Attitudes of University Students toward Lesbians and Gay Men in Turkey

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of university students in Turkey toward lesbians and gay men. Findings indicate that relatively negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men are prevalent, but attitudes toward lesbians seem to be more positive than attitudes toward gay men. Gender differences directly affect attitudes, and religiosity also has great impact on the attitudes of the students toward lesbians and gay men. An active sex life and liberal attitudes toward premarital relations correlate with more positive attitudes toward homosexual persons. Finally, the data indicate that interpersonal contact with gay men and lesbians is associated with positive attitudes toward homosexuals.     

The symbolic/value-expressive function of outgroup attitudes among homosexuals.

The claim that attitudes toward an outgroup symbolically represent beliefs that the outgroup violates important values was examined through the investigation of the intergroup versus intragroup nature of the relations between a sample of feminist lesbians (primarily involved in the women's movement), gay movement lesbians (primarily involved in the gay movement), and gay men. Consistent with the intergroup relations documented between some feminist women and men, feminist lesbians (compared with gay movement lesbians) had less favorable attitudes toward gay men, associated with fewer gay men, perceived less common fate with gay men, wished to cooperate less with gay men, and perceived less value similarity with gay men. These and other findings suggested that feminist lesbians shared an intergroup relationship with gay men, whereas gay movement lesbians and gay men shared an intragroup relationship. Consistent with the notion that intergroup attitudes symbolically represent beliefs that an outgroup violates important values, feminist lesbians' attitudes toward gay men were explained by their perceptions that gay men placed less importance on values they themselves regarded as important. The implications of these findings for understanding the nature of symbolic attitudes and subsequent research are discussed.     

Working Class Masculinity: Keeping Gay Men and Lesbians out of the Workplace

Recent survey research suggests that heterosexuals’ attitudes toward lesbian and gay rights have become more progressive. However, we find in our research that negative attitudes and barriers against gay men and lesbians in workplaces still remain. Our project represents one case study of hidden animosity toward homosexuals, which varies from “overt disgust” to “don’t ask, don’t tell” policies that reinforce negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. As such, we contend that attitudes toward lesbian and gay rights are not becoming more progressive; instead various methods of discrimination are increasingly being used to exclude gay men and lesbians from the workplace. We argue that White working class men have constructed and maintained a form of White male solidarity, a collective practice directed toward women, People of Color, and non-heterosexuals that maintains racism, sexism, and homophobia in the local, national, and global context.     

The “Making and Unmaking” of Prejudice Against Australian Muslims and Gay Men and Lesbians: The Role of Religious Development and Fundamentalism

Despite the growing international interest in the relation between religion and prejudice, there has been a dearth of studies conducted within Australia. We used the Faith Development Scale (FDS) to examine the relation between religious maturity and attitudes toward Muslims and toward gay men and lesbians in an Australian context using a sample of churchgoers from the Perth metropolitan area (N = 139). Respondents who scored lower on the FDS were more prejudiced toward both target groups than were high scorers. Furthermore, participants who scored lower on the FDS were more prejudiced against gay men and lesbians than they were against Muslim Australians. The FDS was a better predictor of attitudes toward the two groups than was the Quest Scale. Contrary to overseas studies, we found that religious fundamentalists held more prejudiced attitudes toward gay men and lesbians than toward those of a different religion (Australian Muslims). Right-wing political orientation was also found to be predictive of prejudice against Australian Muslims and against gay men and lesbians independently of religious development. Results suggest that religious maturity, as well as fundamentalism and right-wing political views, plays an important role in the “making” or “unmaking” of prejudice against Australian Muslims and against gay men and lesbians. Evidence is presented that suggests that the Quest Scale and the FDS are measuring different aspects of religious development.     

The Effect of Self‐Identified Sexual Orientation on Helping Behavior in a British Sample: Are Lesbians and Gay Men Treated Differently?

In a British sample, the wrong-number technique was used to examine levels of helping behavior shown toward lesbians and gay men. A wrong-number telephone call, from either a man who self-identified as gay or heterosexual, or a woman who self-identified as either lesbian or heterosexual, was made to 232 men and women. The caller requested help by asking the respondent to relay a message to his or her partner by telephone. As predicted, lesbians and gay men were less likely to be given help than were their same-gender heterosexual counterparts. However, lesbians were given a similar amount of help as were heterosexual men. Male participants were less likely to give help to gay men than to lesbians, but female participants were no less likely to help lesbians than gay men. The results suggest that, although lesbians and gay men meet discrimination in everyday life, the level of discrimination may differ.     

Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbians Among Heterosexual Male and Female Student-Athletes

The purpose of this study was to explore attitudes toward lesbians and gay men among 371 heterosexual male and female collegiate student-athletes in the USA. Attitudes were assessed in relationship to the student-athletes’ gender, sport and contact. Participants completed a demographic form and the Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men (ATLG-S) Scale (Herek in Journal of Homosexuality 10:39–51, 1984, Journal of Sex Research 25:451–477, 1988). Male student-athletes were significantly more negative in their attitudes toward gay men and lesbians than females. With the exception of field hockey, there were no significant differences in the attitudes toward gay men and lesbians for student-athletes competing on different sport teams. Lastly, student-athletes that indicated having contact with gay men and/or lesbians had significantly more positive attitudes toward gay men and lesbians.     

