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.     

Impact of mental health on perception of relationship satisfaction and quality among female same-sex couples

Using data from both partners in female same-sex couples, individual and dyadic (individual/actor-partner) level analyses were conducted to determine the associations between couple members' global mental health, internalized homophobia, and perceptions of relationship qualities and satisfaction (N = 90). Findings at the dyadic level indicated that an individual's global mental health was uniquely associated with her partner's assessment of relationship satisfaction and qualities, beyond the effects of the individual's own mental health and internalized homophobia. Implications for further research on the strengths and challenges within female same-sex couple relationships are discussed.     

Children's and adolescents’ conversations with mothers about offenders’ and victims’ responsibility for harm in their experiences of being hurt by a peer

This study investigated mothers’ and children's constructions of meaning about responsibility for harm in conversations about two experiences when children were hurt by a peer and felt they had either contributed or not contributed to the situation. The sample included 105 Canadian mothers (75% White) and their children (53 girls, 52 boys) across three age groups (M ages = 6.92, 11.14, 15.89 years). Overall, mothers and children emphasized different aspects of responsibility; mothers made more evaluations of acts and discussed the avoidability of harm whereas children referred more to hurtful acts, consequences, reasons, and subsequent responses. Discussions of the child's and peer's responsibility were responsive to the child's perspective on events. The child's responsibility for self-protection was particularly emphasized by mothers and when the child felt they had not contributed to the situation. Children more often mitigated their responsibility as compared to their mothers, and older children referred more to their own and their peer's responsibility for harm. Findings illuminate how conversations with mothers may inform children's judgments of their own and others’ roles in peer conflict.     

Queering Climate Change: Exploring the Influence of LGBTQ+ Identity on Climate Change Belief and Risk Perceptions*

Although researchers have broadly addressed how race, party identification, political ideology, and binary gender categories influence climate change opinions, little attention has been paid to the relationship between sexuality and gender variance (LGBTQ+ identity broadly) and climate change perceptions. Using a quota-based survey from 2022 that approximates the US population on key demographic characteristics and oversamples LGBTQ+ individuals, we assess the degree to which LGBTQ+ individuals' climate change beliefs and risk perceptions are comparable to cisgender, heterosexual (cishet) individuals, specifically examining climate change beliefs, the perceived threat climate change poses, and worry about climate change. We argue that LGBTQ+ individuals' views are likely to be distinct from their cisgender heterosexual (cishet) counterparts for three reasons: climate change is likely to exacerbate existing structural inequalities, create disaster responses that reinforce heteronormative and discriminatory patterns, and activate LGBTQ+ political culture. We find evidence that LGBTQ+ individuals express higher agreement with climate change beliefs, identify climate change as a greater threat, and worry more about climate change when compared to their cishet counterparts.