In the figure below, social orientation refers to a person’s stance regarding social policies (e.g., same-sex marriage, immigration, and abortion). Economic orientation refers to a person’s stance on economic policies (e.g., privatized health care, military spending, and welfare). While somewhat related, social and economic orientation are independent constructs. For example, it is entirely possible for a person to be socially conservative (e.g., pro-life) while also being economically liberal (e.g., public health care). Political orientation is more general, and refers to the tendency to identify with a conservative or liberal party.
Furries, as a group, define themselves as quite socially liberal (M = 6.03; orange bars).1 This is consistent with the diversity and inclusiveness of the furry fandom when it comes to sexual orientation and on issues of gender identity, and the relatively young composition of the furry fandom. Economically, however, furries are much more moderate (M = 4.93; gray bars.)2 and are significantly more conservative when it comes to economic issues than they are when it comes to social issues. Political orientation fell between economic and social orientation, and is likely a composite of the two (blue bars; M = 5.56).3
In addition to assessing political orientation, we’ve also assessed global citizenship. Global citizenship is the belief that a person’s ingroup—the group of people they belong to—includes all people. It is reflected in items such as concern for people in other countries and consideration of the broader, global consequences of one’s behavior. Furries, because of their self-professed open and inclusive nature, scored significantly higher than non-furries the global citizenship scale (5.16 vs. 4.98, p = .001).
To the Furscience team, may Iask you whether these questions or the polling has been updated? (i.e. taking polls on other cons and in other years.) It would look good that they’re updated accordingly, considering the current political climate which must’ve affected the current data and so on.
The questions have since been revised an updated to capture a fuller political spectrum. There is new data collected as of 2019, but it hasn’t been disseminated widely yet.
has it now been released for public viewing?
Yes and no. Yes, insofar as the updated data can be view by or anyone for free by viewing and/or downloading a digital copy of the new Furscience book here. No, insofar as we have not updated this section of the website to reflect the latest data published in the book. We hope to overhaul and update the entire Research Findings section this year 🙂
hello im a conservative furry and im seeing more furries going red now
hi Jeshuah, would u mind me asking why do u think that is? Personally, and also ur guess for the broader furry community. thx
I am a furry who is a liberal.
I am a liberal furry, It pains me to see more furries going red.
I’m a conservative furry,glad to know there’s more.