Ambivalent Homoprejudice towards Gay Men: Theory Development and Validation

Abstract

Myriad social groups are targets of hostile and benevolent (i.e., ambivalent) prejudice. However, prejudice towards gay men is typically conceptualised as hostile, despite the prevalence of benevolence towards gay men in popular media. This paper aims to compare gay men with other targets of ambivalent prejudice (i.e., women and elderly people), and draw upon the stereotype content and microaggressions literatures in order to develop a theory of ambivalent homoprejudice. The resultant framework, comprising repellent; adversarial; romanticised; and paternalistic homoprejudice was investigated using seven focus groups of heterosexuals and gay men (N = 22) and the findings were consistent with stereotype content theory. Directions for future research into the deleterious effects of ambivalent Homoprejudice and possible empowering interventions are discussed.

Media representation matters: The effects of exposure to counter-stereotypical gay male characters on heterosexual men’s expressions of discrimination

“…Extending Glick and Fiske's (1996) two-dimensional understanding of prejudicial attitudes toward women (i.e., ambivalent sexism theory) into the realm of sexual orientation, these 10 jokes can be conceived as examples of hostile vs. benevolent heterosexism. Within this parallel between ambivalent sexism and heterosexism (e.g., Brooks et al, 2020;Massey, 2009Massey, , 2010Walls, 2008), hostile heterosexism corresponds to classic definitions of sexual prejudice and reflects negative attitudes and hostile derogation of gay men, whereas benevolent heterosexism expresses prejudice in more subtle ways. It involves mainly a perpetuation of positive stereotypic characteristics and roles attributed to gay men (e.g., creative, sensitive, friendly, stylish), which resemble positive female sex-typed qualities.…”