Attitudes Toward Homosexuality in China: Exploring the Effects of Religion,Modernizing Factors,and Traditional Culture

Using the zero-inflated model and nationally representative sample data from the Chinese General Social Surveys 2013, this study systematically explored the effects of religion, modernizing factors, and traditional culture on attitudes toward homosexuality in China. The findings indicate that most Chinese people generally hold conservative attitudes toward homosexuality, as approximately 78.53% of the respondents believed that “same-sex sexual behavior is always wrong.” Modernizing factors (i.e., education, exposure to Internet information, and liberal inclinations) predicted greater tolerance for homosexuality, whereas Islamic beliefs negatively influenced respondents’ attitudes toward homosexuality. In contrast to the findings of the existing literature, Christian beliefs and traditional culture did not have significant effects on attitudes toward homosexuality. These findings may contribute to the literature by not only quantitatively testing the applicability of several factors identified in most Western studies of this topic but also providing new knowledge of attitudes toward homosexuality in the social context of China.     

Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Among Young Adults: Connections to Gender Role Identity,Gender-Typed Activities,and Religiosity

Individual differences in attitudes toward homosexuality have been linked to numerous personality and demographic variables. This study investigated the influence that gender role identity, involvement in gender-typed activities, and religiosity plays in this relationship. The sample included 194 undergraduate students from a Northeastern university. Analyses revealed that both males and females who held a more masculine gender role identity and individual commitment to religion scored higher on measures of homophobia and heteronormativity, whereas there was no association between spiritual meaning in life and attitudes toward homosexuality. Among males, but not females, more masculine gender identity and less spiritual meaning in life was associated with greater homophobia. The importance of the findings for research on the origins of attitudes toward individuals with a homosexual orientation are discussed, as well as the potential directions for future research on connections between gender role identity, religious affiliation, and attitudes toward gays and lesbians.     

Demographic and Social Factors Associated with Homophobia and Fear of AIDS in a Community Sample

Examinations of demographic and social factors associated with homophobia and fear of AIDS are limited by the frequent use of homogeneous, college student samples and limited examination of interrelationships among variables. The present study examined community attitudes toward homosexuality and fear of HIV/AIDS as a function of age, education, race/ethnicity, religious affiliation, political party affiliation, and personal contact with homosexual individuals and persons living with HIV/AIDS. A community sample of 463 adults completed standardized measures of homophobia and fear of AIDS as well as demographic and social background items. When examined separately, each demographic and social factor assessed, with the exception of race/ethnicity, was associated with homophobia and all but race/ethnicity and political party affiliation were associated with fear of AIDS. However, when entered into multiple regression analyses, 24% of the variance in homophobia was predicted by a single variable, including only personal contact with homosexual individuals, while 18% of the variance in fear of AIDS was accounted for by five variables, including personal contact with homosexual individuals, religious affiliation, political affiliation, education, and personal contact with someone living with HIV/AIDS. Findings suggest that it is important to consider intercorrelations among social and demographic factors, particularly when considering homophobia.     

Agapé Christian Reconciliation Conversations: Exploring the Intersections of Culture,Religiousness, and Homosexual Identity in Latino and European Americans

To understand how homophobia manifests itself through a Latino cultural lens of identity, a program was designed to address the issues connecting homosexual identity, culture, and Christianity. The program included screening of one of two documentary films about lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) identity and family relations. This was followed by group sharing and biblical reflections. Participants ( N =?122) were asked to complete measures of homophobic attitudes and qualitative appraisal of the program. Pearson product moment correlations analyses revealed that age and political ideology were related negatively to homophobia. Eighty-five percent found the program to be very useful or useful and 95% indicated that they would recommend it to others. The complexities of the intersections of Christianity, culture, and attitudes toward homosexuality in an individual's identity were examined. The data illustrates a positive trend in changing attitudes towards homosexuality in the Latino Christian community.     

