Benjamin Dowd-Arrow | Florida State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Benjamin Dowd-Arrow

Sociological Inquiry

In this paper, we use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and... more In this paper, we use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and latent class analysis to assess the extent to which individuals integrate guns into broader health lifestyles. We also examine how these new health lifestyles differ for men and women. While men integrate guns with a variety of risk-taking behaviors, including smoking, heavy drinking, risky sexual behavior, and fast-food consumption, women do not. Our results are consistent with a gendered theory of gun ownership and health lifestyles. On the one hand, some men may use guns and other risky health behaviors to project hegemonic masculinity. On the other hand, some women may avoid guns and other elements of risky lifestyles to signify normative femininity. It is important for sociologists and public health scholars to focus more on how and why men are more likely to integrate guns into generally unhealthy lifestyles.

Social Movement Studies, 2018

This article investigates how the social media site Reddit hindered the collective action efforts... more This article investigates how the social media site Reddit hindered the collective action efforts stemming from the Gamergate controversy. Using forum posts from two time-points, one early in the movement and another six months later, this work describes how the Reddit platform impeded movement efforts over time. More specifically, we examine how the nature of Reddit discussions created barriers to each of three key movement processes: narrative construction of collective identity, framing, and boundary work. We argue that unlike social media platforms such as Facebook, some sites-Reddit in this case-may negatively impact movement success depending on its structure. We also discuss the importance of differing ICT structures and implications for online interactions more generally.

Sleep Health, 2021

Although there is widespread speculation about guns helping people to sleep better, this idea has... more Although there is widespread speculation about guns helping people to sleep better, this idea has only recently faced empirical scrutiny. We test whether people who own guns tend to exhibit healthier sleep outcomes than people who do not own guns and whether the association between community stress and sleep is less pronounced for people who own guns. We use ordinary least squares, multinomial logistic, and binary logistic regression to model cross-sectional survey data. Our data span the United States. The 2021 Crime, Health, and Politics Survey (CHAPS) is based on a national probability sample of 1714 adults. Our analyses include multiple measures of gun ownership (personal ownership, keeping a gun in one's bedroom, and COVID-19 pandemic gun purchases), community stress (neighborhood disorder, neighborhood danger during the pandemic, and perceptions of police protection), and sleep (insomnia symptoms, sleep duration, and pandemic sleep). We found that people who own guns and people who do not own guns tend to exhibit similar sleep outcomes and that people who experience community stressors tend to exhibit similar sleep outcomes regardless of gun ownership. Our analyses confirm that gun ownership is unrelated to sleep and that guns are insufficient to mitigate the detrimental effects of community stress on sleep. We extend prior work by (a) using more detailed measurements of gun ownership, community stress, and sleep, (b) assessing whether people keep a gun in their bedroom, and (c) exploring the intersection of pandemic gun purchases and pandemic sleep quality.

Preventive Medicine Reports, 2021

Highlights • We consider the social patterning of recent pandemic gun purchases.• Overall, 6% of ... more Highlights • We consider the social patterning of recent pandemic gun purchases.• Overall, 6% of the sample reported purchasing a new gun during the pandemic.• Pandemic gun purchasers tend to be male, younger, US-born, and living in the south.• Pandemic gun purchasers tend to be less educated and recently unemployed.• Pandemic gun purchasers tend to be Republicans and experiencing religious change.

Social Science Research, 2021

Although debates over guns and gun control have roiled the contemporary political scene, the role... more Although debates over guns and gun control have roiled the contemporary political scene, the role of religion has received only limited attention from scholars. We contribute to this literature by developing a series of theoretical arguments linking one specific facet of religion-belief in supernatural evil (i.e., the Devil/Satan, Hell, and demons)-and a range of gun policy attitudes. Relevant hypotheses are then tested using data from the 2014 Baylor Religion Survey (n = 1572). Results show that belief in supernatural evil is a robust predictor of support for policies that expand gun rights. Overall, the estimated net effects of belief in supernatural evil withstand statistical controls for a host of sociodemographic covariates, and, importantly, political ideology. Very few other aspects of religion are associated with any of these gun policy attitudes. Implications and study limitations are discussed, and promising directions for future research on religion and guns are identified.

