Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Political Science
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
This dissertation explores how perceptions of out-groups and potential threats shape tolerance for free expression, challenging assumptions about the influence of individual characteristics. While previous research has often attributed consistent effects to factors like education, income, age, partisanship, race, and gender, my findings reveal that these relationships are created by context. Utilizing four datasets—three secondary and one experimental—I illustrate that most characteristics only exhibit significant effects in specific contexts controlling for out-group identity and perceptions of violence. This finding not only suggests a need to move beyond examining individual characteristic effects toward understanding how contexts shape their influence on tolerance for free expression, but illustrates a framework to understand the conditions that make a characteristic significantly affect support for out-group free expression in a specific context. Ultimately this finding contributes to the scholarship by providing a deeper understanding of how context creates significance for each characteristic rather than a characteristic being intimately related with support out-group free expression.
Date
1-16-2026
Recommended Citation
Sharpe, Conrad, "Tolerating Threat: Why Americans Disagree on What and Who Deserve First Amendment Protections" (2026). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 6980.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/6980
Committee Chair
Garand, James