Sex differences in sexual prejudice. Contact as mediator variable
Sex differences in sexual prejudice. Contact as mediator variable
Main Article Content
Abstract
The present article analyzes the relationship between sex and nationality and prejudice toward gay men and lesbians and the rejection of same-sex parents in Spain and Chile. Participants were university students (N=491). Results indicate that men are more prejudiced than women, and the Chilean participants report more prejudice than the Spanish participants. In addition, sex differences in attitudes toward lesbians and gay men and differences by nationality are mediated by the contact variable. Nationality differences in attitudes same-sex parents (normative opposition scale) were fully mediated. Findings from this study suggest that contact may explain the link between sex differences and sexual prejudice. This subscale operationalizes the construct of heterosexism towards families with same-sex parents, and it is quite difficult to intervene in this social construct to reduce the prejudice. Findings of this study may have important implications for reducing sexual prejudice. Knowing, interacting and fostering relationships between the members of the outgroup and the ingroup can reduce differences due to sex and nationality.
References
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Allport, G.W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Boston: Beacon Press.
Baron R.M. & Kenny, D.A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173.
Barrientos, J., Cardenas, M., Gomez, F. & Frías-Navarro, D. (2012) Assessing the dimensionality
of Beliefs about Children?s Adjustment in Same-Sex Families Scale (BCASSFS) in Chile. Sexuality and Social Policy, 10, 43-51. doi:10.1007=s13178-012-0107-0.
Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional (2013). Ley núm. 20.609. [Law n° 20.609] Retrieved July 22, 2013 from: http://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1042092
Cardenas, M. & Barrientos, J. (2008). The attitudes toward lesbians and gay men scale (ATLG):
adaptation and testing the reliability and validity in Chile. Journal of Sex Research, 45, 140-149. doi.org/10.1080/00224490801987424
Cirako?lu, O.C. (2006). Perception of homosexuality among Turkish university students: the roles of labels, gender, and prior contact. Journal of Social Psychology, 146, 293-305. doi:10.3200/SOCP.146.3.293-305
Collier, K.L., Bos, H.M.W. & Sandfort, T.G.M. (2012). Intergroup contact, attitudes toward homosexuality, and the role of acceptance of gender non-conformity in young adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 899-907. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.12.010
Cooley, J J. & Burkholder, G.J. (2011). Using Video and Contact to Change Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbians. Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, 5, 83-90. doi:
10.5590/JSBHS.2011.05.1.08
Curran, P.J., West, S.G. & Finch, J. (1996). The robustness of test statistics to nonnormality and specification error in confirmatory factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 1, 16-29. doi:10.1037=1082-989X.1.1.16
D?Augelli, A.R. (1989). Lesbians? and gay men?s experiences of discrimination and harassment in a university community. American Journal of Community Psychology, 17, 317-321. doi: 10.1007/BF00931039
D'Augelli, A.R. & Rose, M.L. (1990). Homophobia in a university community: Attitudes and experiences of heterosexual freshman. Journal of College Student Development, 31, 484491.
Ellis, S.J., Kitzinger, C. & Wilkinson, S. (2002). Attitudes towards lesbians and gay men and support for human rights among psychology students. Journal of Homosexuality, 44, 121-138. doi: 10.1300/J082v44n01_07.
Frías-Navarro, D. (2009). Beliefs About Children?s Adjustment in Same- Sex Families Scale
(BCASSFS). University of Valencia, Spain. Retrieved from http://www.uv.es/friasnav/Scale_Items14.pdf
Frías-Navarro, D. (2011). Técnica estadística y diseño de investigación [Technical statistics and research design]. Valencia (Spain): Palmero Ediciones
Frías-Navarro, D. & Monterde-i-Bort, H. (2012) A Scale on Beliefs about Children's Adjustment in Same-Sex Families: Reliability and Validity. Journal of Homosexuality, 59, 12731288. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2012.720505.
Frías-Navarro, D., Monterde-i-Bort, H., Pascual-Soler, M. & Badenes-Ribera, L. (2013). Etiology of homosexuality and attitudes toward same-sex parenting: Results from a randomized study. Journal of Sex Research. In press. doi: 10.1080/00224499.2013.802757.
Gentry, C.S. (1987). Social distance regarding male and female homosexuals. Journal of Social Psychology, 127, 199-208. doi: 10.1080/00224545.1987.9713680.