American Journal of Men's Health, 2021

Although there has been no direct empirical evidence linking sexual dysfunction (SD) with gun own... more Although there has been no direct empirical evidence linking sexual dysfunction (SD) with gun ownership, speculation has been widespread and persistent for decades. In this paper, we formally examine the association between SD and gun ownership. Our primary hypothesis, derived from the psychosexual theory of gun ownership, asserts that men experiencing SD are more likely to personally own guns than other men. To test this hypothesis, we used recently collected data from the 2021 Crime, Health, and Politics Survey (CHAPS), a national probability sample of 780 men, and binary logistic regression to model gun ownership as a function of SD. Our key finding is that men experiencing SD are no more likely to own guns than men without SD. This interpretation was supported across several indicators of SD (performance anxiety, erection trouble, and ED medication) and gun ownership (personal gun ownership, purchasing a gun during the pandemic, and keeping a gun in one’s bedroom). To our knowle...

Journal of Working-Class Studies, 2017

Real estate developer and reality TV star Donald Trump’s election to the presidency of the U.S. w... more Real estate developer and reality TV star Donald Trump’s election to the presidency of the U.S. was a departure from politics as usual in many ways. Most notably, Trump received more white working-class support than any Republican presidential candidate since 1980. Using data from 44 Trump campaign rallies, we analyze Trump’s emotional messages encoded in his working class appeals. We find that Trump’s language (1) temporarily oriented audiences towards feeling shame or fear as a nation, (2) reoriented them towards feeling anger at the elites he blamed, and (3) ultimately promised they would feel safe and proud if he was elected. Trump’s emotional scripting seemed crafted to resonate with working class audiences feeling left behind from decades of bipartisan neoliberalism. We conclude by discussing limitations and potential avenues for future research.

Social Science Quarterly, 2020

Objective. Although there is little empirical evidence linking gun ownership with personal wellbe... more Objective. Although there is little empirical evidence linking gun ownership with personal wellbeing, speculation is widespread in gun culture. In this article, we test whether people who own guns are more or less satisfied with their lives than people who do not own guns. Methods. We employ data collected from three national surveys, the Baylor Religion Survey (2014), the Chapman University Survey on American Fears (2014), and the General Social Survey (2018) to formally assess this understudied association. Results. In adjusted models, gun ownership was unrelated to life satisfaction. This general pattern was consistent across surveys, different measures and specifications of life satisfaction, and a wide range of subgroups. Conclusion. Our analyses contribute to the growing study of gun ownership and personal well-being and challenge theoretical perspectives and cultural narratives about how owning a gun can contribute favorably to one's quality of life. It is well known that Americans own more guns per capita than any other country in the world. While the United States ranks first with over 120 firearms for every 100 residents, war-torn Yemen ranks second with nearly 60 firearms for every 100 residents (Karp, 2018). This year, during the coronavirus pandemic, gun sales have skyrocketed in the United States. In March alone, Americans acquired nearly 2 million new guns (Sacks and Bartels, 2020). So far this year, background checks for new gun purchases have increased 69 percent since 2019 (Fung, 2020). Why do Americans own so many guns? Although there are many ways to answer this question, there is a common belief that firearms can help their owners to feel safe, secure, and protected (Dowd-Arrow, Hill, and Burdette, 2019; Kleck, 1997; Stroud, 2012). In fact, 67 percent of gun owners report that "protection" is the "major reason why they own a gun" (Parker et al., 2017). If owning a gun truly contributes to feelings of safety and security, gun ownership should be at least theoretically related to greater overall personal well-being (Dowd-Arrow, Hill, and Burdette, 2019; Hill et al., 2020a, 2020b). Although cross-sectional studies consistently show that people who own guns tend to exhibit lower levels of fear in their lives than people who do not own guns (DeFronzo, 1979; Dowd-Arrow, Hill, and Burdette, 2019; Kleck, 1997), longitudinal research shows that acquiring a gun is unrelated to subsequent changes in fear of crime and victimization in one's neighborhood (Hauser and Kleck, 2013). Gun ownership is similarly unrelated to feelings of happiness and the experience of sleep disturbance (Hill et al., 2020a, 2020b).

