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).
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