"I'm not gay. . . . I'm a real man!": Heterosexual Men's Gender Self-Esteem and Sexual Prejudice.
Five studies examined the hypothesis that heterosexual men, but not heterosexual women, endorse negative attitudes toward homosexuality (i.e., sexual prejudice) in order to maintain a positive gender-related identity that is unambiguously different from a homosexual identity. Studies 1 and 2 showed that men's (but not women's) gender self-esteem (but not personal self-esteem) was positively related to sexual prejudice: The more positive heterosexual men's gender self-esteem, the more negative their attitude toward homosexuality. Studies 3 and 4 showed that this link appears specifically among men motivated to maintain psychological distance from gay men. Study 5 experimentally manipulated the perceived biological differences between homosexual and heterosexual men. The previously observed link between men's gender self-esteem and sexual prejudice appeared in the control and no-differences conditions but disappeared in the differences condition. These findings are discussed in terms of men's attitudes as a defensive function against threat to masculinity.
Falomir-Pichastor
Juan Manuel
JM
University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. Juan.Falomir@unige.ch
Mugny
Gabriel
G
D000328:Adult; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D020010:Heterosexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D011287:Prejudice; D012929:Psychological Distance; D012649:Self Concept; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012933:Social Identification; D055815:Young Adult