Attitudes Toward Homosexuality in Adolescence: An Italian Study

This study investigates Italian adolescents’ attitudes toward gay men and lesbians and same-sex marriage, and their beliefs about the origins of homosexuality. The sample consists of 449 subjects (226 males), aged between 14 and 21 years. The principal instruments used are: the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay men (ATLG), the Modern Homonegativity Scale (MHS), and the Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Marriage (ATSM). Results suggest that males show a more negative attitude than females toward homosexuals. Furthermore data reveal that respondents with a lack of personal direct contact with gay people have less positive attitudes toward homosexual people and same-sex marriage. The data in this study suggest that homophobia could be deeply rooted in a traditional value system that refutes gender equality.     

An Exploration of Public Attitudes Toward LGBTI Rights in the Gauteng City-Region of South Africa

ABSTRACT

South Africa’s legal framework on the rights of sexual minorities is one of the most progressive in the world. Despite this, discrimination and violence against gay and lesbian people continues to be a challenge. Using large-scale survey data gathered in the Gauteng City-Region, this study examines public attitudes related to homosexuality. Most respondents to the survey felt that sexual minorities should have equal rights. However, a considerable proportion of respondents also held negative views toward gay and lesbian individuals, with close to two fifths of respondents believing that homosexuality is against the values of their community, and over 12% of participants holding the view that it is acceptable to be violent toward gays and lesbians. Further analysis also consists of an examination of responses cross-tabulated with the variables of race, gender, age, and education, revealing that younger, well-educated South Africans tend to be the most tolerant, but also exhibiting large variances in attitudes within groups.     

The mediating effects of attitudes toward homosexuality between secure attachment and disclosure outcomes among gay men

Past research has found that a stronger secure attachment style, developed in childhood, enhances one's ability to acknowledge negative feelings, cope with negative life events, and develop satisfying social relationships. Because an integral part of the "coming out" process for gay men is the ability to seek support from the gay community in order to reevaluate negative beliefs toward homosexuality, a gay man's attachment style may strongly impact this critical stage of his life. Results demonstrated that men who more strongly endorsed a secure attachment style reported more positive attitudes toward their own homosexuality, and that these more positive attitudes could mediate the relation between more secure attachment style, greater levels of self-disclosure regarding their homosexuality, and greater self-esteem. Implications of these data for internalized homophobia, the coming-out process, and effective social functioning are discussed.     

Attribution of rape blame as a function of victim gender and sexuality,and perceived similarity to the victim

This study examined respondents' perceived level of blame and responsibility for three victims of rape, as a function of attitudes toward homosexuals, and perceived similarity to the victim, as indicative of Shaver's (1970) Defensive Attribution Hypothesis. Victims were a homosexual and heterosexual male, and a female. A sample of 168 university students completed questionnaires, which included three rape scenarios and subsequent questions, the Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals (Hudson & Ricketts, 1980), and the short-form Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Reynolds, 1982). Results indicated that respondents higher in homophobia (regardless of gender) blamed the homosexual male rape victim and the behavior and character of the heterosexual male rape victim, more than the female rape victim. Male respondents in general also blamed the heterosexual male rape victim, more than female respondents. Shaver's defensive attribution hypothesis was not supported. Results are discussed in terms of the possible link between homophobia and male blame.     

Essentialist Beliefs About Homosexuality Predict Positive and Negative Behavioral Intentions Toward Lesbian Women and Gay Men

This study focuses on essentialist beliefs about homosexuality as determinants of discriminatory intentions against gay men and lesbian women (LG) and the readiness to engage in positive action toward them. A sample of 997 exclusively heterosexual adults participated in an online study set in Croatia, a country with high homophobia undergoing social change that threatens the higher status of the heterosexual majority. Beliefs about immutability and universality of homosexuality were associated with less intention to discriminate and more readiness to engage in positive behavior, while discreteness beliefs were inversely related to both. Furthermore, attitudes toward LGs seem to be the mechanism behind the observed links. Results suggest essentialist beliefs might be fuel for attitudes, which are in turn associated with behavioral intentions. Importantly, essentialist beliefs had both indirect (with attitudes as mediators) and direct effects on behavioral intentions speaking in favor of their robust role in explaining LG-related phenomena.     