The relation between gender and negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians: Do gender role attitudes mediate this relation?

This study examined whether traditional gender role attitudes mediated the relation between gender and negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. One hundred and fifty-five heterosexual college students (59% female; 97% Caucasian) completed questionnaires that assessed their attitudes toward gay men and lesbians and their gender role attitudes. Although males reported more negative attitudes toward gay men than females, there were no gender differences in attitudes toward lesbians. Traditional gender role attitudes mediated the relation between gender and attitudes toward gay men. These findings suggest that attitudes toward gay men are more strongly related to gender role attitudes than to gender.The authors express their appreciation to Larry Kurdek and Gregory Herek for their helpful input in the early stages of this study and to Larry Kurdek for reviewing an earlier draft of this article.     

Attitudes of Master's‐Level Counseling Students Toward Gay Men and Lesbians

The authors examined variables that could be predictive of attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. A survey was conducted with 132 counselors‐in‐training in a program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (2001). Participants attended a medium‐size, regional university in the southwestern portion of the United States. Religiosity, political views, and previous experience with lesbians were the strongest predictors of attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Future research ideas and implications for counselor education programs are discussed.     

Heterosexual Allies? Understanding Heterosexuals’ Alliance with the Gay Community

Prevailing wisdom is that increased visibility of gay men and lesbians reduces levels of sexual prejudice, but less is known about who is more likely to ally with the gay community and how interaction with the gay community influences attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Using data from 873 heterosexual college students in the US, we examine how alliance with the gay community, a typology which combines measures of personal contact and community contact, relates to attitudes towards gay men and lesbians. Membership in each alliance category differed by gender, race/ethnicity, size of place, traditional gender role and authoritarian attitudes, religiosity, and political conservatism. Approximately one-third of the sample are allies of the gay community with both personal contact and community contact and lower levels of sexual prejudice. By contrast, another 30 % of the sample has no contact (personal or community) and higher levels of sexual prejudice toward the gay community. We conclude that more complex models of heterosexual contact with gay community are more useful than dichotomous models for understanding differences in attitudes towards gay men and lesbians.     

Aspects of Homophobia in Italian High Schools: Students' Attitudes and Perceptions of School Climate

This study investigated Italian high school students' negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians and their exposure to aspects of homophobia in their schools. Female students viewed gay men and lesbians in similar ways. Male students, on the other hand, held more negative attitudes toward gay men than toward lesbians. Participants reported widespread experiences of homophobic behaviors in their schools, especially verbal abuse. Students' perceptions of a homophobic school climate and respondent sex predicted homophobic attitudes among participants. Homophobic school climate mediated the relationship between respondent sex (male) and homophobia against gay men.     

Countries with Greater Gender Equality Have More Positive Attitudes and Laws Concerning Lesbians and Gay Men

Social scientists have long discussed and empirically demonstrated how attitudes toward lesbians and gay men are determined in part by sexism and endorsement of gender roles, but only at the psychological level of analysis. We present data that considers these relationships at the cross-national level of analysis, using country-level measures of gender equality (the Gender Global Gap Index), aggregate measures of attitudes toward lesbians and gay men in a country, and a newly constructed measure of the progressiveness of sexual orientation laws. We show for the first time to our knowledge that countries that have the greatest gender equality also have (a) the most positive aggregate attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and (b) the strongest legislative protections for lesbians and gay men. These results hold even when controlling for plausible third variables such as a country’s level of religiosity and its economic and political development, each with their own separate effects. We discuss the results within the context of the various forces that contribute to, and work against, ensuring more accepting attitudes of, and equal rights for, lesbians and gay men. In conclusion, to fully understand support for lesbians and gay men and the laws that protect them, one should also consider how women are treated in a country.     

The Nature of Attitude

ABSTRACT

Previous research has shown that acute alcohol consumption is associated with negative responses toward outgroup members such as sexual minorities. However, simple alcohol cue exposure without actually consuming alcohol also influences social behavior. Hence, it was reasoned that priming participants with words related to alcohol (relative to neutral words) would promote prejudiced attitudes toward sexual minorities. In fact, an experiment showed that alcohol cue exposure causally led to more negative implicit attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. In contrast, participants’ explicit attitudes were relatively unaffected by the priming manipulation. Moreover, participants’ typical alcohol use was not related to their attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. In sum, it appears that not only acute alcohol consumption but also the simple exposure of alcohol cues may promote negative views toward lesbians and gay men.     

Religiosity and Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men: A Meta-Analysis

Meta-analysis was used to examine the relationships between seven forms of religiosity (fundamentalism; frequency of attendance at religious services; endorsement of Christian orthodoxy; self-ratings of religiosity; and intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest orientations) and attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. All forms of religiosity except quest and extrinsic orientation had at least small negative relationships with these attitudes. Higher quest orientation was related to positive attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and extrinsic orientation had no relationship to these attitudes. In contrast, most forms of religiosity had small relationships with positive racial/ethnic attitudes; the exceptions were fundamentalism and extrinsic orientation, which had small negative relationships with racial/ethnic attitudes. A number of moderator variables of the relationship between religiosity and attitudes toward lesbians and gay men were identified.     

