title: Gender, Ethnicity, Religiosity, and Same-sex Sexual Attraction and the Acceptance of Same-sex Sexuality and Gender Non-conformity.
abstract: This study explored the role of gender, ethnicity, religiosity, and sexual attraction in adolescents' acceptance of same-sex sexuality and gender non-conformity. Using an intersectionality perspective, we also tested whether the effects of gender, ethnicity, and religiosity on adolescents' attitudes would function differently in adolescents with and without same-sex attractions. Data for this study were collected by means of a paper questionnaire completed by 1,518 secondary school students (mean age = 14.56 years,SD= 1.05) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The sample was 48.1% female and 51.9% male. Approximately one third of adolescents in the sample were of a non-Western ethnic background (32.3%,n= 491) and 7.5% of the participants (n= 114) reported experiencing same-sex attractions. Results of our analyses showed that adolescents in our sample who were male, of non-Western ethnicity, and who were more religious (as indicated by frequency of religious service attendance), were less accepting of same-sex sexuality and gender non-conformity in comparison to female, Western and less religious peers. We also found a significant interaction effect between religiosity and sexual attractions, but only in relation to evaluation of same-sex attracted, gender nonconforming females. The negative effect of religiosity on acceptance of same-sex attracted, gender non-conforming females was stronger among those adolescents who reported same-sex attractions.
authors.affiliation: HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute & Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, PI Unit 15, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Kate L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Collier
authors.forename: Henny M W
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Bos
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Merry
authors.forename: Theo G M
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Sandfort
keywords: Adolescence; Ethnicity; Gender non-conformity; Religiosity; Sexual orientation