The relationship between sexism and attitudes toward homosexuality in a sample of Turkish college students

This study examined the relationship of sexism, having traditional and conservative values, and contact with homosexual individuals to attitudes toward homosexuality. Two hundred seven male and female students from Middle East Technical University completed Hudson and Rickett's Homophobia scale, Glick and Fiske's Ambivalent Sexism Inventory and questions about: (1) their sexual preferences, (2) whether they described themselves as traditional and conservative, and (3) whether they knew a homosexual or not. Sexist attitudes, being more traditional and conservative, and not knowing any homosexual individuals all predicted more negative attitudes toward homosexuality. The correlation between hostile sexism and anti-homosexual attitudes was higher than the correlation between benevolent sexism and anti-homosexual attitudes. In addition, male, as compared to female, respondents were both more sexist and held more negative attitudes toward homosexuality.     

Fear of male homosexuality: cardiac responses of low and high homonegative males

Males with high negative attitudes toward male homosexuality are often referred to in research as homophobics, yet it is unknown whether high homonegative males actually exhibit physiological responses characteristic of phobics. In a series of studies, heart rate was monitored in males with high or low negative attitudes toward male homosexuality as they viewed slides of landscapes and slides depicting explicit sexual activity. If high homonegativity is equivalent to homophobia, high homonegative males should exhibit heart rate acceleration to slides of male-male sexual activity, but, like low homonegative males, deceleration to all other slide types. Significant group effects were obtained only in the pilot study. Examination of individual response patterns in the pilot study and the two subsequent studies showed that high homonegative attitudes were necessary but not sufficient for heart rate acceleration to male-male slides. Results confirm the existence of the phobic type of heart rate acceleratory pattern among some, but not all, high homonegative males.     

Etiology and Attitudes: Beliefs About the Origins of Homosexuality and Their Implications for Public Policy

Using survey data from the 2008 election cycle, this article updates and extends analysis of public attitudes regarding various aspects of homosexuality. Continued expansion of public belief in a biological root to homosexuality is found, and variations in such opinions are explored. Public attitudes toward the emerging issue of gay adoption is also examined, finding both similarities with and important differences from attitudes toward same-sex civil unions, although both are profoundly influenced by underlying attitudes regarding the causes of homosexuality.     

Disease-related stigma: comparing predictors of AIDS and cancer stigma

This study explores the prevalence of AIDS and cancer stigma as influenced by attitude toward homosexuality, religiosity, authoritarianism, and androgyny. This study used a quasi-experimental survey design (N = 485) to examine attitude toward people with AIDS and cancer, and interaction with people with AIDS and cancer. Negative attitudes toward homosexuality, high religious intensity and ideology, high authoritarianism, and low expressive emerged as factors related to more negative attitudes toward people with AIDS and unwillingness to interact with people with AIDS. Attitudes toward people with cancer were generally not related to the variables. Findings explore how to campaign efforts to reduce existing negative attitudes toward AIDS and homosexuality, given that gay men with AIDS are especially stigmatized. Implications and directions for future research are discussed, especially for interventions.     

A Cross-Cultural Study of Attitudes Toward and Beliefs About,Male Homosexuality

This study attempted to compare British and Japanese people's beliefs about the etiolology, manifestations, and changes of male homosexuality. A total of 208 participants completed, in their native language, a three-part questionnaire consisting of 81 items, which covered etiological explanations of homosexuality, general attitudes toward the concept and practice of homosexuality, and efficacy of strategies to change homosexuality. It was hypothesized that Japanese would exhibit more negative beliefs about homosexuality than the British and would tend to favor sociological explanations as possible etiological factors whereas British would prefer biological explanatory models. The Japanese were more unfavorable toward homosexuality, showing more reluctance in contact with homosexuals. However, while British supported biological models, Japanese' attitudes ranged widely from social, biological, to cognitive accounts. Implications for approaches to overcome social stigma in the Japanese society are discussed.     