Social Currents, 2020

Based on fieldwork and interviews during the run-up to the 2016 election, we examine how Trump su... more Based on fieldwork and interviews during the run-up to the 2016 election, we examine how Trump supporters vilified Hillary Clinton as a bitch. We first analyze how Trump rally attendees collaborated to bitchify Clinton (e.g., through displays, chants, speaker–audience exchanges) in ways that fostered emotional bonding, a politically incorrect situational definition, and shared identities as Trump supporters. We then examine how interviewees constructed narratives that more subtly rooted her alleged posturing for power, profiteering, and evading justice in her bitch-like personality. To distinguish between explicit bitchifying—which was common at the rallies—and implicit characterization—which was common during the formal interviews—we develop the concept of “bitch-whistling,” which frames but not names women as bitches. We conclude by exploring how this study contributes to understanding Trump’s 2016 victory, research on gender and politics, and political narratives more generally.

Research on Aging, 2020

Although several studies suggest that religious attendance is associated with better cognitive fu... more Although several studies suggest that religious attendance is associated with better cognitive functioning in later life, researchers have generally failed to connect with any established life-course perspectives or theories of cognitive aging. Building on previous work, we examine the effects of life-course religious attendance on a range of cognitive functioning outcomes. We employ data from the religious life histories module of the 2016 Health and Retirement Study, a subsample of 516 adults aged 65 and older. Our key findings demonstrate that older adults who attended religious services for more of their life course tend to exhibit poorer working memory and mental status and better self-rated memory than older adults who attended less often. We contribute to previous research by reconceptualizing religious attendance as a cumulative life-course exposure, exploring the effects of religious attendance net of secular social engagement, and examining a wider range of cognitive funct...

Preventive Medicine, 2020

Although there is no empirical evidence linking gun ownership with better sleep, speculation is w... more Although there is no empirical evidence linking gun ownership with better sleep, speculation is widespread in gun culture. We assess the direct association between gun ownership and sleep disturbance and whether gun ownership moderates the association between neighborhood fear and sleep disturbance. We use four waves of cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey (2010-2018) and logistic regression to model sleep disturbance as a function of gun ownership and test the statistical interaction of gun ownership and neighborhood fear. Our analyses demonstrate that gun ownership is unrelated to sleep disturbance across sleep specifications. None of the statistical interactions between gun ownership and neighborhood fear reached statistical significance. Although being afraid to walk alone at night in one's neighborhood is associated with restless sleep, owning a gun is no consolation. In ancillary analyses, we observed that gun ownership is unrelated to sleep disturbance across survey years and a range of subpopulations. In the first empirical study of gun ownership and sleep, we find consistent evidence to suggest that people who own guns do not report better sleep in general or in the context of living in a dangerous neighborhood. Our analyses are important because they contribute to our understanding of the epidemiology of sleep. They also challenge theoretical perspectives and cultural narratives about how having a gun in the home helps individuals and their families to feel safe, secure, and protected. Additional research is needed to replicate our findings using longitudinal data and more reliable measures of sleep disturbance.

