Who Were You Thinking About? Participant Reports of People They Imagined While Responding to an Abortion Attitudes Survey

Objective Abortion attitudes vary based on abortion contexts (e.g., reasons for abortion) and potentially the abortion seeker (i.e., abortion actor). Yet, abortion‐related survey research may not account for these factors. We explored the abortion actors and contexts that respondents think about while responding to abortion attitude survey items. Methods We used a mixed‐methods, multi‐study design. In Study 1, participants were randomly assigned to think of themselves, themselves and their partner, or a general woman, and completed an abortion attitudes survey, reporting the abortion actors they thought of at survey completion. In Study 2, respondents completed cognitive interviews after responding to the same survey items from Study 1, and were asked to discuss who they were imagining. Results Despite assigned survey condition, participants thought of a variety of abortion actors, often imagining multiple actors. Qualitative findings were similar, with participants also elaborating on abortion contexts in addition to actors. Participants' abortion sentiment varied given the abortion actors and contexts they were envisioning. Conclusion Prompting abortion actors within survey instructions may be less impactful on abortion attitudes as participants report concurrently thinking about multiple abortion actors and contexts throughout survey completion. Social science researchers should be intentional in framing abortion items, particularly considering the contexts they provide participants.