Heinze, J.E. & Horn, S.S. (2009). Intergroup contact and beliefs about homosexuality in Adolescence. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 38, 937-951. doi:10.1007/s10964-0099408-x
Herek, G.M. (1984). Attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: A factor-analytic study. Journal of Homosexuality, 10, 39-51. http://dx.doi:.org/10.1300/J082v10n01_03
Herek, G.M. (1988). Heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: Correlates and gender differences. Journal of Sex Research, 25, 451-477. http://dx.doi:.org/10.1080/00224498809551476
Herek, G.M. (1994). Assessing heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: A review of empirical research with the ATLG scale. En B. Greene y G.M. Herek (Eds.), Lesbian and gay psychology: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 206-228). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Herek, G.M. (2000). The psychology of sexual prejudice. Current Directions in Psychological Sciences, 9, 19-22. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.00051
Herek, G.M. (2002). Gender gaps in public opinion about lesbians and gay men. Public Opinion Quarterly, 66, 40-66. doi: 10.1086/338409
Herek, G.M. & Capitanio, J. (1996). Some of my best friends: intergroup contact, concealable
stigma, and heterosexuals? attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 412-424. doi:10.1177/0146167296224007
Hinrichs, D. & Rosenberg, P. (2002). Attitudes toward gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons among heterosexual liberal art college students. Journal of Homosexuality, 43, 61-84. doi: 10.1300/J082v43n01_04.
Judd, C.M. & Kenny, D.A. (1981). Estimating the effects for social intervention. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Kerns, J.G. & Fine, M.A. (1994). The relation between gender and negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians: Do gender role attitudes mediate this relation? Sex Roles, 31, 297-307. doi: 10.1007/BF01544590
King, B. & Black, K. (1999). Extent of relational stigmatization of lesbian and their children by heterosexual collage students. Journal of Homosexuality, 37, 65-81. doi: 10.1300/J082v37n02_04
Kite, M.E. (1984). Sex differences in attitudes toward homosexuals: A meta-analysis review. Journal of Homosexuality, 10(1-2), 69-81.
Kite, M.E. (1992). Individual differences in males? reactions to gay males and lesbians. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 22, 1222-1239. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1992.tb02362.x
Kite, M.E. (1994). When perceptions meet reality: Individual differences in reactions to lesbians and gay men. In B. Greene, Beverly and G.M. Herek (Eds), Lesbian and gay psychology: Theory, research, and clinical applications. Psychological perspectives on lesbian and gay issues, Vol. 1 (pp. 25-53). Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications.
Kite, M.E. & Whitley Jr., B.E. (1996). Sex differences in attitudes toward homosexual persons, behaviors, and civil rights: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 336-353. doi:10.1177/0146167296224002.
LaMar, L., & Kite, M. (1998). Sex differences in attitudes toward gay men and lesbians: A multidimensional perspective. Journal of Sex Research, 35, 189-196. doi: 10.1080/00224499809551932.
Lehavot, K. & Lambert, A.J. (2007). Toward a greater understanding of antigay prejudice: On the role of sexual orientation and gender role violation. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 29, 3, 279-292. doi: 10.1080/01973530701503390
Lim, V.K. (2002). Gender differences and attitudes towards homosexuality. Journal of Homosexuality, 43, 85-97. doi: 10.1300/J082v43n01_05.
Lingiardi, V., Falanga, S. & D?Augelli, A. (2005). The evaluation of homophobia in an Italian sample. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 34, 81-93. doi: 10.1007/s10508-005-1002-z.
MacKinnon, D.P. & Dwyer, J.H. (1993). Estimating mediated effects in prevention studies. Evaluation Review, 17, 144-158. doi: 10.1177/0193841X9301700202.
Mazziotta, A., Mummendey, A. & Wright, S. (2011). Vicarious intergroup contact effects: Applying social-cognitive theory to intergroup contact research. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 14, 255-274. doi: 10.1177/1368430210390533.
Monterde-i-Bort Pascual-Llobell, J. & Frias-Navarro, D. (2006). Interpretation mistakes in statistical methods: Their importance and some recommendations. Psicothema, 18, 848856.
