Identifying With a Stereotype: The Divergent Effects of Exposure to Homosexual Television Characters.
Scholars examining homosexual television characters have typically come to one of two conclusions: either exposure to homosexual characters can lead to increased acceptance, or homosexual characters serve to reaffirm negative stereotypes. We seek to bridge these two bodies of research by introducing the concept of stereotyped identification-the idea that cognitively and emotionally identifying with fictional characters can increase acceptance of minorities, while reinforcing implicit stereotypes about how they look, act, and talk. Results from our national survey (N = 972) offer support for this hypothesis.
a College of Media and Communication , Texas Tech University , Lubbock , Texas , USA.
Bryan
B
McLaughlin
b School of Journalism and Media Studies , San Diego State University , San Diego , California , USA.
Nathian S
NS
Rodriguez
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072339:Sexual and Gender Minorities; D012933:Social Identification; D013240:Stereotyping; D013690:Television; D055815:Young Adult
Attitudes toward homosexuality; homosexual television characters; identification; media representations; mediated intergroup contact; stereotyped identification; stereotyping