.3 (59.9, 62.7)

9338

 − 8.6 (− 10.2, − 7.0)

Somewhat willing

531

4.6 (4.1, 5.1)

342

5.1 (4.4, 5.9)

9338

0.6 (− 0.2, 1.5)

Very or completely willing

204

2.2 (1.8, 2.6)

152

2.3 (1.9, 2.8)

9338

0.0 (− 0.6, 0.6)

Non-response

105

1.1 (0.9, 1.4)

79

1.1 (0.9, 1.5)

9338

0.2 (− 0.2, 0.6)

Item score‡

10,284

1.12 (1.10, 1.13)

6791

1.14 (1.12, 1.16)

5907

0.009 (− 0.010, 0.028)

A person who does not share your race or ethnicity

Not asked the question†

2558

21.8 (20.9, 22.8)

2468

30.2 (28.9, 31.5)

9338

7.8 (6.3, 9.2)

Not willing (1)

9865

72.8 (71.8, 73.8)

6477

63.7 (62.3, 65.1)

9338

 − 8.5 (− 10.0, − 6.9)

Somewhat willing (2)

290

2.8 (2.4, 3.3)

218

3.4 (2.8, 4.0)

9338

0.5 (− 0.2, 1.3)

Very or completely willing (3)

126

1.5 (1.2, 1.8)

90

1.5 (1.1, 1.9)

9338

 − 0.2 (− 0.7, 0.3)

Non-response

108

1.1 (0.8, 1.4)

85

1.3 (1.0, 1.7)

9338

0.3 (− 0.1, 0.7)

Item score‡

10,281

1.07 (1.06, 1.08)

6785

1.09 (1.08, 1.11)

5900

0.008 (− 0.008, 0.023)

A person who does not share your religion

Not asked the question†

2558

21.8 (20.9, 22.8)

2468

30.2 (28.9, 31.5)

9338

7.8 (6.3, 9.2)

Not willing (1)

9897

73.0 (72.0, 74.0)

6500

63.9 (62.6, 65.3)

9338

 − 8.4 (− 9.9, − 6.8)

Somewhat willing (2)

255

2.6 (2.2, 3.1)

194

3.1 (2.5, 3.7)

9338

0.3 (− 0.4, 1.0)

Very or completely willing (3)

117

1.3 (1.0, 1.6)

104

1.7 (1.3, 2.2)

9338

0.4 (− 0.1, 0.9)

Non-response

120

1.3 (1.0, 1.6)

72

1.1 (0.8, 1.4)

9338

 − 0.1 (− 0.5, 0.3)

Item score‡

10,269

1.07 (1.06, 1.08)

6798

1.10 (1.08, 1.11)

5903

0.018 (0.001, 0.036)

A person who does not share your political beliefs

Not asked the question†

2558

21.8 (20.9, 22.8)

2468

30.2 (28.9, 31.5)

9338

7.8 (6.3, 9.2)

Not willing (1)

9757

72.1 (71.1, 73.2)

6417

63.2 (61.9, 64.6)

9338

 − 8.3 (− 9.9, − 6.7)

Somewhat willing (2)

403

3.6 (3.1, 4.1)

277

3.9 (3.3, 4.6)

9338

0.3 (− 0.5, 1.0)

Very or completely willing (3)

119

1.3 (1.0, 1.6)

97

1.6 (1.2, 2.1)

9338

0.2 (− 0.3, 0.7)

Non-response

110

1.2 (0.9, 1.4)

79

1.1 (0.8, 1.4)

9338

0.1 (− 0.3, 0.5)

Item score‡

10,279

1.08 (1.07, 1.09)

6791

1.10 (1.09, 1.12)

5909

0.009 (− 0.009, 0.027)

  1. *Among respondents to both surveys (n = 9385)
  2. †These respondents answered “never justified” to all prior questions on the use of force or violence to advance specific political objectives. They were not asked questions on their personal willingness to use political violence
  3. ‡Mean scores in 2022 and 2023 were scored using values indicated in the response lines for individual items. Non-responses were excluded from mean score calculations and differences in mean scores were computed in the subsample of respondents with non-missing responses in both years by computing within-individual change scores and averaging them, to account for the longitudinal study design. For computing differences in individual response levels, indicator variables were computed for each item for each response level and within-individual differences in these were computed and averaged in the subsample of respondents who responded to the survey in both years. This explains why the unweighted n for the mean differences varies
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Injury Epidemiology

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