Exploring the Association between Measures of Cross-Culturalism and Abortion Attitudes Amongst Latinxs in the United States

Abstract

It is imperative to understand how cross-cultural processes are associated with Latinxs’ social attitudes. In this study, we analyzed data from an online survey of 968 Latinx adults in the United States. We explored the associations of three different cross-cultural scales—the Brief Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (BASH), the Psychological Acculturation Scale (PAS), and the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans II (ARSMA-II)—with U.S. Latinxs’ attitudes toward legal abortion for social-related circumstances. Even after controlling for common sociodemographic characteristics, all three cross-cultural scales are associated with greater endorsement of legal abortion. Individuals leaning toward English language usage, inclined toward American cultural identity, and U.S./Anglo social interactions were more likely to endorse legal abortion. While BASH’s conciseness and reliability make it well-suited for large-scale surveys, we recommend researchers adopt BASH when assessing Latinxs’ abortion attitudes but also carefully consider their research context and the specific abortion attitudes being assessed when selecting cross-cultural measures. Understanding the Latinx community’s public opinions on abortion is paramount to better assess the reproductive health values, beliefs, and needs of this minority population. In a post-Dobbs v. Jackson context, understanding this is most salient for state-level abortion legislation shaped by past, ongoing, and future ballot initiatives and elections. And being able to accurately account for cultural factors in such work, through adequate acculturation measurement, is important.