Moskowitz, D.A., Rieger, G. & Roloff, M.E. (2010). Heterosexual attitudes toward same-sex marriage. Journal of Homosexuality, 57, 325-336. doi: 10.1080/00918360903489176.
Navarro, M.D.F., Llobell, J.P. & Perez, J.F.G. (2000). Effect size and statistical significance. Psicothema, 12, 236-240.
Nierman, A.J., Thompson, S.C., Bryan, A. & Mahaffey, A.L. (2007). Gender role beliefs and attitudes towards lesbians and gay men in Chile and the U.S. Sex Roles, 57, 61-67. doi:
10.1007/s11199-007-9197-1.
Pew Research Center (2013) The Global Divide on Homosexuality. Greater Acceptance in More
Secular and Affluent Countries. Retrieved from
http://www.pewglobal.org/files/2013/06/Pew-Global-Attitudes-Homosexuality-ReportFINAL-JUNE-4-2013.pdf
Raja, S. & Stokes, J.P. (1998). Assessing attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: The Modern Homophobia Scale. Journal of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Identity, 3, 113-134. doi:10.1023/A:1023244427281.
Rhoads, R.A. (1995). Learning from the coming-out experiences of college males. Journal of College Student Development, 36, 67-74.
Sanford, M. & Engstrom, C.M. (1995). Attitudes toward gay and lesbian students: An investigation of resident advisors. Journal of College and University Student Housing, 25, 26-30.
Schellenberg, E.G., Hirt, J. & Sears, A. (1999). Attitudes toward homosexuals among students at a Canadian university. Sex Roles, 40, 139-152. doi: 10.1023/A:1018838602905
Simoni, J.M. (1996). Pathways to prejudice: Predicting students? heterosexist attitudes with demographics, self-esteem, and contact with lesbians and gay men. Journal of College Student Development, 37, 68-78.
Smith, S.J., Axelton, A.M. & Saucier, D.A. (2009). The effects of contact on sexual prejudice: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles, 61, 178-191. doi:10.1007/s11199–009-9627–3
Sobel, M.E. (1982). Asymptotic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equation models. In S. Leinhardt (Ed.), Sociological Methodology (pp. 290-312). Washington DC: American Sociological Association.
Whitley, B.E. (1988). Sex differences in heterosexuals? attitudes toward homosexuals: It depends upon what you ask. Journal of Sex Research, 24, 287-291. doi: 10.1080/00224498809551426
Yarber, W.L. & Lee, B. (1983). Heterosexuals? attitudes toward lesbians and male homosexuality: Their affective orientation toward sexuality and sex guilt. Journal of College Health, 31, 203-208. doi: 10.1080/07448481.1983.9939558.
Allport, G.W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Boston: Beacon Press.
Baron R.M. & Kenny, D.A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173.
Barrientos, J., Cardenas, M., Gomez, F. & Frías-Navarro, D. (2012) Assessing the dimensionality
of Beliefs about Children?s Adjustment in Same-Sex Families Scale (BCASSFS) in Chile. Sexuality and Social Policy, 10, 43-51. doi:10.1007=s13178-012-0107-0.
Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional (2013). Ley núm. 20.609. [Law n° 20.609] Retrieved July 22, 2013 from: http://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1042092
Cardenas, M. & Barrientos, J. (2008). The attitudes toward lesbians and gay men scale (ATLG):
adaptation and testing the reliability and validity in Chile. Journal of Sex Research, 45, 140-149. doi.org/10.1080/00224490801987424
Cirako?lu, O.C. (2006). Perception of homosexuality among Turkish university students: the roles of labels, gender, and prior contact. Journal of Social Psychology, 146, 293-305. doi:10.3200/SOCP.146.3.293-305
Collier, K.L., Bos, H.M.W. & Sandfort, T.G.M. (2012). Intergroup contact, attitudes toward homosexuality, and the role of acceptance of gender non-conformity in young adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 899-907. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.12.010
Cooley, J J. & Burkholder, G.J. (2011). Using Video and Contact to Change Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbians. Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, 5, 83-90. doi:
10.5590/JSBHS.2011.05.1.08
Curran, P.J., West, S.G. & Finch, J. (1996). The robustness of test statistics to nonnormality and specification error in confirmatory factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 1, 16-29. doi:10.1037=1082-989X.1.1.16
D?Augelli, A.R. (1989). Lesbians? and gay men?s experiences of discrimination and harassment in a university community. American Journal of Community Psychology, 17, 317-321. doi: 10.1007/BF00931039
D'Augelli, A.R. & Rose, M.L. (1990). Homophobia in a university community: Attitudes and experiences of heterosexual freshman. Journal of College Student Development, 31, 484491.
