When Labels Don’t Fit: Are Latinos Really More Conservative?

By Adriana Villavicencio, Being Latino

Latinos tend to be seen as more conservative than others, but a new survey shows that they are no more or less likely than the general population to describe their own views as “conservative” or “very conservative.” In fact, Latinos are more likely to describe their views as liberal.While 30 percent of Latino adults described their views as “liberal,” only 21 percent of U.S. adults did.

Moreover, 75 percent of Latinos said they would rather have bigger government providing more services compared to 19 percent who said they want smaller government. For the general population, these numbers are 41 percent and 48 percent. What about on some other key issues?

• Abortion: Latinos hold a more conservative view of abortion than the general population (51 percent versus 41 percent), but if you include only native born Latinos, then the rates are the same.
• Homosexuality: When asked whether it should be accepted or discouraged by society, 59% percentof Hispanics said it should be accepted (similar to the general population at 58 percent).
• Interracial/interethnic marriage: 84 percent of Latinos are comfortable with their children marrying someone who is not Latino (though only 63 percent are comfortable with marrying someone of a different religion).

In most of the categories, there are differences between the views of foreign born Hispanics and those of native born Latinos. There are also some key differences that correspond to age.

Read more at Pew Research Center.

Adriana Villavicencio has contributed to several publications including the Daily News and Space.com, and is a managing editor for the Journal of Equity in Education.  To learn more about Adriana’s education consulting company, please visit www.theradicalideas.com.

This article first appeared in Being Latino.