The Difference between Blacks' and Whites' Attitudes toward Voluntary Euthanasia

Researchers have consistently found that blacks are more opposed to legalizing voluntary euthanasia than are whites. Although sketchy and untested, theories for this race difference attribute it either to a difference between the two groups' levels of fundamentalism, or to a difference between the two groups' levels of fear regarding of giving others the power to end one's life. Data from the General Social Survey (GSS) and the Ohio Death and Dying Survey (DANDS) are used to examine to what extent these two variables, along with socioeconomic status and political conservatism, account for blacks' greater opposition toward legalizing voluntary euthanasia. An exploratory structural equation model of attitudes toward physician-assisted suidde, though based on limited data, suggests that all four variables are important in explaining the difference between blacks' and whites' attitudes toward legalizing voluntary euthanasia.