Willingness to speak out about gay laws reform: some cause for optimism

We examined the extent to which people's private attitudes to gay law reform are influenced by the attitudes of others. Ninety-six university students were told that they were either in a minority or in a majority relative to their university group on their attitudes to gay law reform. Contrary to a number of assumptions made in the social psychological literature, participants who supported gay law reform were more prepared to act in line with their attitudes than were those who opposed gay law reform. Furthermore, anti-gay law reform participants appeared to reassess their attitudes when they were told they were in a minority; in contrast, pro-gay law reform participants were unaffected by the group norm. This suggests that anti-gay law reform attitudes are softer and more easily influenced than are pro-gay law reform attitudes. The implications of these results for activists are discussed.     

Attitudes, subjective experiences, and behaviors in imagined and actual encounters between gay and heterosexual people

Across four studies, we assessed the relationship between participants' attitudes toward gay men and their experiences during either imagined or actual interpersonal encounters with gay men. In the first three studies, participants imagined interactions with gay men and either responded in an open-ended or a closed-ended fashion. In these imagined interactions, participants reported that they expected to have considerable agreement between their attitudes and their subjective experiences during the intergroup encounter. However, during actual interactions, there were no differences between members of different prejudice levels in their responses to the gay confederate. A comparison of the actual and imagined interactions demonstrated that high prejudice people are particularly unlikely to have subjective experiences that match their negative attitudes concerning actual interpersonal encounters.     

Religion,Contact, and Ambivalent Attitudes Toward the Rights of Gays and Lesbians in Barbados

ABSTRACT

Over 70 countries in the world currently carry anti-gay laws, among which is Barbados, a small English-speaking Caribbean island. This study evaluates whether heterosexuals in Barbados are consistent or ambivalent in their attitudes toward anti-gay law reform and the extent to which competing messages from interpersonal contact and religion affect ambivalence. The analysis revealed that a majority of heterosexuals hold ambivalent attitudes about gay and lesbian rights. Moreover, results from a multinomial logistic regression imply that Barbadians whose views on sexuality were theologically based were less likely to support restrictions on same-sex intimacy when they have a close relationship with a gay man or lesbian. However, this decline in support for the laws brought about by meaningful contact did not translate to support for gay and lesbian rights among the religiously inclined. Rather, it manifested itself as a state of attitudinal ambivalence.     

Interpersonal contact experiences with gay men: a qualitative investigation of "fag hags" and gay-supportive heterosexual men

The purpose of this investigation was to understand how "fag hags" and gay-supportive heterosexual men (GSHM) describe the nature and quality of their interpersonal contact experiences with gay men. Eight archival interviews were analyzed using the methodologies outlined in Hill, Thompson, and Williams (1997); i.e., consensual qualitative research. The results yielded suggest that the nature of contact experiences relates to direct contact with gay men in institutional or social settings or via indirect, formative experiences. The possible roles that contact plays in attitudes formation include: (1) normalizing homosexuality, (2) challenging previously held myths and stereotypes, and (3) increasing a person's likelihood of having contact experiences with gay men and developing gay-supportive attitudes. Participants described the quality of the contact as taking place in the context of a friendship that developed between them and a gay male that strengthened after the gay friend came out. Furthermore, the impact of these contact experiences did not change fag hags' sense of morality, but "improved" their attitudes toward gay men. The results from this study have broader social implications in that they contribute to the much-needed discourse, from a qualitative perspective, on the ways in which people form gay-supportive attitudes. Future research should focus on describing the transformational nature of contact between gay men and heterosexuals in order to uncover any processes or stages that heterosexuals go through in developing gay-supportive attitudes.     

Beyond "homophobia": a social psychological perspective on attitudes toward lesbians and gay men

Homophobia, a term often used to describe hostile reactions to lesbians and gay men, implies a unidimensional construct of attitudes as expressions of irrational fears. This paper argues that a more complex view is needed of the psychology of positive and negative attitudes toward homosexual persons. Based upon a review of previous empirical research, a model is proposed that distinguishes three types of attitudes according to the social psychological function they serve: (1) experiential, categorizing social reality by one's past interactions with homosexual persons; (2) defensive, coping with one's inner conflicts or anxieties by projecting them onto homosexual persons; and (3) symbolic, expressing abstract ideological concepts that are closely linked to one's notion of self and to one's social network and reference groups. Strategies are proposed for changing attitudes serving each of the functions. The importance of distinguishing attitudes toward lesbians from those focused on gay men is also discussed.     

Abstract Reasoning as a Predictor of Attitudes Toward Gay Men

This study examined the hypothesis that participants scoring lowest on a measure of abstract reasoning skills would have the highest levels of anti-gay prejudice. It was further hypothesized that abstract reasoning scores would account for variance in prejudice beyond that accounted for by previously established correlates of attitudes toward gay men: sex of the respondent (men being more prejudiced than women), contact with gay people (less contact being associated with higher prejudice), and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA; positively correlating with prejudice). It was also expected that abstract reasoning skills would be negatively correlated with RWA. The results supported each hypothesis. The predictor most strongly related to anti-gay prejudice was RWA, followed by contact with gay people, abstract reasoning skills, and sex of the respondent.     

Positive associations among interpersonal contact, motivation, and implicit and explicit attitudes toward gay men

A correlational study explored the role of intergroup contact and motivation to respond without prejudice on heterosexuals' expression of explicit and implicit (unconscious) bias against gay men. Participants who reported having more relationships and closer relationships with gay, lesbian, or bisexual people tended to exhibit more favorable attitudes toward gay men on implicit as well as explicit attitude measures. Attitudes were also related to self-reported motivation to be non-prejudiced, including motivation stemming from sources internal as well as external to the individual. Multiple regression analyses showed that contact and motivation explain unique variance in attitude but that motivation is a relatively stronger predictor. The results are interpreted to suggest that implicit and explicit prejudice may be reduced through motivation coupled with positive contact experiences.     

Gay officers in their midst: heterosexual police employees' anticipation of the consequences for coworkers who come out

While fear among gay men and lesbians about being out in a masculinist environment is not surprising, this article examines what heterosexuals expect will happen when gay men and lesbians come out. We draw on a unique dataset from a police department in the southwest United States to examine the consequences anticipated by heterosexual police department employees if a gay or lesbian officer's sexual orientation became known in the workplace. We test four main sets of factors: individual-level demographic characteristics and religious background; homophobia; organizational tolerance for discrimination; and intergroup contact theory to explain how heterosexuals expect gay and lesbian coworkers to be treated. Using ordinary least squares regression, we find that characteristics of workplaces, measured by tolerance of discrimination, as well as contact with gay men and lesbians on the job are more significant predictors of anticipated outcomes than are individual-level traits and homophobic attitudes. We conclude by discussing the policy implications of our research.     

Attitudes toward gay,lesbian, and bisexual persons among heterosexual liberal arts college students

This research focuses on attitudes toward homosexuals and homosexuality among 692 heterosexual students at six liberal arts colleges. Attitudes, assessed in a variety of ways, are examined in relation to students' Greek affiliation, sex role attitudes, religion and religiosity, and contact with and knowledge of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. Results suggest that attributes predicting acceptance of gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons are female sex, liberal sex-role attitudes, lower religiosity as measured both by beliefs and by attendance, membership in more liberal Protestant denominations, attendance at colleges that do not have Greek letter social organizations, and having positive contacts with gay, lesbian, and/or bisexual persons.     

Heteronegativism? The attitudes of gay men and lesbians toward heterosexuals

Although many studies have been conducted on homophobia, little information exists about the attitudes of homosexuals toward heterosexuals. In order to compare the attitudes of both groups, a well-known homophobia questionnaire (Hudson & Ricketts, 1980) was reworded to assess the attitudes of homosexuals toward heterosexuals, forming a "heterophobia" questionnaire. The less clinical term "heteronegativism" is introduced here to refer to the range of negative feelings that gay individuals could possess regarding heterosexuals. Sixty homosexual students were matched with 60 heterosexual psychology students on sex, age, race, and education. Each group was given its respective "phobia" questionnaire. Hypotheses that homosexual participants would report less phobia and more negative experience than heterosexuals and that gay women would report more phobia than gay men were supported. Hypotheses that level of abuse in closeted homosexuals would be positively correlated with phobia scores and that being "out of the closet" would be negatively correlated with phobia scores were not supported.     

Self-perceived origins of attitudes toward homosexuality

Undergraduate students (N = 417) at a large southern university responded to open-ended questions designed to assess self-perceived origins of attitudes toward homosexuality and circumstances that may prompt a shift in attitudes. Inductively coded responses pointed to a positive correlation between attitudes toward homosexuality and experience interacting with gay men or lesbians; this is discussed in the context of Allport's (1954 ) contact hypothesis and Herek's (1984 , 1986 ) theory of functional attitudes. Implications are discussed for education and intervention efforts aimed at facilitating understanding and tolerance of gay men and lesbians.     

