Homophobia as a Boundary Phenomenon: The Dynamic Dance Between Different Tensions

From the commentaries presented in this issue, the main goal of this reply is to improve the analysis of homophobia as a boundary phenomenon of affective meaning-making, a collective historical–cultural construction. According to dialectical philosophical tradition, the notion of tension of opposites united within the same whole is a central notion that assumes an important role in the studies of meaning-making processes (Josephs and Valsiner, Social Psychology Quarterly, 61(1):68–83, 1998). Therefore, this paper intends to analyze homophobia issues from the dynamic dance between different tensions: (a) the tension between the general and the particular; (b) the tension between the HEIMWEH and the FERNWEH processes; and (c) the tension between stability and change. Presented in the conclusion are some suggestions for future approaches about homophobia that could be advanced within the general area of cultural psychology.