SSM - Population Health, 2020

Although there is no empirical evidence linking gun ownership with happiness, speculation is wide... more Although there is no empirical evidence linking gun ownership with happiness, speculation is widespread. In this paper, we assess the association between gun ownership and happiness. We use 27 years of national crosssectional data from the General Social Survey (1973-2018) and logistic regression to model self-rated happiness as a function of gun ownership (n ¼ 37,960). In bivariate and partially adjusted models, we observed that the odds of being very happy were higher for respondents who reported having a gun in their home. This association persisted with adjustments for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, employment status, household income, financial satisfaction, financial change, number of children, religious attendance, political affiliation, urban residence, region of interview, and survey year. In our fully adjusted model, gun ownership was unrelated to happiness. The original association between gun ownership and happiness was entirely confounded by marital status. In other words, gun owners only appeared happier because they are more likely to be married, which increases happiness. In the first study of gun ownership and happiness, we found that people who own guns and people who do not own guns tend to exhibit similar levels of happiness. This general pattern was consistent across nearly three decades of national surveys, a wide range of subgroups, and different measures of happiness. Our analyses are important because they contribute to our understanding of the epidemiology of happiness. They also indirectly challenge theoretical perspectives and cultural narratives about how guns contribute to feelings of safety, power, and pleasure.

Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 2019

In this paper, we directly assessed the extent to which the association between religious attenda... more In this paper, we directly assessed the extent to which the association between religious attendance and the social support trajectories of older Mexican Americans is due to selection (spurious) processes related to personality, health status, and health behavior. We employed seven waves of data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (1993-2010) to examine the association between religious attendance and perceived social support trajectories (n = 2479). We used growth mixture modeling to estimate latent classes of social support trajectories and multivariate multinomial logistic regression models to predict membership in the social support trajectory classes. Growth mixture estimates revealed three classes of social support trajectories: high, moderate, and low. Multinomial logistic regression estimates showed that the odds of membership in the low support trajectory class (versus the high social support trajectory class) were lower for respondents who attended religious services yearly, monthly, weekly, and more than weekly than for respondents who never attend religious services. Religious attendance could not distinguish between membership in the moderate and high support trajectory classes. These results persisted with adjustments for age, gender, immigrant status, language proficiency, education, income, religious affiliation, marital status, living arrangements, contact with family/friends, secular group memberships, self-esteem, smoking, heavy drinking, depression, cognitive functioning, and physical mobility. We conclude that the association between religious attendance and the social support trajectories of older Mexican Americans is primarily driven by processes related to social integration, not selection.

Men and Masculinities, 2019

Presidential candidates’ gendered self-presentations may help secure political support, but a ‘ge... more Presidential candidates’ gendered self-presentations may help secure political support, but a ‘gendered self’ is a construct grounded in an audience’s interpretation as much as it is in a politician’s performance. The 2016 U.S. presidential election provides a unique opportunity to investigate how voters construct politicians as gendered. Based on pre-election interviews, we analyze how Trump supporters accounted for their allegiance by constructing and valorizing Trump’s masculine self—a cultural construct centered on exerting or resisting control. Interviewees (A) praised his politically incorrect spirit, (B) glorified his entrepreneurial spirit, and (C) celebrated his fighting spirit. We argue that understanding how people construct others’ gendered selves is important for scholars of both politics and manhood.

SSM - Population Health, 2019

Americans can be divided into two groups: those who own guns and those who do not. Although peopl... more Americans can be divided into two groups: those who own guns and those who do not. Although people who own guns and people who do not own guns are often separated along social, cultural, and political lines, it is unclear whether these divisions might extend to population differences in emotional experience. In this paper, we use national cross-sectional data from the 2014 Chapman University Survey on American Fears (n = 1385) to test whether gun owners are more or less afraid than people who do not own guns. We build on previous work by testing two hypotheses with a broad range of fear-related outcomes, including specific phobias and fears associated with being victimized. The symptom perspective argues that gun ownership is a behavioral expression of fear, that gun owners need guns to protect themselves because they are irrational cowards. Although binary logistic regression models provided minimal support for this idea, there was some evidence to suggest that the odds of gun ownership are higher for people who report being afraid of being victimized by a random/mass shooting. The palliative perspective claims that gun ownership mitigates fear, that owning a powerful weapon is somehow soothing to individuals and their families. Ordinary least squares and negative binomial regression models suggest that people who own guns tend to report lower levels of phobias and victimization fears than people who do not own guns. This general pattern is observed across multiple indicators of fear (e.g., of animals, heights, zombies, and muggings), multiple outcome specifications (continuous and count), and with adjustments for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, household income, marital status, the presence of children, religious identity, religiosity, religious attendance, political orientation, region of residence, and urban residence. Additional longitudinal research is needed to confirm our findings with a wider range of covariates and fear-related outcomes.

