Girlie men
The Coalitional Value Theory of Antigay Bias
Bo Winegard et al.
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, forthcoming
Abstract:
Research indicates that antigay bias follows a specific pattern (and probably has throughout written history, at least in the West): (a) men evince more antigay bias than women; (b) men who belong to traditionally male coalitions evince more antigay bias than those who do not; (c) antigay bias is targeted more at gay men than at lesbians; and (d) antigay bias is targeted more at effeminate gay men than at masculine gay men. We propose the coalitional value theory (CVT) of antigay bias to explain this pattern. The CVT argues that men evolved psychological systems to facilitate coalitional formation and regulation and that these systems may lead to antigay bias because men perceive gay men as possessing lower coalitional value for traditionally male coalitions. We tested the CVT in 4 studies. In Study 1, gay men were perceived as less masculine than straight men and as less competent at traditionally masculine activities. In Studies 2 and 3, masculine gay men were rated as more competent than and chosen over feminine straight men in traditionally masculine activities. In Study 4, actual coalitional contribution predicted men's perceptions of other men's derogation more than did sexual orientation. We also found that men's preferences for masculinity diminished in nontraditionally masculine tasks such as poetry, suggesting that men's assessments are contingent upon the nature of the task. This offers a possible palliative for antigay bias: coalitional pluralism, which we discuss.
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Wedding Imagery and Public Support for Gay Marriage
Paul Brewer, David Wilson & Michael Habegger
Journal of Homosexuality, August 2016, Pages 1041-1051
Abstract:
This study uses an experiment embedded in a large, nationally representative survey to test whether exposure to imagery of a gay or lesbian couple's wedding influences support for gay marriage. It also tests whether any such effects depend on the nature of the image (gay or lesbian couple, kissing or not) and viewer characteristics (sex, age, race, education, religion, and ideology). Results show that exposure to imagery of a gay couple kissing reduced support for gay marriage relative to the baseline. Other image treatments (gay couple not kissing, lesbian couple kissing, lesbian couple not kissing) did not significantly influence opinion.
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Marlon Mooijman & Chadly Stern
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, June 2016, Pages 738-754
Abstract:
Taking another person's perspective has generally been found to foster positive attitudes. We propose that perspective taking can lead to more negative attitudes when people imagine an experience that threatens their current motivations and goals. We test this idea by examining how taking the perspective of a male same-sex couple influences political conservatives' attitudes. Across four studies, we demonstrate that (a) the extent to which conservatives (but not liberals) imagine same-sex sexual behavior predicts more anti-gay attitudes, (b) this effect is in part attributable to conservatives experiencing greater disgust, and (c) having conservatives reappraise disgust as not necessarily signaling the threat of disease eliminates this effect. These findings indicate that perspective taking can foster negative attitudes when the content of perspective taking threatens current motivations. The proposed ideas provide unique insights toward developing a more comprehensive framework of how perspective taking shapes attitudes.
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How Gender Affects Heterosexual Allies' Intentions of Confronting Sexual Prejudice
Kelly LeMaire & Debra Oswald
Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, forthcoming
Abstract:
Sexual prejudice and discrimination are extremely prevalent throughout society, and previous research suggests that there are a multitude of negative consequences associated with being the target of this prejudice. One way of reducing prejudice is for heterosexual allies to confront the perpetrator of sexually prejudicial behaviors. The current study utilized an experimental design to examine how the gender of the perpetrator, target, and nontarget witness of heterosexist prejudice, as well as the interaction of these gender variables, affects the witness' responses to a derogatory heterosexist statement. A sample of 254 (140 women) heterosexual undergraduate college students watched 1 of 4 videos in which a perpetrator (man or woman) "approaches" them and makes heterosexist comments about a lesbian woman or gay man and then answered questions about how they would respond if they were in that situation. Additionally, they reported on their attitudes about the comments and the perpetrator. Results suggest that gender of the participant, target, and particularly the perpetrator, all play a significant role in responses to heterosexist hate speech. Implications for reduction of prejudice and future research are discussed.