Assessing Prejudice Toward Two-Father Parenting and Two-Mother Parenting: The Beliefs on Same-Sex Parenting Scale

Abstract

This article describes two interrelated studies that investigated beliefs and stereotypes on two-father parenting and two-mother parenting through the development and validation of the Beliefs on Same-Sex Parenting (BOSSP) scale. The BOSSP captures two beliefs: (1) prejudices toward same-sex couples' inherent inability to parent and (2) concerns about same-sex parenting that are not necessarily related to homonegativity. In Study 1 (301 heterosexual participants), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) suggested an 11-item scale for attitudes toward both two-father families and two-mother families, with two factors: parenting skills, which evaluates beliefs on same-sex couples' ability to take care of their children; and parental adjustment, which assesses beliefs on the impact of challenges related to same-sex parenting on children's well-being. Support for convergent validity between BOSSP factor scores and those of theoretically related measures were provided. In Study 2 (346 heterosexual participants surveyed in two time points), CFA indicated that the two-factor model provided the best fit. Test-retest reliability and longitudinal invariance were documented. Finally, results revealed that more negative attitudes toward same-sex parenting were held by men than by women and were associated with negative opinions on reproductive techniques. The innovative characteristics of the BOSSP and implications for future practice are discussed.

Anticipating Parenthood Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Young Adults Without Children in Portugal: Predictors and Profiles

“…More nuanced aspects of relationship status could also be considered in forthcoming works, such as relationship duration, expectations of relationship permanence or expectation of marriage, or whether bisexual individuals are involved in a current same-gender or different-gender partnership (Tate and Patterson, 2019a;Tate et al, 2019). Other variables that could be taken into account in future studies as predictors of parenthood intentions among LGB individuals include adherence to gender roles (Salvati et al, 2018), beliefs on children's adjustment in same-gender parented families (Ioverno et al, 2018), or self-efficacy in the achievement of parenthood (Riskind et al, 2013;Simon et al, 2019). Furthermore, considering that sexual minority individuals may not feel as socially pressured to have children as their heterosexual peers, assessing this would also be advisable.…”

Evaluations of Parenting by Same-Sex vs Different-Sex Couples among Heterosexual University Students: Experimental Between-Subjects Vignette Design Study

“…Despite the decline in the general prejudice against LGBT people, the issue of parenthood is still highly controversial and attitudes towards LGBT people as unfit parents are rather openly expressed. In general, men show more negative attitudes toward same-sex parenting and marriage than women (Ioverno et al, 2017;Moskovitz, Rieger and Roloff, 2010). Furthermore, same-sex parenting is considered immoral and it is presumed that children's wellbeing is compromised because…”

“…That could be another origin of unbiased results towards same-sex parents. In general, men show more negative attitudes towards same-sex parenting and marriage than women (Ioverno et al, 2017;Moskovitz, Rieger and Rolloff, 2010).…”

Community Characteristics, Victimization, and Psychological Adjustment Among School-Aged Adopted Children With Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Parents

“…Over the past two decades, attitudes about lesbian and gay (LG) couples becoming parents have become more positive (Daugherty and Copen, 2016), although stigmas remain (Ioverno et al, 2018), such that some LG couples who seek to become parents still face hostility from reproductive (Wingo et al, 2018) and adoption (Goldberg et al, 2019) services. Despite such challenges,…”