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) physicians' experiences in the workplace

Little is known about the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) physicians in the workplace. There is little formal education in medical school about LGBT issues, and some heterosexual physicians have negative attitudes about caring for LGBT patients or working with LGBT coworkers, setting the stage for an exclusive and unwelcoming workplace. The current study used an online survey to assess a convenience sample of 427 LGBT physicians from a database of a national LGBT healthcare organization, as well as a snowball sample generated from the members of the database. Although rates of discriminatory behaviors had decreased since earlier reports, 10% reported that they were denied referrals from heterosexual colleagues, 15% had been harassed by a colleague, 22% had been socially ostracized, 65% had heard derogatory comments about LGBT individuals, 34% had witnessed discriminatory care of an LGBT patient, 36% had witnessed disrespect toward an LGBT patient's partner, and 27% had witnessed discriminatory treatment of an LGBT coworker. Few had received any formal education on LGBT issues in medical school or residency. It appears that medical schools and health care workplaces continue to ignore LGBT issues and operate in discriminatory fashion far too often.     

Hirschfeld to Hooker to Herek to High Schools: A Study of the History and Development of GLBT Empirical Research,Institutional Policies,and the Relationship Between the Two

Empirical gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) research has passed through three stages. Transitions between stages have been caused by an interaction of empirical research and institutional policies. The first period is from the late 1800s up to 1972, when research focused on categorizing homosexuality as a disease, treatments for homosexuality, and then research refuting the disease model. The second period ran from 1972 to approximately 1990, when researchers began to apply the disease model not to GLBT persons, but rather to those having negative attitudes toward homosexuality (homophobia), and researchers began to look at what it was like to be a GLBT person from GLBT persons' perspectives. The third period began in the early 1990s and continues today, when researchers focus on institutions, particularly action research aimed at changing institutions.     

Changing homophobic attitudes through college sexuality education

It was hypothesized that a unit on homosexuality (which emphasized role playing and the debunking of myths) in an undergraduate college sexuality course would alter students' homophobic attitudes. A modified version of the Hudson/Ricketts Index of Homophobia was used to measure homophobia. At the completion of the course, for those students in the treatment group with pretest scores above the median, the homophobic scores decreased significantly when compared to the scores of control counterparts. The results of this study also showed that there was no significant difference in homophobia scores at the end of the course for those students in the treatment group with pretest scores below the median when compared to the appropriate controls.     

Exploring Homophobia in Tbilisi,Georgia

The purpose of this study is to determine statistical predictors of homophobic attitudes among the residents of Tbilisi, Georgia. We analyze 2013 survey data from a representative sample of the Tbilisi adult population. Residents were asked about their attitudes, beliefs, and political and social values in the context of the May 17, 2013 attack on LGBT activists on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). Findings show that homophobia is significantly predicted by male gender, lower levels of education, acceptance of social inequality, nonliberal attitudes, and perceiving homosexuals as a “threat to national security.” However, psychological perceptions and personal experiences also indirectly influence homophobic attitudes: the findings suggest that males report homophobic attitudes more often than females do and tend to be even more homophobic when they believe that homosexuality is inborn rather than acquired. The study also found that people without liberal attitudes tend to be more homophobic when they have personal contacts with homosexuals. This article highlights the need for a more comprehensive approach to education and the promotion of liberal values as well as legal equality for LGBTQ individuals to decrease the level of homophobia in Georgian society and, specifically, in Tbilisi.     

Correlates of Homophobic Attitudes in Lebanon: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study

ABSTRACT

To assess homophobic attitudes toward gay and lesbian persons and examine how those negative attitudes contributed to risk factors that may impact gay and lesbian persons among a sample of Lebanese individuals. A cross-sectional study, conducted between March and July 2017, enrolled 400 participants aged between 15 and 80 years. 129 (32.3%) of the participants had severe homophobic attitudes. An increase in intense homophobia would significantly increase the odds of emotion focused engagement and decrease the problem focused engagement (Beta = 1.05 and Beta = ?1.19, respectively). A stepwise linear regression, using the total homophobia score as the dependent variable showed that knowing someone gay (Beta = ?12.97), university education level (Beta = ?14.93), high monthly income (Beta = ?4.33), and higher problem-focused engagement subscale (Beta = ?0.54) would significantly decrease the total homophobic score. Our study supports the prevalence of homophobia among people in Lebanon. Understanding the correlation factors and predict discriminative attitudes can be of great help for policymakers when it comes to approaching the problem of homophobia with evidence-based solutions.