SSM-Population Health, 2020

Although there is no empirical evidence linking gun ownership with happiness, speculation is wide... more Although there is no empirical evidence linking gun ownership with happiness, speculation is widespread. In this paper, we assess the association between gun ownership and happiness. We use 27 years of national cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey (1973-2018) and logistic regression to model self-rated happiness as a function of gun ownership (n = 37,960). In bivariate and partially adjusted models, we observed that the odds of being very happy were higher for respondents who reported having a gun in their home. This association persisted with adjustments for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, employment status, household income, financial satisfaction, financial change, number of children, religious attendance, political affiliation, urban residence, region of interview, and survey year. In our fully adjusted model, gun ownership was unrelated to happiness. The original association between gun ownership and happiness was entirely confounded by marital status. In other words, gun owners only appeared happier because they are more likely to be married, which increases happiness. In the first study of gun ownership and happiness, we found that people who own guns and people who do not own guns tend to exhibit similar levels of happiness. This general pattern was consistent across nearly three decades of national surveys, a wide range of subgroups, and different measures of happiness. Our analyses are important because they contribute to our understanding of the epidemiology of happiness. They also indirectly challenge theoretical perspectives and cultural narratives about how guns contribute to feelings of safety, power, and pleasure.

SSM - Population Health, 2019

Americans can be divided into two groups: those who own guns and those who do not. Although peopl... more Americans can be divided into two groups: those who own guns and those who do not. Although people who own guns and people who do not own guns are often separated along social, cultural, and political lines, it is unclear whether these divisions might extend to population differences in emotional experience. In this paper, we use national cross sectional data from the 2014 Chapman University Survey on American Fears (n = 1,385) to test whether gun owners are more or less afraid than people who do not own guns. We build on previous work by testing two hypotheses with a broad range of fear-related outcomes, including specific phobias and fears associated with being victimized. The symptom perspective argues that gun ownership is a behavioral expression of fear, that gun owners need guns to protect themselves because they are irrational cowards. Although binary logistic regression models provided minimal support for this idea, there was some evidence to suggest that the odds of gun ownership are higher for people who report being afraid of being victimized by a random/mass shooting. The palliative perspective claims that gun ownership mitigates fear, that owning a powerful weapon is somehow soothing to individuals and their families. Ordinary least squares and negative binomial regression models suggest that people who own guns tend to report lower levels of phobias and victimization fears than people who do not own guns. This general pattern is observed across multiple indicators of fear (e.g., of animals, heights, zombies, and muggings), multiple outcome specifications (continuous and count), and with adjustments for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, household income, marital status, the presence of children, religious identity, religiosity, religious attendance, political orientation, region of residence, and urban residence. Additional longitudinal research is needed to confirm our findings with a wider range of covariates and fear-related outcomes.

