Support for family diversity: a three-country study

“This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in the Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology on 12 February 2018, available online: https:// www.tandfonline.com/doi/ full/10.1080/02646838.2018.1434491” This manuscript version is made available under the CCBY- NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (February 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policy.Objective: To understand levels of support for differences between families in terms of sexuality and mode of family formation across three countries. Background: Previous research has found that attitudes towards family diversity continue to improve over time, although differences remain. Methods: Subjects were 1605 people living in Australia, the United Kingdom or the United States who completed a questionnaire which sought to explore levels of support for a diverse range of family forms and modes of family formation. Results: Religiosity, political leanings and beliefs about the importance of genetic relatedness were all correlated with level of support. Gender of participant was a predictor of level of support. Cluster analysis indicated three clusters (unsupportive, neutral and supportive) for level of support, for which both sexuality and parent status were predictors. Conclusion: Findings highlight the normative status of reproductive heterosex, and demonstrate the considerable value accorded to genetic relatedness.This work was supported by the Australian Research Council under a Future Fellowship [grant number FT130100087]; Flinders University under a Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences research grant