Ellis, S.J., Kitzinger, C. & Wilkinson, S. (2002). Attitudes towards lesbians and gay men and support for human rights among psychology students. Journal of Homosexuality, 44, 121-138. doi: 10.1300/J082v44n01_07.
Frías-Navarro, D. (2009). Beliefs About Children?s Adjustment in Same- Sex Families Scale
(BCASSFS). University of Valencia, Spain. Retrieved from http://www.uv.es/friasnav/Scale_Items14.pdf
Frías-Navarro, D. (2011). Técnica estadística y diseño de investigación [Technical statistics and research design]. Valencia (Spain): Palmero Ediciones
Frías-Navarro, D. & Monterde-i-Bort, H. (2012) A Scale on Beliefs about Children's Adjustment in Same-Sex Families: Reliability and Validity. Journal of Homosexuality, 59, 12731288. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2012.720505.
Frías-Navarro, D., Monterde-i-Bort, H., Pascual-Soler, M. & Badenes-Ribera, L. (2013). Etiology of homosexuality and attitudes toward same-sex parenting: Results from a randomized study. Journal of Sex Research. In press. doi: 10.1080/00224499.2013.802757.
Gentry, C.S. (1987). Social distance regarding male and female homosexuals. Journal of Social Psychology, 127, 199-208. doi: 10.1080/00224545.1987.9713680.
Heinze, J.E. & Horn, S.S. (2009). Intergroup contact and beliefs about homosexuality in Adolescence. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 38, 937-951. doi:10.1007/s10964-0099408-x
Herek, G.M. (1984). Attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: A factor-analytic study. Journal of Homosexuality, 10, 39-51. http://dx.doi:.org/10.1300/J082v10n01_03
Herek, G.M. (1988). Heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: Correlates and gender differences. Journal of Sex Research, 25, 451-477. http://dx.doi:.org/10.1080/00224498809551476
Herek, G.M. (1994). Assessing heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: A review of empirical research with the ATLG scale. En B. Greene y G.M. Herek (Eds.), Lesbian and gay psychology: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 206-228). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Herek, G.M. (2000). The psychology of sexual prejudice. Current Directions in Psychological Sciences, 9, 19-22. doi:10.1111/1467-8721.00051
Herek, G.M. (2002). Gender gaps in public opinion about lesbians and gay men. Public Opinion Quarterly, 66, 40-66. doi: 10.1086/338409
Herek, G.M. & Capitanio, J. (1996). Some of my best friends: intergroup contact, concealable
stigma, and heterosexuals? attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 412-424. doi:10.1177/0146167296224007
Hinrichs, D. & Rosenberg, P. (2002). Attitudes toward gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons among heterosexual liberal art college students. Journal of Homosexuality, 43, 61-84. doi: 10.1300/J082v43n01_04.
Judd, C.M. & Kenny, D.A. (1981). Estimating the effects for social intervention. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Kerns, J.G. & Fine, M.A. (1994). The relation between gender and negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians: Do gender role attitudes mediate this relation? Sex Roles, 31, 297-307. doi: 10.1007/BF01544590
King, B. & Black, K. (1999). Extent of relational stigmatization of lesbian and their children by heterosexual collage students. Journal of Homosexuality, 37, 65-81. doi: 10.1300/J082v37n02_04
Kite, M.E. (1984). Sex differences in attitudes toward homosexuals: A meta-analysis review. Journal of Homosexuality, 10(1-2), 69-81.
Kite, M.E. (1992). Individual differences in males? reactions to gay males and lesbians. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 22, 1222-1239. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1992.tb02362.x
Kite, M.E. (1994). When perceptions meet reality: Individual differences in reactions to lesbians and gay men. In B. Greene, Beverly and G.M. Herek (Eds), Lesbian and gay psychology: Theory, research, and clinical applications. Psychological perspectives on lesbian and gay issues, Vol. 1 (pp. 25-53). Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications.
