Does majority support for minority rights impact perceived norms and psychological well‐being? An application to the LGBTIQ+ context

Several legislative changes following popular votes have transformed the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer (i.e., LGBTIQ+) people. We suggest these decisions to change laws serve as strong signals of public support (i.e., shifting the perceived societal norms), which may not only impact the well‐being of individuals directly targeted by these votes (LGBTIQ+ people) but also members of advantaged groups (cis‐heterosexual people) supporting or opposing such changes. Drawing on three preregistered analyses of longitudinal studies following votes in Switzerland (Study 1, 419 LGBTIQ+ people; Study 3, 619 LGBTIQ+ people and 247 cis‐heterosexual supporters) and Australia (Study 2, 189 cis‐heterosexual supporters and 195 cis‐heterosexual opponents), we find that legal changes extending LGBTIQ+ rights led to a positive shift in perceived norms. This positive shift also led to a change in the well‐being of LGBTIQ+ people in Study 1 but not in Study 3, suggesting that substantial variation in how people initially perceive the norm may be necessary for such changes to affect well‐being. No association was found between perceived norms and well‐being among cis‐heterosexual people in Studies 2 and 3. Together, these findings suggest that it is critical to focus on the socio‐psychological impacts of legal changes on people.