Disclosing Lesbian and Gay Male Sexual Orientation in Later Life: Attitudes of Younger and Older Generations in Eight Latin American Countries

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research was to explore attitudes toward older lesbians and gay men disclosing their sexual preferences in eight Latin American countries. The sample consisted of 1,539 participants belonging to three age groups (18–29 years, 60–69 years, and 70 years and over). Their answers to two open-ended questions were content-analyzed, and binary logistic regressions were run on the extreme attitudinal categories. Results showed that although most attitudes were positive, a solid percentage of participants still expressed different kinds of derogatory attitudes. Men (as compared to women) and participants who were more religious and less educated tended to hold more negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Both older samples were more prejudiced than the younger one, and attitudes also varied according to country. There was a general trend showing more positive attitudes toward older lesbians and gay men in those countries where sexual minorities’ rights are better assured, which suggests that measures to protect sexual minorities and to make sexual diversity in older age visible could be advisable.     

Implicit and explicit attitudes towards lesbians and gay men

Attitudes towards lesbians and gay men, as assessed with questionnaires, have become more and more positive in the last decades. An open question is, however, whether that trend reflects true change or rather a growing reluctance to admit negative attitudes (to others and self). New procedures measuring implicit attitudes may help find an answer. In three studies with 208 students at a German university, attitudes towards lesbians and gay men were measured with explicit scales and with an Implicit Association Test (Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) adapted for that purpose. Explicit attitudes were very positive. However, implicit attitudes were relatively negative instead, except for female participants' implicit attitudes towards lesbians which were repeatedly as positive as were their attitudes towards heterosexuals. The internal consistencies of the implicit tests were exemplary. Correlations with sexual orientation as well as with explicit homosexuality-related and gender-related attitudes attested to their validity. However, context effects were found for different implicit attitudes measured in close succession, and correlations of implicit homosexuality-related and gender-related attitudes could not be detected.     

Sexistential Crisis: An Intersectional Analysis of Gender Expression and Sexual Orientation in Masculine Overcompensation

ABSTRACT

Masculine overcompensation—a phenomenon where men react to masculinity threats by endorsing hypermasculine ideals—has been demonstrated among straight men but has yet to be examined among gay men. The current study therefore proposed to examine whether gay men overcompensate similarly to their straight counterparts by providing participants with randomized feedback that threatened their masculinity. Overcompensation was measured in 867 online respondents by administering a series of questionnaires regarding views of pornography, rape, sex roles, and political orientation. Although our hypothesis was not confirmed, results revealed the intersectionality of both sexual orientation and self-reported gender expression regarding the formation of different views and beliefs. Specifically, masculinity was differentially related to homophobic attitudes, more callous views toward victims of sexual assault, and various components of attitudes toward pornography in gay and straight men. Masculine gay males held stereotypically masculine views less strongly than their masculine straight counterparts, providing evidence that gay males adopt a different type of masculinity than straight males—something of a “masculinity lite.” Such findings point to the converging influence of sexual orientation and gender expression as contributors relevant to the attitudes of gay and straight men. This information adds to a growing body of literature on differences between gay and straight men and can be used to inform theory, education, and clinical practice, particularly in settings where men grapple with the implications of their masculinity.     

Remembering gay/lesbian media characters: can Ellen and Will improve attitudes toward homosexuals?

The purpose of the current research was twofold. First, a pilot study was conducted in which participants were asked to recall any memorable gay or lesbian television or film character and complete a survey about their perceptions of the character. Results indicated that over two-thirds of heterosexual participants recalled either Ellen or Will, and evaluative ratings for these characters were generally positive. The second purpose of this research was to examine the priming effects of remembering portrayals of homosexual characters in the media. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to directly assess the effects of thinking about either a positive or negative homosexual character on general heterosexuals' attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Results indicated that those recalling a positive portrayal later showed a more positive attitude toward gay men than those recalling a negative portrayal, and women had a more positive attitude overall than men toward gay men and lesbians. Such findings illustrate the importance of positive role models in entertainment media as potential primes of social attitudes.     

