Information about the recent enactment of antiabortion laws and the overturn of Roe vs. Wade and college students' perceived sense of discrimination and fair treatment

We randomized students to either receive or not receive information about the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe versus Wade in June of 2022 and subsequently asked them to agree or disagree with statements regarding fairness, and discrimination in the US.

Our unique sample of 1,313 students urban college students was drawn from the City University of New York (CUNY), the public university in New York City. Students in our sample responded to an online survey on students’ challenges three years after the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was fielded between Wednesday, April 5th and Wednesday, June 21st, 2023 and sent to a random sample of CUNY students enrolled in Spring semester 2023 and all low-income students enrolled in Spring semester 2020, regardless of whether they were currently attending CUNY. The average duration of the survey was about 20 minutes, and we used Qualtrics to create the online survey. We received IRB approval—IRB file #2020-0475 on July 21st, 2020, amended on March 28, 2023.
We randomized students to either receive or not receive information about the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe versus Wade in June of 2022. One-third of the students were assigned to the treatment group and given the following prompt about Roe v. Wade:
"Abortion rights and access have undergone a seismic shift in the United States in the past couple of years. In 2021, state lawmakers across the country proposed 663 restrictions to rights and access, including enacting 108 antiabortion laws in 19 states. In June of 2022, the Supreme Court, representing a newly 6-3 conservative majority, overturned Roe v. Wade."
Another third of the students were assigned to the control group and did not receive any prompt. The remaining third (the placebo group) were given a neutral prompt:
"Population of the U.S. grew by 1.4 percent between 2018 and 2020."
Subsequently, students were asked about their views of societal cohesion in the United States. More specifically, they had to respond whether they strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, somewhat agree, or strongly agree with the following five statements:
1. In the US, it is easier now for people like me to improve things for myself than it was for my parents.
2. The US is a place where people are usually treated fairly no matter what background they come from.
3. The US is a free country where everyone’s rights are respected no matter what their background.
4. In the US today, people like me are discriminated against.
5. The Government in the US treats people like me fairly.
These questions on societal cohesion were drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE), a large-scale panel survey, managed by the Department for Education (DfE) of the United Kingdom Government.

2023-04-25

2023-06-21

Summary index of Societal Cohesion in the US (level of discrimination, fairness) measured as the share who strongly disagree with statements of societal cohesion, as the share who disagree with statements of societal cohesion, and as a continuous variable.

One-third of the survey respondents were randomly assigned to the treatment group and given the prompt about the recent state and federal restrictions on abortion rights. The other third was a control group. A final third was given a placebo prompt.

One-third of the survey respondents were randomly assigned to the treatment group and given the prompt about the recent state and federal restrictions on abortion rights. The other third was a control group. A final third was given a placebo prompt.

Randomization done in the office by a computer

individual

No

1200 students

Uncertain. At least 1200 total.

320 treated students, 374 control students, 343 placebo students.