Coping with Cross‐Pressures: The Seamless Garment in Catholic Political Behavior

Abstract

The Catholic Church is the largest religious denomination in the United States, yet political science lacks a comprehensive account of how the cross-pressures created by its policy prescriptions structure Catholic political behavior. Because Catholicism's policy positions land on both sides of the contemporary partisan divide-its cultural concerns aligning with the Republican Party and its pro-social justice stance compatible with Democratic priorities-adherence to Church teaching creates electoral dilemmas for Catholic voters. By juxtaposing existing work on Catholic political behavior with the psychological literature on cognitive dissonance, we form expectations about Catholic adherence to Church policy prescriptions and its implications for electoral choice. We focus empirically on "Seamless Garment Catholics" (SGCs)-those Catholics who share the Church's policy positions-finding that seamless-garment views are uncommon among Catholic voters, are more common among religiously committed and Latino Catholics, and are discouraged by ties to the two major parties. SGCs are more likely than other Catholics to employ psychological coping mechanisms, such as avoidance and selective perception, to reduce Church-inspired cognitive dissonance. Our research provides insight into an important electoral bloc that is cross-pressured uniquely by its faith commitments.

Abortion Attitudes: An Overview of Demographic and Ideological Differences

“…Although religion plays a key role in the abortion debate, important differences exist both within religious denominations (e.g., Catholics; see Antkowiak et al, 2021) and between religious traditions (Evans, 2002), denominational affiliations (Adamczyk, 2008), and moral beliefs (Weber & Federico, 2013). For example, Catholics are generally less supportive of abortion than are Protestants (Francis et al, 2019), Jews (Hoffmann & Miller, 1997), and the nonreligious (Alvargonzález, 2017).…”

Are Catholics Uniquely Cross-Pressured? Policy Beliefs and Voting Behavior by Religious Tradition in Recent U.S. Elections

“…22 Catholics at best appear only modestly more likely than non-Catholics to hold combinations of policy views that correspond with the Church's partisan-incongruent "consistent ethic of life," and often only then when considering the most devout Catholics. 23 At the same time, U.S. Catholics who do share their Church's opposition to abortion and its predominantly liberal views on social justice issues like social welfare, immigration, and environmental protection look and behave very much like cross-pressured voters. 24 They are more likely than other Catholics to avoid making a decision between Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, either by voting for a different, nonviable candidate or by not voting at all.…”

“…23 At the same time, U.S. Catholics who do share their Church's opposition to abortion and its predominantly liberal views on social justice issues like social welfare, immigration, and environmental protection look and behave very much like cross-pressured voters. 24 They are more likely than other Catholics to avoid making a decision between Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, either by voting for a different, nonviable candidate or by not voting at all. Their presidential votes, despite leaning Democratic, lean less overwhelmingly to one partisan side than do the votes of Catholics whose policy issue attitudes are more consistent with the Democratic or Republican parties.…”