Attitudinal and Individual Differences Influence Perceptions of Mock Child Sexual Assault Cases Involving Gay Defendants

Many people hold negative attitudes and stereotypes about gay men, including the stereotype that gay men are likely to be child molesters. This article explored the implications of this stereotype for judgments made in a hypothetical legal case involving child sexual abuse accusations against a male teacher by either a male or female victim. Mock jurors who held the most anti-gay attitudes and those who endorsed the stereotype of gay men as child molesters made the most pro-prosecution judgments in scenarios involving gay defendants. A new scale (the Stereotypes about Gays and Child Abuse scale) was developed to assess the extent to which participants endorsed the stereotype of gay men as being likely to sexually abuse children. This scale was a stronger predictor of case judgments than existing, more general scales measuring biases against homosexuality.     

Beyond Homonegativity: Understanding Hong Kong People’s Attitudes About Social Acceptance of Gay/Lesbian People,Sexual Orientation Discrimination Protection,and Same-Sex Marriage

This study examined attitudes about social acceptance, discrimination protection, and marriage equality for gay/lesbian people with a representative sample of 1,008 Hong Kong Chinese adults via a telephone survey. Despite majority endorsement of homosexuality (52.29% positive vs. 34.12% negative) and discrimination protection (50.72% favorable vs. 14.64% opposed), attitudes toward same-sex marriage diverged (32.79% favorable vs. 39.41% opposed). There was a sharp distinction in accepting gay/lesbian people as co-workers (83.57%) and friends (76.92%) versus relatives (40.19%). Having more homosexual/bisexual friends or co-workers contributed to greater endorsement of social acceptance and discrimination protection but not same-sex marriage. Age, religion, political orientation, and homonegativity consistently predicted attitudes toward social acceptance, discrimination protection, and same-sex marriage, whereas gender-role beliefs, conformity to norms, and cultural orientations had varying impacts. This article informs theory and advocacy by disentangling homonegativity from attitudes about gay/lesbian issues and highlighting the centrality of family-kinship and relative-outsider delineation in Chinese societies.     

Staff Perceptions of Same-Gender Sexual Contacts in Long-Term Care Facilities

An ongoing fear in the gay and lesbian community is that long-term care (LTC) facilities may not be sensitive to their needs. In the present study, 218 LTC staff members responded to one of three vignettes in which resident sexual contact was observed, with only the gender of the characters changing, to create different gender pairings. Results suggested that staff rated male-male and female-female pairings more negatively than heterosexual intimacy. Knowledge about older adult sexuality made little difference in staff ratings. However, staff attitudes were directly related to ratings of negative reaction and level of acceptability of same-gender sexuality.     

Portuguese Adolescents' Attitudes Toward Sexual Minorities: Transphobia,Homophobia, and Gender Role Beliefs

Research has shown that negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men are common and widespread in Western societies. However, few studies have addressed attitudes toward transgender individuals. In addition, although research has shown that homophobic harassment and bullying is highly common among adolescents, little is known about adolescent's attitudes toward sexual minorities. This study aimed to fill these gaps in knowledge, by investigating adolescents' attitudes toward transgender individuals and possible attitudinal correlates of those attitudes. Participants (N?=?188; 62 males and 126 females) were recruited in high schools in Lisbon, Portugal. Age ranged from 15 to 19 years (M?=?17; SD = .96). Participants completed a questionnaire booklet measuring attitudes toward transgender individuals, lesbians, and gay men, and gender role beliefs. Results revealed that attitudes toward transgender individuals were significantly correlated with all attitude measures. Specifically, it was revealed that those participants who endorsed negative attitudes toward transgender individuals were also endorsing of negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and tended to adhere to traditional gender roles. A significant gender effect was found with males being more negative toward sexual minorities than females, but these negative attitudes were more extreme toward gay men than toward lesbian women. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Culture and contact in the promotion and reduction of anti-gay prejudice: evidence from Jamaica and Britain

Jamaica has been called "the most homophobic place on Earth" ( Padgett, 2006 , p. 1), and has been involved in numerous international incidents with Britain, and other countries, concerning anti-gay prejudice. However, neither the severity of Jamaican anti-gay prejudice, nor any means of reducing this prejudice has ever been empirically investigated. Intergroup contact-social interaction with a person from another group-is one of the most successful and widely used social-psychological interventions to reduce prejudice and improve intergroup relations. In this article, we compared sexual prejudice in Jamaica to that in Britain and investigated the relationship between contact and sexual prejudice in both countries. Jamaican participants reported more negative attitudes toward gay men than did British participants, but contact was more strongly associated with reduced sexual prejudice for Jamaican participants than for British participants. Implications for reducing Jamaican sexual prejudice are discussed.