Differences in African American and White Women’s Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men

The aim of the present study was to examine racial differences in women’s attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and to offer an understanding of these differences. Participants were 224 18–30 year old heterosexual African American (64%) and White (36%) female undergraduates from a large urban university in the southeastern United States. Participants completed measures of social demographics, sexual orientation, and sexual prejudice. Results showed that African American, relative to White, women endorsed more negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Also, unlike White women, African American women reported more negative attitudes toward gay men than lesbians. Implications are discussed regarding differences in cultural contexts that exist between African American and White women.     

Gender Role Beliefs and Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men in Chile and the U.S.

We compared the relationship between gender role beliefs and antigay prejudice in Chile and the United States. Participants were Chilean and American university students. In Study 1, Chileans were more prejudiced than Americans, and men were more prejudiced than women. In Study 2, gender role beliefs mediated cultural and sex differences in prejudice. Chileans held more traditional gender role beliefs and were more antigay than Americans. Men were more prejudiced than women, particularly in their attitudes toward gay men. Further, sex differences in attitudes toward lesbians and gay men were completely mediated by gender role beliefs. Nationality differences in attitudes toward lesbians were completely mediated, and nationality differences in attitudes toward gay men were partially mediated, by gender role beliefs.     

Antecedents and Potential Moderators of the Relationship Between Attitudes and Hiring Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation

A sample of 236 undergraduates (most of whom were White women) rated resumes in which gender, masculinity/femininity, and sexual orientation were manipulated while qualifications were kept constant. Overall, participants rated lesbian and gay male applicants less positively than heterosexual male applicants, but more positively than heterosexual women. Religiosity, beliefs in traditional gender roles, beliefs in the controllability of homosexuality, and previous contact with lesbians and gay men were related to attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, which was in turn related to beliefs about employing them. Several factors were hypothesized to moderate the relationship between beliefs about employing lesbians and gay men and discrimination, although the expected relationships were not found. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Victim-blaming tendency toward people with AIDS among college students.

The victim-blaming tendency toward people with AIDS was examined in relation to gender, fraternity-sorority affiliation, classification (freshmen vs. others), religion (Catholic vs. others), and academic major (business college vs. others) in a survey of 818 students at a midwestern state university in the United States. Desired social distance from gay men and lesbians, the intervening variable in these relations, significantly mediated the indirect effect of fraternity-sorority affiliation, classification, and gender on the victim-blaming tendency. Gender and desired social distance were found to be significant direct determinants of the victim-blaming tendency toward people with AIDS. The study suggests that attitudes toward gay men and lesbians must change if attitudes toward people with AIDS are to change.     

Turkish Family Members’ Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men

This study examined familial patterns of attitudes toward lesbians (AT-Lesbians) and toward gay men (AT-Gay) by using Herek’s (1998) short-form of AT-Lesbian and AT-Gay scales. The participants were 116 college students (47 males, 69 females) and their parents (116 mothers, 116 fathers) located in the West Anatolian region of Turkey. Results point to significant differences between parents and their daughters, but not between parents and their sons. Fathers expressed relatively negative attitudes toward gay men, whereas mothers’ expressed similar attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Sons’ attitudes did not differ significantly across attitude targets, whereas daughters expressed relatively negative attitudes toward lesbians. Maternal attitudes appeared to be the most effective predictor for young childrens’ attitudes toward lesbians and gay men.     

The Gender Belief System,Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation,and Heterosexuals' Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men

We tested hypotheses drawn from three theoretical perspectives—gender belief system, authoritarianism, and social dominance—concerning heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Data from 122 male and 131 female heterosexual college students with mostly White, middle-class backgrounds indicated that constructs postulated by all three perspectives played important roles in predicting attitudes: Gender differences in attitudes toward lesbians and gay men were mediated by social dominance orientation and gender-role beliefs, indicating that gender role beliefs may act as legitimizing myths to justify antigay attitudes. Authoritarianism had both a direct relationship to attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and an indirect relationship mediated by gender-role beliefs.     

Gender differences in attitudes toward gay men and lesbians: the role of motivation to respond without prejudice

Research has uncovered consistent gender differences in attitudes toward gay men, with women expressing less prejudice than men (Herek, 2003). Attitudes toward lesbians generally show a similar pattern, but to a weaker extent. The present work demonstrated that motivation to respond without prejudice importantly contributes to these divergent attitudes. Study 1 revealed that women evince higher internal motivation to respond without prejudice (IMS, Plant & Devine, 1998) than do men and that this difference partially mediates the relationship between gender and attitudes toward gay men. The second study replicated this finding and demonstrated that IMS mediates the relationship between gender and attitudes toward lesbians. Study 2 further revealed that gender-role variables contribute to the observed gender differences in motivation to respond without prejudice. These findings provide new insights into the nature of sexual prejudice and for the first time point to possible antecedents of variation in motivation to respond without prejudice.