Sociological Inquiry

Social Movement Studies, 2018

Sleep Health, 2021

Preventive Medicine Reports, 2021

Social Science Research, 2021

American Journal of Men's Health, 2021

Journal of Working-Class Studies, 2017

Social Science Quarterly, 2020

Social Currents, 2020

Research on Aging, 2020

Preventive Medicine, 2020

SSM - Population Health, 2020

Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 2019

Men and Masculinities, 2019

SSM - Population Health, 2019

SSM-Population Health, 2020

Although there is no empirical evidence linking gun ownership with happiness, speculation is wide... more Although there is no empirical evidence linking gun ownership with happiness, speculation is widespread. In this paper, we assess the association between gun ownership and happiness. We use 27 years of national cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey (1973-2018) and logistic regression to model self-rated happiness as a function of gun ownership (n = 37,960). In bivariate and partially adjusted models, we observed that the odds of being very happy were higher for respondents who reported having a gun in their home. This association persisted with adjustments for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, employment status, household income, financial satisfaction, financial change, number of children, religious attendance, political affiliation, urban residence, region of interview, and survey year. In our fully adjusted model, gun ownership was unrelated to happiness. The original association between gun ownership and happiness was entirely confounded by marital status. In other words, gun owners only appeared happier because they are more likely to be married, which increases happiness. In the first study of gun ownership and happiness, we found that people who own guns and people who do not own guns tend to exhibit similar levels of happiness. This general pattern was consistent across nearly three decades of national surveys, a wide range of subgroups, and different measures of happiness. Our analyses are important because they contribute to our understanding of the epidemiology of happiness. They also indirectly challenge theoretical perspectives and cultural narratives about how guns contribute to feelings of safety, power, and pleasure.

SSM - Population Health, 2019

Americans can be divided into two groups: those who own guns and those who do not. Although peopl... more Americans can be divided into two groups: those who own guns and those who do not. Although people who own guns and people who do not own guns are often separated along social, cultural, and political lines, it is unclear whether these divisions might extend to population differences in emotional experience. In this paper, we use national cross sectional data from the 2014 Chapman University Survey on American Fears (n = 1,385) to test whether gun owners are more or less afraid than people who do not own guns. We build on previous work by testing two hypotheses with a broad range of fear-related outcomes, including specific phobias and fears associated with being victimized. The symptom perspective argues that gun ownership is a behavioral expression of fear, that gun owners need guns to protect themselves because they are irrational cowards. Although binary logistic regression models provided minimal support for this idea, there was some evidence to suggest that the odds of gun ownership are higher for people who report being afraid of being victimized by a random/mass shooting. The palliative perspective claims that gun ownership mitigates fear, that owning a powerful weapon is somehow soothing to individuals and their families. Ordinary least squares and negative binomial regression models suggest that people who own guns tend to report lower levels of phobias and victimization fears than people who do not own guns. This general pattern is observed across multiple indicators of fear (e.g., of animals, heights, zombies, and muggings), multiple outcome specifications (continuous and count), and with adjustments for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, household income, marital status, the presence of children, religious identity, religiosity, religious attendance, political orientation, region of residence, and urban residence. Additional longitudinal research is needed to confirm our findings with a wider range of covariates and fear-related outcomes.

Sociological Inquiry, 2023

Social Science Quarterly, 2020

Objective. Although there is little empirical evidence linking gun ownership with personal well-b... more Objective. Although there is little empirical evidence linking gun ownership with personal well-being, speculation is widespread in gun culture. In this paper, we test whether people who own guns are more or less satisfied with their lives than people who do not own guns. Methods. We employ data collected from three national surveys, the Baylor Religion Survey (2014), the Chapman University Survey on American Fears (2014), and the General Social Survey (2018) to formally assess this unstudied association. Results. In adjusted models, gun ownership was unrelated to life satisfaction. This general pattern was consistent across surveys, different measures and specifications of life satisfaction, and a wide range of subgroups. Conclusion. Our analyses contribute to the growing study of gun ownership and personal well-being and challenge theoretical perspectives and cultural narratives about how owning a gun can contribute favorably to one’s quality of life.

Research on Aging, 2020

Although several studies suggest that religious attendance is associated with better cognitive fu... more Although several studies suggest that religious attendance is associated with better cognitive functioning in later life, researchers have generally failed to connect with any established life course perspectives or theories of cognitive aging. Building on previous work, we examine the effects of life course religious attendance on a range of cognitive functioning outcomes. We employ data from the religious life histories module of the 2016 Health and Retirement Study, a subsample of 516 adults aged 65 and older. Our key findings demonstrate that older adults who attended religious services for more of their life course tend to exhibit poorer working memory and mental status and better self-rated memory than older adults who attended less often. We contribute to previous research by reconceptualizing religious attendance as a cumulative life course exposure, exploring the effects of religious attendance net of secular social engagement, and examining a wider range of cognitive functioning outcomes.