Kite, M.E. & Whitley Jr., B.E. (1996). Sex differences in attitudes toward homosexual persons, behaviors, and civil rights: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 336-353. doi:10.1177/0146167296224002.
LaMar, L., & Kite, M. (1998). Sex differences in attitudes toward gay men and lesbians: A multidimensional perspective. Journal of Sex Research, 35, 189-196. doi: 10.1080/00224499809551932.
Lehavot, K. & Lambert, A.J. (2007). Toward a greater understanding of antigay prejudice: On the role of sexual orientation and gender role violation. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 29, 3, 279-292. doi: 10.1080/01973530701503390
Lim, V.K. (2002). Gender differences and attitudes towards homosexuality. Journal of Homosexuality, 43, 85-97. doi: 10.1300/J082v43n01_05.
Lingiardi, V., Falanga, S. & D?Augelli, A. (2005). The evaluation of homophobia in an Italian sample. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 34, 81-93. doi: 10.1007/s10508-005-1002-z.
MacKinnon, D.P. & Dwyer, J.H. (1993). Estimating mediated effects in prevention studies. Evaluation Review, 17, 144-158. doi: 10.1177/0193841X9301700202.
Mazziotta, A., Mummendey, A. & Wright, S. (2011). Vicarious intergroup contact effects: Applying social-cognitive theory to intergroup contact research. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 14, 255-274. doi: 10.1177/1368430210390533.
Monterde-i-Bort Pascual-Llobell, J. & Frias-Navarro, D. (2006). Interpretation mistakes in statistical methods: Their importance and some recommendations. Psicothema, 18, 848856.
Moskowitz, D.A., Rieger, G. & Roloff, M.E. (2010). Heterosexual attitudes toward same-sex marriage. Journal of Homosexuality, 57, 325-336. doi: 10.1080/00918360903489176.
Navarro, M.D.F., Llobell, J.P. & Perez, J.F.G. (2000). Effect size and statistical significance. Psicothema, 12, 236-240.
Nierman, A.J., Thompson, S.C., Bryan, A. & Mahaffey, A.L. (2007). Gender role beliefs and attitudes towards lesbians and gay men in Chile and the U.S. Sex Roles, 57, 61-67. doi:
10.1007/s11199-007-9197-1.
Pew Research Center (2013) The Global Divide on Homosexuality. Greater Acceptance in More
Secular and Affluent Countries. Retrieved from
http://www.pewglobal.org/files/2013/06/Pew-Global-Attitudes-Homosexuality-ReportFINAL-JUNE-4-2013.pdf
Raja, S. & Stokes, J.P. (1998). Assessing attitudes toward lesbians and gay men: The Modern Homophobia Scale. Journal of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Identity, 3, 113-134. doi:10.1023/A:1023244427281.
Rhoads, R.A. (1995). Learning from the coming-out experiences of college males. Journal of College Student Development, 36, 67-74.
Sanford, M. & Engstrom, C.M. (1995). Attitudes toward gay and lesbian students: An investigation of resident advisors. Journal of College and University Student Housing, 25, 26-30.
Schellenberg, E.G., Hirt, J. & Sears, A. (1999). Attitudes toward homosexuals among students at a Canadian university. Sex Roles, 40, 139-152. doi: 10.1023/A:1018838602905
Simoni, J.M. (1996). Pathways to prejudice: Predicting students? heterosexist attitudes with demographics, self-esteem, and contact with lesbians and gay men. Journal of College Student Development, 37, 68-78.
Smith, S.J., Axelton, A.M. & Saucier, D.A. (2009). The effects of contact on sexual prejudice: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles, 61, 178-191. doi:10.1007/s11199–009-9627–3
Sobel, M.E. (1982). Asymptotic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equation models. In S. Leinhardt (Ed.), Sociological Methodology (pp. 290-312). Washington DC: American Sociological Association.
Whitley, B.E. (1988). Sex differences in heterosexuals? attitudes toward homosexuals: It depends upon what you ask. Journal of Sex Research, 24, 287-291. doi: 10.1080/00224498809551426
Yarber, W.L. & Lee, B. (1983). Heterosexuals? attitudes toward lesbians and male homosexuality: Their affective orientation toward sexuality and sex guilt. Journal of College Health, 31, 203-208. doi: 10.1080/07448481.1983.9939558.