The moderating roles of gender and anti-gay prejudice in explaining stigma by association in male dyads.
Using a convenience sample of 157 undergraduates, this study explored the likeability ratings of target characters from selected film clips who were described as gay or heterosexual as they associated with a gay-described foil character (i.e., a character against which the target is compared). As predicted, male respondents who strongly endorsed anti-gay prejudice viewed gay-described targets more favorably than heterosexual-described targets when each target was paired with a gay foil. Further, this pattern of biased ratings by high-prejudice male participants against our heterosexual target differentiated these participants from both low-prejudice male and high-prejudice female respondents. In contrast, but as hypothesized, high-prejudice female respondents compared to high-prejudice males rated heterosexual-described targets more favorably than they rated gay-described targets.
Jefferson
Stephen D
SD
Department of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA.
Bramlett
Frank
F
D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009040:Motion Pictures; D011287:Prejudice; D012737:Sex Factors; D012928:Social Desirability; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult